tap water?

[times10]

hi looking to set up a 20 gallon saltwater tank. it will just have saltwater fish in it no coral is it possible to use regulr tap water and a product called prime to remove all the bade stuff out of the water or does it have to be ro water used please advise thanks

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

It doesn't have to be RO water. If down the road you end up with algae issues that you can't control otherwise, then it might be worth revisiting the decision.

 

[buddha_red]

Save yourself a lot of grief and get a ro/di system off ebay. I bought a 75 gpd ro/di filter and i have a 20 gallon tank too.

 

[sqrle]

They are not as expensive as you think. I got one off e-bay for real cheap to. i purchased a portable one so that I can put it under the sink when not in use. If you absolutley want to start using Ro water for the tank and don't want to purchase a RO unit yet, just go your local health food store. They should have one of those machines to fill jugs of water (5gallon). That should only cost you a couple of bucks. Since you are starting a rather small tank, I would get the 5gallon jug and a 1 gallon. The reason being that the 5 gallon will make it easier (less trips to the store) to fill the tank. The smaller will allow you to purchase a small amount to allow you to do your water changes. Unless you have one of those stands that you can put the jug into and drink the remaining water after you use what you need for the water changes.

 

[nanoluvr]

hi looking to set up a 20 gallon saltwater tank. it will just have saltwater fish in it no coral is it possible to use regulr tap water and a product called prime to remove all the bade stuff out of the water or does it have to be ro water used please advise thanks

I have 3 reefs, a 20, 10, and a 3 gallon. I use only RO water. I take 2 5 gsllon bottles to the grocery store to fill them up every 2 weeks. Cost: $1.75/5 gallons. It's not worth saving the 2 bucks to use tap water.

 

[melosu58]

Chemistry and the Aquarium

 

[catmel]

FYI, I started my 55 gallon out with tap water as well as PWC, slowly switching it to RO/DI and since I got the new lights have been battling algae issues. If you go Fish only you might be ok. My tank seemed algae free until I got the new lights.. its definatly worth getting an ro/di if you can get one as a gift or at a decent price.

 

[sw-addict]

I also started out with tap water and bad algae followed in the first month if I remember right, it was a battle that cost me alot in chemicals, filter media, time and stress. If I could go back in time I would go r/o fo sho.