What process do you recommend to top of my tank, i heard my tap water isn't a good idea, any equipment i can get to do the right thing?
topping off water
- Thread starter Fitter17
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I'm a newbie, so please forgive me if I'm missing something, but are you just asking how you should treat your tap water before adding it to the tank? I've been using API's tap water conditioner, but when that's gone I'm switching to Prime on the advice of several experienced AC members. You also want to be sure you're doing regular water changes, not just topping off.
Where is "Your Tap Water"?
Get yourself either an RO/DI unit, or if you have decent water you can get yourself a Tap Water Deionizing filter for your top offs.
I live in NYC and we have decent water, so I can get away without using an RO/DI filter. I actually have a discus tank (well down to 1 discus because of my arowana) and they are very particular to water conditions. So if they can live in NYC tap water, Top offs for SW tanks should be no problem, but I use a deionized filter for top offs.
Get yourself either an RO/DI unit, or if you have decent water you can get yourself a Tap Water Deionizing filter for your top offs.
I live in NYC and we have decent water, so I can get away without using an RO/DI filter. I actually have a discus tank (well down to 1 discus because of my arowana) and they are very particular to water conditions. So if they can live in NYC tap water, Top offs for SW tanks should be no problem, but I use a deionized filter for top offs.
RO/DI is the only way to go IMO. I'm pretty new to the salty side of the hobby, but I've researched ALOT and spoken to literally hundreds of people about it.
I top off with purified water from the grocery store i also use distilled water from the store...I believe lots of reefers use the purified water from Wal-Mart..this does get pricey with larger reefs and the collection of gallon jugs stinks lol
I just purchased A ro/di
I just purchased A ro/di
i had this before and tested worse than my well water from the tap,.. better check
i used distilled spring and all the others and they are still same as or worse than my well water
but it might be better than others peoples city tap water i suppose,.
I live in Miami and the tap water quality here is pretty good. You should be able to get a report from the water board or regulating body that handles the water in your area to see where it is. The biggest problem I have to deal with is phosphates, for that I use a phosban reactor.
For top off water I usually use tap water with either Stress Coat or Prime to kill chlorine. For WC's I rotate between two sources, my LFS and my local supermarket where I go to the water purifying station at the front of the store. I then use Prime to treat that water before my WC, but that is just my preference.
It is a good idea to try and rotate your water sources so that you are not too dependant on just once source but also because of buildup of undesirable elements in the water thay may be undetectable initially but could start to build up over time with continued use of the same source. Just my opinion.
For top off water I usually use tap water with either Stress Coat or Prime to kill chlorine. For WC's I rotate between two sources, my LFS and my local supermarket where I go to the water purifying station at the front of the store. I then use Prime to treat that water before my WC, but that is just my preference.
It is a good idea to try and rotate your water sources so that you are not too dependant on just once source but also because of buildup of undesirable elements in the water thay may be undetectable initially but could start to build up over time with continued use of the same source. Just my opinion.
