What you don’t want to know about our tap water (but should)

Phil,
Welcome to 3Reef. I hope you come back, you posted this over a month ago, I just saw it today.

The article you linked about the algae is one of the best I"ve ever seen.

YOu mentioned budget, etc.
Buying an affordable RO/DI is Way cheaper than not doing it for any SW/Reef tank.
Every reply here is spot on. Az Desert Rat is pretty much our local guru on water- it's his profession of sorts.

As has been said, CL- usually used though. or a new unit off ebay is the way to go.

after a little research, I bought a RO/DI unit off ebay that came with-

A nice RO/DI system,
a storage tank- about 3g for under the kitchen sink drinking water tap
and the DI resin side for the fish tank water.
all the plumbing, fittings, tank, nice chrome tap for the kitchen sink drinking water, etc.
all for about $115 shipped to my door!

Also- I think the Spectrapure units are about the best out there also.
If I get another- it will be a spectrapure.

After over 2 years, it still puts out excellent water.
(I will be changing all the filters soon- already have them)

Hope this all helps,
Todd

 

Exactly. That's what I believe too.

 

I raised Cichlids for years.I used rodi water and added Kents RO right.This way I added the minerals I wanted without the fear of what was in the tap.

 

True, the replacement minerals are available for Cichlids and Bettas. Unfortunately, I've yet to see them for other species or the average community tank. Again though, I've never had an issue with using tap for Cichlids, Bettas, Angels, and community systems.

 

I actually used it for all my fw fish.Just didn't add as much for tetras,loaches, etc..