Water Options - Initial Tank Fill - Aquarium Advice

Boulder · 06-29-2009, 10:55 AM

Hello all - after considering various new systems for my start up FOWLER aquarium, I have settled on a 40-gallon glass tank. I haven't set anything up yet as I want to have a plan in place but my question today is about water.

I have obviously learned tap water in a no-no and where I live, city water is extremely high is phosphates so that could be a disastrous start.

So my LFS sells pre-mixed water so that is certainly a good option. But yesterday I noticed at another one of our LFS they sell boxes of pre-mixed salt water - I believe it was made by Oceanic. For the initial fill would this work and does anyone have experience with these premixed boxes?

mtlion · 06-29-2009, 03:17 PM

I used RO water for my initial fill, but I do have some boxes of the pre-mixed salt water on hand in case of emergency. I have used the water before without any problems, just make sure you check the salinity and PH of the water before adding to make sure it is ok. You will probably want to aerate the water for 24H also.

HN1 · 06-29-2009, 04:32 PM

IMO, the boxed water will be more expensive than the mixed water from your LFS and probably the same quality.

Boulder · 06-29-2009, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HN1

IMO, the boxed water will be more expensive than the mixed water from your LFS and probably the same quality.

Probably so - just seems as though it would be easier to get a bunch of smaller pre-mixed boxes home versus 40 gallons from the LFS. I suppose folks use 5-gallon buckets with lids when retrieving water from the LFS?

HN1 · 06-29-2009, 05:09 PM

I originally used 4 5G gas cans before I bought an RO unit and large Brute can.

R6Chick · 06-30-2009, 01:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boulder

Hello all - after considering various new systems for my start up FOWLER aquarium, I have settled on a 40-gallon glass tank. I haven't set anything up yet as I want to have a plan in place but my question today is about water.

I have obviously learned tap water in a no-no and where I live, city water is extremely high is phosphates so that could be a disastrous start.

So my LFS sells pre-mixed water so that is certainly a good option. But yesterday I noticed at another one of our LFS they sell boxes of pre-mixed salt water - I believe it was made by Oceanic. For the initial fill would this work and does anyone have experience with these premixed boxes?

The tank is gonna crash anyway. No reason to throw money around if you don't have to. I filled my 112 acrylic tank with uncured live rock and water straight from the garden hose, mixed in the salt as I went. I added the standard water conditioners, a couple of jumbo shrimp for good measure, and did not turn on the lights or protein skimmer.

The tank cycled in four weeks and had a mild algae bloom as expected. After the cycle completed I did a 50% water change now using RO/DI water and used a phosphate sponge. This removed all the phosphates in a couple days. Tank is doing amazing and the only thing keeping me from adding tons of stuff is my wallet.

In the end you have to do what you are most comfortable with.

Kurt_Nelson · 06-30-2009, 02:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by R6Chick

The tank is gonna crash anyway....

Wow. That's quite an opening sentence.

Just curious why you think the tank is doomed to crash. I really don't see any info here that would give anyone a clue as to the future of this tank. Did I miss something... ?

R6Chick · 06-30-2009, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kurt_Nelson

Wow. That's quite an opening sentence.

Just curious why you think the tank is doomed to crash. I really don't see any info here that would give anyone a clue as to the future of this tank. Did I miss something... ?

All tanks crash as part of the cycling process.

R6Chick · 06-30-2009, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kurt_Nelson

Wow. That's quite an opening sentence.

Just curious why you think the tank is doomed to crash. I really don't see any info here that would give anyone a clue as to the future of this tank. Did I miss something... ?

The individual is questioning what water to use on the initial fill of the tank. I was giving an alternative to purchasing water and using my tank as an example of how tap water can do just fine. Nobody is obligated to agree with me.

Kurt_Nelson · 06-30-2009, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by R6Chick

The individual is questioning what water to use on the initial fill of the tank. I was giving an alternative to purchasing water and using my tank as an example of how tap water can do just fine. Nobody is obligated to agree with me.

It's not that I was agreeing or disagreeing with you... I just couldn't figure out why you thought the person's tank was going to crash. Guess I was reading it as a fatalistic "your tank is doomed, so who cares what you do" type comment, and didn't think that was too fair to the original poster.

In my neck of the woods, a tank "crashing" implies there is livestock in it and all your parameters go to heck in a handbasket, killing everything off. I suppose the same thing happens during a cycle... guess it's a semantics thing.