Water Quality

[Shaner T]

I am starting a 75g FOWLR tank. The guy at the LFS told me that our community water is unacceptable even for fish-only and should also be DI treated. Of course in the next sentence he pointed out that they indeed sell RO/DI units.

I got a copy of the water quality report, but have no idea what I'm looking for.

Can someone give me an idea of what substances I should be looking at and what levels are unacceptable?

Thanks!

[VoodooChild]

If you're doing fish only then the only thing I'd worry about is nitrates, which wouldn't be high enough in municipal water to have an effect on the fish. Here's a read out of what should be:
Nitrites: O ppm
Nitrates: Preferably lower than 20 ppm, but if it's fish only it can get really really high. Doesn't mean you should let it get there, but still...
Ammonia: O ppm
Hardness: Around 320 ml/equiv. (can someone give them a better readout?)
pH: 8.0-8.6, 8.2 being optimal
Less important for fish only:
Calcium: 450 ppm
Copper: Undetectable
Of all of the things above, the water can be toyed with enough to get them to those settings with the exception of tap-born nitrates. As long as you're only doing fish and live rock, I wouldn't bother. Can you give us what you've got for readouts? That'd help.
By the way, if you do buy a D.I. or R.O. unit, go to Ebay, it'll be probably 2/3 cheaper than the LFS.

[Shaner T]

Here is what I was able to find out:

Nitrate & Nitrites = not listed...I don't have a test kit yet...system isn't set up

PH = 9.4

Calcium, Dissolved = 31.1 PPM
Hardness as CaCO3 = 350 PPM
Alkalinity, total = 89.20 PPM

None of the other substances are listed...maybe I should email them for more info.

The LFS guy told me that sulfates are a problem...those read at 72.4 PPM...is that high?

[Guy W]

the other obvious problems with municipal water is Chlorine, Chloramine, and Phosphates. In my local water I also have detectable Ammonia levels.

Buying an RO/DI is the wisest thing you can do when setting up a salt fish tank. I wish I would have done it since day one. After I bought mine algea problems subsided significantly and my water was 100% clearer. For a really nice 100gpd Ro/Di filter, your looking at around 175 to 200 dollars. I was buying bottled water for a while, and it was quickly becoming apparent that I would spend more on bottled water than an Ro/Di filter in a short time.

my 2 cents.

[VoodooChild]

9.4...that's pretty impressive. You may want to look into an R.O. unit then. Thanks Guy for picking up what I missed.