Public aquarium with tap

[Mebbid]

Found this link of a new aquarium that is starting up and they just filled it with TAP water!

It's not surprising though as it would take 2000 days to fill that thing up with a 75gpd ro / di unit but then comes the 17 tons of salt that has to be mixed in....

Charlotte-Concord aquarium starts to fill, preparing for creatures

 

[MJSerik]

Simple solution. 2000 RODI units

 

[Holygral]

They are just filling and expect creatures in Jan, "it will take a few weeks for the biological filter to mature" a few weeks :-(

 

[bribo12]

They are just filling and expect creatures in Jan, "it will take a few weeks for the biological filter to mature" a few weeks :-(

I'm pretty sure a public aquarium has plenty of seeded material they can use in the tank.

 

[bribo12]

It also stated that the animals would be added slowly as to not overload the filter, I think they kinda know what they're doing lol

 

[saltwaternewbie12]

I just want a job there!!!

 

[MJSerik]

I think they know what they're doing. If they just threw a bunch of things together, they'd lose probably a few million. I'm sure it'll be great

 

[mr_X]

I maintain a 150 gallon in-wall system with sump that was initially filled, and to this day (I think it's about 3 years old now)get's topped off with treated tap water. There are massive pieces of sps in the tank and inverts too. No nuisance algae to speak of either. It's certainly possible.

 

[TheTodd]

I maintain a 150 gallon in-wall system with sump that was initially filled, and to this day (I think it's about 3 years old now)get's topped off with treated tap water. There are massive pieces of sps in the tank and inverts too. No nuisance algae to speak of either. It's certainly possible.

GASP! Are you using Prime or something else?

 

[Gregcoyote]

It depends on region and even time of year. The danger can be that your tap water tests great, then across town they do a big upgrade and dump loads of particulates into the pipes. I don't trust it to even drink tap water anymore, much less trust my $$$ reef to it.

 

[Mebbid]

It depends on region and even time of year. The danger can be that your tap water tests great, then across town they do a big upgrade and dump loads of particulates into the pipes. I don't trust it to even drink tap water anymore, much less trust my $$$ reef to it.

Well when your livestock is worth as much as a small house; that doesn't surprise me one bit.

 

[Gregcoyote]

LOL, there are enough variables in this hobby already. Eliminating tap water is a good place to start for most anybody. Not to say that some do fine with it, but most don't.

 

[mr_X]

GASP! Are you using Prime or something else?

Yes, of course prime for the chlorine, but the owner would not let me install a RODI, and I sure as hell wasn't going to lug water change water, and top off water, which would be around 50 gallons a week, 40 minutes each way.
I just pulled an orange cap out that got too big for the tank. It was about 15" x 24" in diameter....pretty massive. That plus I have about 20 pounds of green sinularia leather sitting here from the tank as well.
Anyone need any?

 

[Gregcoyote]

Yes, of course prime for the chlorine, but the owner would not let me install a RODI, and I sure as hell wasn't going to lug water change water, and top off water, which would be around 50 gallons a week, 40 minutes each way. I just pulled an orange cap out that got too big for the tank. It was about 15" x 24" in diameter....pretty massive. That plus I have about 20 pounds of green sinularia leather sitting here from the tank as well. Anyone need any?

Theres an exception to every rule. So is your approach that reef keepers don't need RO/DI water and that it's a time waster when tap water is perfectly fine? Everywhere? If so, I disagree. You are a proponent of never adding anything you can't test for, well, tap water has things in it you can't test for. Our tap,water comes from wells along the Missouri River. Even though it's okay for most uses IMO, It is not suitable for reefs. It also runs thru miles of copper and plastic pipe before it gets to my house. I don't even have any copper fittings in my fish room, much less use water that has traveled thru copper pipes.

 

[mr_X]

No. Of course not. I would never put the filthy water that comes out of my tap in my tank, or in my mouth. I'm just telling of one case. I'm just saying it's possible.

 

[Gregcoyote]

No. Of course not. I would never put the filthy water that comes out of my tap in my tank, or in my mouth. I'm just telling of one case. I'm just saying it's possible.

Roger that. I just replaced all the cartridges in my RO/DI filter and they were disgusting. I was very happy to throw all that iron and other particulates into the trash rather than run it thru my reef.

 

[mr_X]

My sediment filters get like this in 5 months-

 

[Gregcoyote]

My sediment filters get like this in 5 months-

You don't have to but look at that and know not adding it to your system was a good thing.

 

[Mebbid]

My sediment filters get like this in 5 months-

That really puts things into perspective since I myself am using tap water. I wouldn't hesitate to say my water is a fair bit cleaner than that.... but still.

 

[Gregcoyote]

That really puts things into perspective since I myself am using tap water. I wouldn't hesitate to say my water is a fair bit cleaner than that.... but still.

But that's the point, you don't know until you see the filters after a few months. Not to say that it isn't okay some places, the corals Mr-X was describing obviously liked the mineralization of that tap water. But lots of city and rural water supplies have iron and other dissolved metals in it at some concentrations.

There was a guy on this forum that was in water treatment. If he's reading this chime in.