Tap Water

[TheIrishJedi]

Today was the very first time I have seen a reef tank in person. I went to a Reef Specialty shop in town. It is pretty awesome; way cooler than FW.

I browsed everything and grilled the owner with NOOB like questions. Unfortunately I forgot to ask him what I now ask you. He recommended that I NOT use tap water. He told me he would sell me properly conditioned SW for $1.49/g.

I searched this forum for *tap water* but nothing came up. Why should I not use my tap water? I cannot really afford a RO/DI device nor do I want the added expense for buying water.

What do I need to know about my tap water and how do you condition it? This will aide me in making proper choices! Thanks!

[Ace25]

SW is a very expensive hobby, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. It isn't necessarily harder than FW if you have the right equipment, just cost a lot more $ to get the right stuff.

Not to discourage you, but you have to ask, if you can't afford the very basic necessities for a saltwater tank (good clean water) is this the right hobby for you? Without knowing the water you put into your tank your going to have all kinds of problems with bad algaes and bacteria. It isn't just a matter of dechlorinating it like in FW. If you use bad (tap) water your just going to be wasting a lot of $ on livestock and battling problems the whole time, not really enjoying your tank. A good water source is the foundation to a good SW tank.

[TheIrishJedi]

SW is a very expensive hobby, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. It isn't necessarily harder than FW if you have the right equipment, just cost a lot more $ to get the right stuff.

Not to discourage you, but you have to ask, if you can't afford the very basic necessities for a saltwater tank (good clean water) is this the right hobby for you? Without knowing the water you put into your tank your going to have all kinds of problems with bad algaes and bacteria. It isn't just a matter of dechlorinating it like in FW. If you use bad (tap) water your just going to be wasting a lot of $ on livestock and battling problems the whole time, not really enjoying your tank. A good water source is the foundation to a good SW tank.

That is why I am asking. But why buy more water if I do not have to? So...

What do I need to know about my tap water and how do you condition it?

[Emg]

Well, you could do what I did and start small....20long....and use your tap water and see what happens. A small tank won't cost you as much to start up....look for a reef club in your area that you can join. If it's a good club there will be plenty of folks there who will be happy to help you get started and you can generally find cheaper Live Rock and other equiptment from other hobbiests than buying it from an LFS.

I am blessed with decent tap water...at least it must be because I have no problems with algae or any of the other issues that can come up when you use your tap. I"m guessing that isn't the norm..but who knows....

Smaller tanks aren't as stable as a larger tank would be, but if you keep to the more tolerant soft coral and more hardy fish and do more regular water changes ...which for sw means every other week rather than once a month......you should do ok. Again, reef clubs are a great source for cheap frags. Sometimes they just give the stuff away because it grows so crazy in thier tanks. Just don't be tossing an anemone in there or anything else that requires very stable water conditions. This will also be a learning experience as well.

I'm glad I gave it a go...because now I'm really enjoying the reefs that I have and have been taking down my fw tanks a few at a time.

#1 advice........Find a reef club !!! It's amazing how much you can save yourself by hooking up with other hobbiests with an interested in helping newbs get started !

[Ace25]

Agreed! Actually, if you could find a local reef club I could almost guarantee you will find someone like me that would be more than willing to give you free RO/DI water if you picked it up.

There are to many "unknowns" in the tap water for any magic bottle (dechlorinator type stuff) or simple filter (like brita filter) to remove all the bad stuff. You need to run the water throw several stages to remove all the bad stuff. Usually you put it through 2 pre-filters to remove the large stuff, carbon filter, RO filter, then a DI resin to finish the job.

[Dan06]

$1.49 a gallon?? Is that pre-mixed water?

It's 20 cents a gallon at my LFS and eventually he just gives it away for free. Most people in my area actually use Tap Water. Our water source is supposed to be very good and many reef keepers (even SPS) use our tap water. I personally started with tap water but I became paranoid and figured it'd would just be best to switch to RO/DI.

As for this being an expensive hobby....the initial start-up is expensive. But someone who *properly* maintains a FW Planted setup is going to spend just about the same money to keep their tank healthy after the initial equipment purchase, so I've found.

If you are not interested in finding a local reef club (one may not be so local), you can always go against the grain and give your tap water a try. You can buy a TDS meter and determine just how 'dirty' your water is to begin with. My tap water tested below 10 or not detected at all on several different occasions at my LFS. You'll need to worry about main flushing among other things as this will generally make your water dirty for a couple days or even weeks.

That being said, you may have excellent tap water or you may have terrible tap water. Have it tested at your LFS. Also, you can buy distilled water relatively cheap at a supermarket....

[Ace25]

My tap water tested below 10 or not detected at all on several different occasions at my LFS.

Sorry, I call BS on that. I can't see any possible scenerio where you can get better than RO quality water out of your tap. Your telling us your getting near RO/DI quality out of the faucet, sorry, just can't happen. Just the last 100 yards of pipes to your house is going to give you more metals in the water than that TDS reading in showing. If anyone told me that my TDS on water out of the Tap was under 100 then I would tell them to replace their meter.

[Dan06]

Whatever you say.

It wasn't just my LFS telling me our city water is good, it was also the SPS keepers who said our city tap was exceptional.

Edit: Should also mention that even a low end phosphate test kit didn't detect anything, same goes for the silicates test. Why would I lie about my tap water source? I don't use tap water so it means absolutely nothing to me.

Would you really tell someone to go buy a new meter if it should test under 100? You don't think for a second that it's possible a city could have relatively clean tap water? I don't think you would tell anyone that. You strike me as nothing more than a pompous internet know-it-all who spends so much time being extremely opinionated, yet contradictory. I don't think you can be both without being a fool. Sorry, I had to say it.

I suppose while you allow your fish to flop around in your sand bed while you do repairs, you can find someone with a TDS meter who reads under 100 on their tap source and tell them they need a new meter, while you criticize some for wanting to try a home depot light fixture over frag tanks - while you preach you would rather help an animal survive, rather than thrive, then you turn around and tell someone to toss in some Coral with a known non-safe reef fish and see what happens. While you yourself own a toilet bowl of coral and fish removed from their natural habitat because you are selfish enough to need them swimming in your living room. I think you should just relax, drop the attitude & enjoy the hobby, enjoy the SW forums.....rather than contradict yourself on various matters, mouth off over stupid little things that in the end don't matter at all (like my TDS readings on tap water...who cares enough to freak out and 'call BS'?). Relax.

[Amphiprion]

Some people have exceptional water. Examples include people who have ice and snow melt for sourcewater. It won't be as pure as RO/DI water (even if it measures 0 on a TDS meter--remember that TDS meters only have so much resolution), but it is suitable for an aquarium.

[7itanium]

Sorry, I call BS on that. I can't see any possible scenerio where you can get better than RO quality water out of your tap. Your telling us your getting near RO/DI quality out of the faucet, sorry, just can't happen. Just the last 100 yards of pipes to your house is going to give you more metals in the water than that TDS reading in showing. If anyone told me that my TDS on water out of the Tap was under 100 then I would tell them to replace their meter.


nope.. he may be telling the truth

I know this for a fact-- because my water also tests around 10

some cities have exceptional water.. you need to talk to local reefers to see if the water in your area is good or not

I use tapwater.. and I know many other reefers in my area that do as well

this is due to the fact that spokane has a giant aquifer of fresh runoff water flowing benieth it

[TheIrishJedi]

$1.49 a gallon?? Is that pre-mixed water?

It's 20 cents a gallon at my LFS and eventually he just gives it away for free. Most people in my area actually use Tap Water. Our water source is supposed to be very good and many reef keepers (even SPS) use our tap water. I personally started with tap water but I became paranoid and figured it'd would just be best to switch to RO/DI.

As for this being an expensive hobby....the initial start-up is expensive. But someone who *properly* maintains a FW Planted setup is going to spend just about the same money to keep their tank healthy after the initial equipment purchase, so I've found.

If you are not interested in finding a local reef club (one may not be so local), you can always go against the grain and give your tap water a try. You can buy a TDS meter and determine just how 'dirty' your water is to begin with. My tap water tested below 10 or not detected at all on several different occasions at my LFS. You'll need to worry about main flushing among other things as this will generally make your water dirty for a couple days or even weeks.

That being said, you may have excellent tap water or you may have terrible tap water. Have it tested at your LFS. Also, you can buy distilled water relatively cheap at a supermarket....

I live in Louisville and there is one here. I have not contacted them yet. What are the water parameters I need to look for?

[Dan06]

To the best of my limited knowledge, you want as low a TDS as possible, I've overheard 60 or less is acceptable, depending on the person using it ;) As long as you test nothing for Silicates and hopefully nothing for Phosphates (make sure it's tested with a low end phosphates test), you COULD be okay using tap water. A lot more people use tap water and won't admit it for reasons like this, you'll be labeled a sinner!

Goodluck!

[fsn77]

If you're going to try using tap water, you'll also want to have it tested for metals. Copper is especially detrimental, but there's other metals that aren't ideal to have building up in a marine tank over time, either (most of which are hopefully undetectable in a drinking water supply).

I guess I'll never understand why anyone takes chances using tap water... Reefkeeping is not a particularly cheap hobby. I don't understand the reasoning behind spending hundreds or thousands of dollars to set up and stock a nice tank, only to go cheap on the water. RO/DI units are pretty inexpensive to purchase and maintain, and put the control of the water quality in one's own hands instead of relying on others to do the right thing. Municipal drinking water systems have failures and find themselves putting out water that doesn't meet all of the drinking water standards from time to time (it's hopefully rare, but happens nonetheless). By the time the word gets out (usually a public notice is issued, but it can be weeks or months later, especially if it wasn't a threat to human health), the less than ideal water has already made its way into the tank. In all but the most extreme cases, a RO/DI unit can correct for any inadequacies in a municipal drinking water supply (or well water). In a case where the tap water TDS is already very low, there's even an additional benefit... the operating costs will be considerably lower over time compared to someone operating one that has much higher TDS. Lower incoming TDS means the RO membrane and DI resin will require much less frequent replacement.

[Robert04]

Maybe some people need to be more helpful than critical.

[fsn77]

If not already seen and more info is desired, here's several recent threads here on AC discussing RO/DI units -- why / what to look for in a RO/DI unit, some dos and don'ts, reputable suppliers, etc.:
Thread #1 (http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=192857)
Thread #2 (http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=192392)
Thread #3 (http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=191432&highlight=RO%2FDI)
Thread #4 (http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=181074&highlight=RO%2FDI)
Thread #5 (http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=177528&highlight=RO%2FDI)
Thread #6 (http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=176459&highlight=RO%2FDI)
as well as a couple links to info from other sites further explaining the reasons for using RO/DI:
RO/DI FAQ (http://www.reefcentral.com/modules.php?s=&name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=2)
RO/DI Article (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-05/rhf/index.php).

[severum mama]

Maybe some people need to be more helpful than critical.

How exactly was that post critical? All I saw was fsn's opinion stated politely, and then later some pertinent threads to back it up. I found the information to be quite helpful actually. Can you squeak by using tap water in a reef system? Sometimes. But sometimes it comes back to bite you in the butt. In fact, I've cheaped out and gotten lazy with my old nano reef tank and topped it off with treated tap water in the past (with Louisville water I might add, when I lived there), and it's not something I would ever do again. Hubby and I invested in an RO/DI unit with our 20 gallon reef and it's been 1000% worth every penny for the convenience and peace of mind. We're battling a lot less nuisance algae than I did before, and fish and invertibrate health is excellent. It's a simple cost/benefit analysis... this is an expensive hobby no matter what, and if you are going to spend the money on fish, coral, and other inverts, then you may as well spend the extra money to protect your investment.

JMO.

[Robert04]

LOL not what im talking about.