Do you belive in RO Water?

[fishfreek]

Reef tank implys high output lights as well as live rock and corals. Most FO tanks have low to moderate light at most there for excessive nutrients like phosphates is not that big of a deal. Its after you add the high intensity lights that the higher nutrients really starts to show problems if your water source has those problems.

Aloe or anything that is to increase the slime coat will cause a skimmer to go crazy I dont belive prime does this.

 

[electrikat]

Prime actually has a section that says that it is specially formulated so as not to overactivate skimmers. The seaclone I used to have absolutely hated the other stuff.

 

[Phyl]

Ya know... I started out my main with tap. Figured "how bad could it be"? The LFS said we could either use theirs or ours. Whichever was more convenient. I didn't know enough at the time to know I couldn't trust 'em. I just figured they knew what they were talking about... RIGHT?! wrong.

I did go out and buy an RO/DI unit. Did I have to? Dunno. What I do know is that there is cyano up against my glass in the sand. I can only guess that's where my tap water is still lurking. When it gets up to my main it dissapates and doesn't linger but I've been using RO/DI exclusively since just after Christmas (when I had my massive feeding accident). Seeing that cyano in my sand makes me think I'm probably lucky that I switched over from tap when I did. My tap starts out at a TDS of 150 and goes into my salt mix at 0. I feel really good about that. Absolutely necessary? Probably not. Am I glad I went RO/DI? You bet. I don't need to battle hair algae nor cyano. There are more than enough challenges in this hobby (like having enough money, lol). I don't need to add to them!

Good luck with whatever you decide!

 

[ClamKnuckle]

From my experiance, RO is the way to go

When my filters started to go on my RO you could definitly tell just by looking at the tank. Started getting algea blooms and a touch of teh cyano. And that was with at least some sort of filtration on the water, I don't even want to think how bad it would be if it was just tap water

 

[malkore]

Prime doesn't have aloe vera, and happens to be the dechlor i most often recommend.

Tap water CAN be ok, but it varies so much from location to location, that its' tricky to decide. True RO/DI water will always work. Tap water 'might' work.
If you had a $2,000 reef setup, stocked with fish and corals, would you really wanna skimp on water that isn't pristine?

 

[zacdl]

The LFS said Enid water is good, and said I should be OK to use it.

So far the only reason that I should NOT use it is the possible possibility that I may have algea later on. And if that happens I can just convert over to RO (Algeas not a bad thing it just looks bad).

 

[MYTY1705]

You can have the local water service wether it's city or whatever give you a copy of their monthly water report. It will tell you the ph, calcium levels, heavy metal content, or other info you are interested. I did the same and quicklly came to the conclusion that ro is what I have to use. Too much chlorine, silicates, and calcium.

 

[IfoundNemo]

RO water for my reef tank, and tab for my FOWLR plus FW tanks.

 

[zacdl]

I think I am going to do a FOWLR.

 

[fishfreek]

Knowing what your water looks like on the heavy metal stand point is good also. If you have to much in the way of 'hard' water you woudl benifit from a RO unit.

While minor alge problems can be delt with those with poor water quality often find the algae to be uncontrolable. (ie cyano covering the entire substrate and rocks every day or every other day, or hair algae growing at a rate that your pulling handfulls out every few days.)

 

[zacdl]

The salt takes care of all hard water, I mean after all a water softener really just adds salt.

Ill test the Ph of tap water today.

 

[Morticus]

I got the water to fill my tank for the first time from my dads power plant. They have gigantic tubs of RO/DI water that is more sterile than any RO/DI system you can buy can get it. I have about 10 gallons left for water changes/top offs, then after that I will just buy RO/DI water from the local health food store.

*edit* If any of you have a power plant nearby you may want to look into getting some water there. They have so much of it that sometimes they will just give it away.

 

[zacdl]

Hmm, dont know of any power plants nearby, do you mean like nuclear?

 

[fishfreek]

The salt would not remove disolved metals. If you want to go reef in the future knowing if your water source has any copper particulate will be very important aswell.

 

[thanew]

i say no.

yes flame me all you want, but I have yet to have a problem with regular tap water, maybe im safe, but uh, erin brockovich was filmed not too far from here... yes, bad water..

anyways, I honestly don't think its that much of an issue if you aren't keeping very tender creatures... if its like a FOWLR then i think RO is not really a requirement..

but if something is very senstive to water quality then i think RO should be used, or make sure you treat your reg. water

 

[zacdl]

OK Went to WalMart today, They didnt have any AmQuel, so I got the biggest brand they had, Tetra.

I got Tetra Aqua-Safe, supposedly does the same thing as a lot of other things, Gets rid of cholorine, chloramine, and metals.

Said safe for SW too, so figured it is ok.

I do have one question. When I does the tank does this stuff have to be stirred around with the pumps on? The reason why I ask is I would like to know if I could keep a couple gallons of tap around with this stuff dosed in it, and not having a filter or anything in it. Is it OK just sitting around like that?