How can this be?

[Cuse92]

My cousin has had a successful tank for about 5 years and doesnt have any of the "nessecary" stuff. He runs just two whisper filters and changes 1/3 of the water every ten days. He has a 30 gallon tank and uses tap water. I wat to start a tank with similar inventory but I want to know if his tank is just dumb luck.

 

[melosu58]

A 33% PWC every 10 days is a big reason. He is diluting excessive nutrients and replenishing needed trace elements. You say he has a successful tank. What kind of SW tank is it? Reef, FO, FOWLR ???? I`m not an advocate of tap water but everyone does not have the same tap water. I can promise you if he had the same tap I have it would not be a successful SW tank esp a reef tank. JMO

 

[Devilishturtles]

I agree. Water changes are helping. I use tap water on my tank and don't have too many problems.

It would be best for you to take your water to the store and have them test it for you or see if you can find a recent water quality report online to see what all is added to it. Like Melosu said, all tap water is different.

HTH

 

[Cuse92]

He has a fishw/live rock but has never attempted corals. Ill take everyones advice into consideration though. Thank you.

 

[cmor1701d]

FOWLR tanks can get by with much less than a reef tank can. The large water changes help a lot. Depending on what's in your tap water it may or may not work for you. When I do a tds (total disolved solids) test on my tap water it can have a wide variance from week to week. That's one of the reasons I use RODI water only.

 

[Innovator]

I've never had a problem with tap and considered to have some craptacular water. As DT stated, just test it out yourself and see what you find. Our little ecosystems can be quite amazing at time when it comes to adversity

 

[MarineFlake]

tap water + corals = $$ in the toilet. Please, just send me a check instead...

 

[Devilishturtles]

tap water + corals = $$ in the toilet. Please, just send me a check instead...

Really? tap water + corals has put money in my pocket! They seem to love it and keep growing like mad. Growing enough that I've had to sell some off.

8 years and no problems yet... I must be lucky.

 

[melosu58]

I dont think your lucky but I do believe that not everyone can use tap water. If you have been doing it for 8 yrs then you have good tap water Lindsay. I can not use mine as it will not support a reef tank. It just depends on the content of your tap.

 

[roka64]

Pssst, she's on well water....

 

[Ziggy953]

I agree it all depends on what your source water is like. Some people have nearly perfect water right out of the tap where others have a lot of things that would harm an aquarium. I have excellent water (well) but I still use an RO/DI system just to avoid any possible issues there.

 

[melosu58]

Read this

Chemistry and the Aquarium