Tap water

[ermano]

As I've been reading around the net and figuring out what's wrong and what's right. I've been seeing a lot about R/O water and how to go about obtaining such equipment to have resulting clean water. What I was wondering is if one could go about use straight tap water and treat it with water conditioner that eliminates chlorine and chloramine (for example, Kordon NovAqua+). I've been looking at prices for R/O units and they kind of run out of my range. Any other water purifying ideas?

[lunatik_69]

Yes you can, but I dont recommend it, its not the same. Try this place for R/O units.purewaterclub*com

[ermano]

thanks, i appreciate it!

[ReefSparky]

I think in this hobby if you can't afford some basic necessities, it might be best to wait it out until you can. This might not be the pasttime to start on a shoestring budget. If you skimp in the beginning, oftentimes you'll be paying for it later by being forced into buying what you should have in the first place.

Here's a basic example. Say for instance you invest in great lighting, but you don't get an RO/DI setup. Instead you decide to use water conditioner that's $10 a bottle at say, two bottles a month. Ammonia, nitrite and chloramines are no issue, just as the product promises. However phosphates from your tapwater aren't removed by this product, and lo and behold, after about six months you develop a tremendous hair algae problem.

You read around and out of desperation you purchase 30 snails for $60 bucks. Then you hear that there's this miracle liquid out there that will solve the problem for about $40 in treatments. There went $160 bucks that could've gone towards that RO/DI setup.

A phos reactor and really good protein skimmer can be $40 and $400 respectively. A decent RO/DI setup can be had for $169 if you shop around. If you purchase these three things in the very beginning, you're guaranteed an easier go at it. Another plus is the wonderful lack of expensive fires that require immediate extinguishing.

Patience is the key here, if you can scrape up some funds over time and THEN start this whole ball rolling, you'll be glad you did.

Good luck, ermano!

[bmshehan]

diddo on what reefsparky said!!!

[Otty]

+3 on what Reefskarky said. Short and sweet and to the point. This is not a hobby to cut corners on, it will only give you trouble later on.

[glblguy]

I used tap water for more than 6 months...huge mistake. Tons of algae, problems with Ich, fish dieing. Don't do it. Spend the $80.00 or so and get the RO/DI filter lunatik recommended. I bought one a week ago and it works great.

It's making water right now in my garage as I am typing this.

Invest in good lighting too, another big mistake I made.

Here's an article I wrote on my blog that talks about the 6 essential items you need to be successful in saltwater. Without these, you'll have problems.

Good luck! If you have questions on the RO/DI filter, feel free to PM me.

[jeffreyliu838]

It depends on the tap water. Some areas have really clean tap, and some people have yellow tap.

[oeb]

If nothing else, buy the TDS meter that purewaterclub sells (the ebay store that luna mentioned). It will either convince you to buy one of their inexpensive RO/DI units or to use your tap water. And cost less than $15 shipped.

Where I live, our county touts the cleanest of tap waters, which by tasting it compared to others when traveling, I agree. Though, when I was topping off my tank (granted it was still quite young <2 months), it resulted in an incredible diatom blume. Just something to consider.

[flounder]

I would first test your Tap water for: Phosphates, silicates, TDS, nitrates (macro nutrients of algae) before you decide to invest on an RO... it may not be worth the cash.