New SW setup - ?'s on water, filtration

I'd suspect your nitrate and phosphate levels are likely different from what is published in the water report--not because they are wrong. It is just that the chemistry changes depending upon the pipes the water travels through, etc. If you have an RO/DI, it won't really matter in the end, anyway, though.
 
Yeah, things do fluctuate a bit. I have copper pipes so it's probable that there's actually more copper in it. The source of the town water here is a brook.
 
waynecav said:
I cant even use my tapwater in my freshwater as nitrates straight out of the tap are 40ppm
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Wow, that's crazy. My plants would like it though, but the fish may not be too happy about it. I try to keep my nitrates around 20 - 30 in my fw tanks since the plants suck up the nitrates too fast and if I'm not careful, they become deficient before I realize it.
 
I wish nitrates and phosphates were higher here, as well. It'd be easy with my planted tank--I could just do twice weekly water changes and be done with it (and no need for fertilizers). I even have to add a bit of baking soda and calcium chloride, since KH and GH is nearly zero. Good discus water, though.
 
Yeah, my water is basically good for nothing. :) Too soft to make plants happy, too much copper to make SW happy.
 
you can have my tap wtaer - The phosphate test goes right off the colour chart, turning a really nice dark blue colour!!! I won't even drink the stuff, let alone use it in my tank!!!.

I really do back up the suggestion of an RO unit. I don't know how I managed 3 years without one!!! It does help eliviate any worries about what you're putting into your tank. The only thing is to remember to change the filters (I often forget:wall:).
 
RO\Di water... weird stuff... Water purity.. did you know how much it cost to manufacture pure water? I mean PURE water! (this is measured from sensors used for dialysis and other medical\commercial instruments that require high degree of accuracy)

I started using RO for my drinking water, and since I didn't have to watch my RO unit for hours on end to fill my containers, I figured what the heck!

Anyway, pure water, apart from if not containing phosphates or nitrates or other nasties (RO isn't pure by the way), can't conduct electricity (everything will conduct electricity given enough current... ) which is one method used to calculate purity, it also prevents your expensive commercial coffee machines which rely on conductivity (for water level sensors) to prime boilers\reservoirs etc. to work properly... anyway a little off track.. Tap water (well where I am) has a conductivity which would have no problems (if you decided to do the hair dryer bath thing) to satisfy any "well done" steak request, let alone the hot water (which if you have a hot water cylinder made of metal) you may as well just order some charcoal toast with a bit of marmalade and butter....

RO\Di (4 stage), is very, very close to pure...

A long time since water changes....

Your on the right track!
 
Well..... after talking to some others who have used Cuprisorb to remove copper, I think that is my best bet FOR NOW. I can't drop another $300 on an RO system at the present moment. It's not that I don't want to, it's that I literally can't. If the options are get RO and have a SW tank, or don't have a SW tank, I would have to take the latter. I plan on setting up a holding tank where I circulate the water through the Cuprisorb continuously for at least a day or two before putting it into the main tank. I know someone who uses it regularly since she keeps shrimp, etc., she used double the amount recommended for the water volume she was filtering, and after 30 minutes, the copper level in the water went from .5 ppm to undetectable. I can also put some on the main tank, in case of any spare ions that sneak by. Not an ideal setup, but one I'll have to live with for now. Later on if I do get into corals, I'll obviously bite the bullet and get RO, that will be a long time from now when I have more money to spend both on lighting and the corals themselves.
 
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