topping off with tap

joebcarr

joebcarr

marine newbie
Dec 29, 2006
36
0
0
47
cleveland, NY
is there anything i can add to the tap to make it better for my tank? my tank is a new setup and ive been using straight tap. i am starting to develop algae and i think that is part of the problem. i dont plan on buy an RO anytime soon. so i was wodering what everyone else does.
 
Joe ... honestly, not to diss you or anything, but tap water is generally not recommended for use in an aquarium. Depending on what kind of tap water you get in your area, there could be several harmful elements in it that will not get removed even with a water conditioner. The water conditioner will only remove chlorines and chloramines. Other elements, like traces of copper, phosphates, nitrATES etc will not get removed and will thus go into your tank, causing havoc. Not only will it be harmful to the livestock, but you'll probably see lots of bad algae growth due to it.

You could use tap water, though only for the initial fillup. Once that is done, I'd stay away from tap water.

You have a few options without the need for a RO unit. You could look into getting bottled water, although depending on where you get it from and the brand you get, that could be harmful too. For example, mineral water is BAD! The other option is buying water from your LFS. An LFS will usually sell you RO/DI water. I get mine for $1 a gal at my LFS. Trust me, even though it will be an added expense, it will save you lots of trouble and potential problems with the more expensive setup which is your tank and the livestock in it.

So, at least until you can buy an RO unit, I would certainly look into the other two options for the sake of the health of the tank.

Lastly, I'm in no way totally eliminating the possibility that your tap water could be absolutely free of the harmful elements ... its just that that a very very rare case.

Regards,
Yash
 
LFS = local fish store?? pardon my ignorance. i know tap is bad. im sure mine is not free of contaminates. the problem is the fish store is too far to travel regularly. too far for water i mean. i need to top off a few times a week. i dont know how many gallons (maybe 5/wk) what if i boil it?? i mean there just has to be a better way.
 
Last edited:
joebcarr said:
LFS = local fish store?? pardon my ignorance. i know tap is bad. im sure mine is not free of contaminates. the problem is the fish store is too far to travel regularly. too far for water i mean. i need to top off a few times a week. i dont know how many gallons (maybe 5/wk) what if i boil it?? i mean there just has to be a better way.
Click to expand...

boiling will do two things:
-kill algae and other micro organisms (adding salt will also do this....)
-and make your watereven more contaminated....
it will make it even worse because only the water evaporates but all the heavey metals and ions are left behind.
some plaes, even some wall marts have RO water. check there.
and get a tds meter for your water. my friend is keeping sps with tap water, but his tds is only like 24
 
fishieness said:
and get a tds meter for your water. my friend is keeping sps with tap water, but his tds is only like 24
Click to expand...

BTW Joe ... in case you didn't know what TDS stood for ... it is Total Disolved Solids :)
 
thanks guys, il check the wally world. but i think ill have to find a cheap RO setup. maybe i can make the pilgrimage to the LFS ;) .it will be good for me. i wonder how much i can get at once. they might lock the door if the see me pull up with a bunch of spring water jugs.

what about my WC water. i use tap, but i salinate it and circulate it for a week. thats still cool.....right?
 
Joe - in my opinion, using RO/DI water is not a luxury to aquariums .... rather, it is a necessity. I'm personally not willing to risk causing harm to the livestock and the other creatures in my tank, along with promoting algae growth, by trying to save on having to buy a RO unit. You can get a RO unit online for about $100. When you think of all the expenses that you have or will be incurring on your aquarium, this will seem like a marginal investment to ensure the health of the tank.

Once again, not trying to be disrespectful to you or your opinions, but if there was a way to eliminate that cost and not have it affect the tank, I'm sure I'd be the first in line to jump on that option!

Regards,
Yash
 
Take it from a novice that fought the idea of getting an ro unit for a year. A year with diatoms, slime and hair algae. R/O is a great way to go in my opinion. My tds were extremely high because I have a well and a softener.

After the RO unit, the diatoms never came back and even though I've had bouts with the hair and slime, it was because of my poor maintanence practices and equipment. I did buy purified water from a water store for awhile, but that was a pain. It worked, though.
 
you know what, i mentioned the thought of an RO to a friend today and he said he had just seen them for $20 at the bargain outlet. $5 for filter sets. i'm gonn head there tommorow. too cheap to pass up.
 
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