Test your tank water, or take it to the LFS and ask them to test it for you. Tell them to test it for everything that they can. Then tell us the results.
The water you use does make difference, but IMO, not that big of one. The only I have ever had slime was when my nitrates were out of hand. You don't have to use RO/DI or RO, tap water is not recommended, but you can use it. See if any of your buddies has a TDS meter or pick one up yourself, they are not that expensive. A lot of people don't change out their filters in RO or RO/DI unit and never test with TDS meter and the water that comes out of their unit, is just as bad as Tap. I rent, so I cant put in a RO unit, so I buy drinking water by the gallon, and it tests just as good as RO/DI water, and costs around $0.50-0.65 cents a gallon. The downside to tap water, is a lot of utility districts treat with copper in the summer to stop algae from growing in the reservoirs. We all know what copper can do to corals and inverts. I do use tap water in emergencies and still haven't had a problem, my tap tests pretty good. |