Using My Tap Water for a Reef

[CCXGT]

Before I get mauled by die-hard reefers, know that I WILL be using RO and was simply wondering how my tap water stacks up.






So yeah..


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[BigRedsReefs10]

Copper is going to be a problem for you.

 

[melosu58]

Any of those metals will be a problem. Heavy metals that get added to your tank just stay there. They dont just vanish. An accumulation of them can cause a crash. I work for a water municipality so I know. Keep using the RO.

 

[CCXGT]

Is it like horrifically bad water though?


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[melosu58]

Not bad for taking a shower in or for drinking but not ideal for our reef tanks IMO.

 

[54seaweed]

not worth risking a reef for tap water you may think your saving some $ but are you

all those bad mineral's and heavy metals your coral will be highly effected and most likely any inverts you may choose

it may also shorten the life of the fish

 

[CCXGT]

not worth risking a reef for tap water you may think your saving some $ but are you

all those bad mineral's and heavy metals your coral will be highly effected and most likely any inverts you may choose

it may also shorten the life of the fish

Yeah I'm well aware.

I've just been amazed at how people can run successful reefs for decades with tap water... I suppose if you do something wrong for long enough, it must end up going right.


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[jeffaquarius]

Yeah I'm well aware.

I've just been amazed at how people can run successful reefs for decades with tap water... I suppose if you do something wrong for long enough, it must end up going right.


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Just curious if anybody of them you know that are successful like you say.

 

[Mebbid]

My reef is close to the 2 year mark for running on tap water, however my tap water is excellent. No heavy metals, 0 phosphate, 0 nitrate and it's definitely atypical as far as tap water goes. In fact, I wholeheartedly believe that my tap water is the sole reason why my tank has such low parameters. I believe that the added elements in my tap water allow my macro algae to grow enough to keep phosphate and nitrate at 0, in fact I have been dosing potassium nitrate into my tank daily to color up some of my SPS corals. I have not been able to feed enough food to ever have a rise in nitrite of phosphate ever since I started growing macro algae. I also do not run any filtration media to remove phosphates. But again, I would not expect people to have a similar experience to me.



With the copper and nitrate in your tap water not to mention the probable presence of phosphates it probably wouldn't be a good plan.

 

[jeffaquarius]

My reef is close to the 2 year mark for running on tap water, however my tap water is excellent. No heavy metals, 0 phosphate, 0 nitrate and it's definitely atypical as far as tap water goes. In fact, I wholeheartedly believe that my tap water is the sole reason why my tank has such low parameters. I believe that the added elements in my tap water allow my macro algae to grow enough to keep phosphate and nitrate at 0, in fact I have been dosing potassium nitrate into my tank daily to color up some of my SPS corals. I have not been able to feed enough food to ever have a rise in nitrite of phosphate ever since I started growing macro algae. I also do not run any filtration media to remove phosphates. But again, I would not expect people to have a similar experience to me.



With the copper and nitrate in your tap water not to mention the probable presence of phosphates it probably wouldn't be a good plan.

Which part of Michigan are you from?

 

[Mebbid]

Which part of Michigan are you from?

Around the middle.

 

[jeffaquarius]

I was around the east and I know tap water there is drinkable but I am not sure how you can get away with its copper content.

 

[Mebbid]

I was around the east and I know tap water there is drinkable but I am not sure how you can get away with its copper content.

0.0ppm. The only copper content in my areas water is from household plumbing.

 

[CCXGT]

Just curious if anybody of them you know that are successful like you say.

I know 1 guy personally who has been running a reef for 7 years with Tap Water and Instant Ocean.

Other than him, I've read that quite a few of you over in the US use tap water as well.


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[lstimpy]

I'm jealous. My tap water is junk, I have to RO it.


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[CCXGT]

Well this is a fun thread....


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[Sniperhank]

Good morning. As is quite obvious, this thread has been heavily managed. I'll keep it simple. Be polite. Get along. Don't argue. Stay on the original topic. Any further issues regarding this will result in the thread being closed. Thanks for understanding. Due to general confusion regarding our community rules, here is a link for further review.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/misc.php?do=sknetwork&page=rules

 

[mrvincent]

Cooper seems low, but can cause problems after many topoffs... Nutrients are stacking when topping-off.

One of my LFS use tap water (with prime) for their WC, they don't seems to have significants coral problems... On the other side, they have a lot of GHA in the tanks.

Another LFS is using tap water, doing waterchanges each 3 weeks, but thoses tanks are no more reefs, I will more call this Algae tanks.

Another store, (reef solution), is using his homemade high quality saltwater (from RODI), and there's no traces of algae in their tanks, and corals are healty.

 

[mr_X]

I have been maintaining a reef tank for around 7 years or so topping off with treated tap water, and it's certainly thriving. I fill the top off reservoir with 10 gallons of tap water a week.
Not by choice, and I make the water changes (24 gallons a week) with RODI, but there's no nuisance algae and there are football sized sps colonies growing very nicely.

 

[PB_Smith]

not sure why there would be any contention, it all simply depends on the quality of your area's water.