RO/DI water...please help

[dansemacabre]

Is it essential to use RO/DI water when setting up your tank? Is a diatom bloom almost a sure thing if you use regular tap water? I got my 120 today, and I'm going to set it up, but I needed to know that about the water. Thanks!

 

[Hookman]

I used spring water for mine about 2 1/2 months ago. I also helped my friend set his up with tap water, we didn't use any conditioner, we just let the water sit in the tank for two days so the chlorine would evaporate. His tank is doing good, but it depends on the water quality in your area. Mine at my college is terrible, I won't drink it or cook with it without it being filtered. Diatom blooms are normal when starting up a tank, get some turbo and astrea snails to take care of that.

 

[OUfishman]

My water is the same here at school too, its got some ammonia in it and it just tastes like &@#!. I suggested this to someone else and havent heard a reply from them, you can probably use one of those britta filters that you attach to your faucet, that should get rid of almost everything. Just think that the cleaner your water is to begin with the cleaner it will stay.

 

[stresco]

I suggested this to someone else and havent heard a reply from them, you can probably use one of those britta filters that you attach to your faucet, that should get rid of almost everything

With a 120 gal tank, you will go broke using a Britta or Pure filter system. Those little filters just wont cut it. You will be replacing them almost weekly. Get yourself a RO/DI sytem. You will have very pure water for your tank and you can use it as your drinking water too. I have a 100GPD RO/DI system that produces about 50GPD, running for 6 months now and havent changed the cartredges or the membrain yet. My water still tests at 000ppm. Your livestock will thank you for it.

 

[azsooner]

The tap water here in the Phoenix area is terrible. I had problems with my tank before I switched to RO from the local Water and Ice store. However, it did take me a few tries to find a store that changes it's filters on a regular basis. If you ask, a good store can tell you their schedule for changing the filters and will have a water purity testing device available.

 

[Sam]

I have read a bunch of different opinions on the use of RO/DI water for tank use and how necessary or advisable it is. First off how are you planning to set up your tank? FO? or with inverts and corals? If the last, then the advice seems to lean towards a stronger case for filtered water. Other learned opinions from well respected authors in the field suggest that of all the things that can cause a problem in your tank setup, the criticality of using RO/DI water is the least of them. This author suggests that as long as tap water is dechlorinted and allowed to sit for a couple of days, any harmful elements percolate out of the water and it is okay to use in your tank. However, if you wanted total peace of mind (like I did) you may want to consider using the RO/DI water so that is never a concern. Just be aware that it is not considered an absolute for setting up your tank. There are some nice units available for under $200 that include a faucet hookup (I got rid of my PUR faucet filter - darn thing was clogging up too fast) so I can use RO water which is stored in the included 4G storage tank. For tank use, there is the additional DI treatment which removes all negatively and positively charged ions. Essentially pure H2O at the output end. The units are rated in gallons per day output. Just be sure to get a minimum 3 stage unit for the best filtration, plus the DI treatment if so desired. HTH 8)