WATER

[Devilishturtles]

FWIW, I've used tap water for 4-5 years in my tanks and haven't had any problems. I run agressive filtration (phosphan, carbon, skimmer, purigen soon). I found that with just a skimmer, tap was causing me lots of problems. The chemical media has helped me a lot. Now, with the exception of some macros growing fast, I have hardly any algae and my corals are growing very well.

That's not to say that you will not have problems, like was mentioned all tap water is different and water is the biggest aspect of this hobby. Some will have problems, some will not. I tried an RO unit and the waste water was just too much. I kept running my well dry and it was really causing havoc on my regular water use, so I just stopped using it. I do have a singular DI unit I'm going to give a try, but for now tap, skimmer, and chemical filtration is working very well for me.

 

[seaham358]

A DI alone will do just fine and save you some waste water in the process. If this is for a newly set up tank, no livestock, there would be no harm in experimentation in just using tap.

This is bad advice, tap water will burn right throught a DI cartridge in no time making it useless. Not sure where you get your facts from? Using a RO I used to burn up DIs fast and my TDS was under 200.

Agian its your tank and if you want to roll the dice then go for it. Just don't post here in a few months that you have a bad algae outbreak.
Have your tap water tested... nitrates, phosphates are in alot of tap water.
There are many more stories about the nightmare tap water caused a tank then good stories.

 

[macman7010]

I dont feel that RO/DI water is necessary for a marine aquarium. Also I feel that most people who have algae outbreaks have way bigger problems then residual phosphates in tap water. In addition to that I have used the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals brand DI unit that hooks to the tap and found that those cartridges lasted either a month or in some cases a good bit more doing weekly water changes. Most people will attest that the DI unit Aquarium Pharmaceuticals produces works quite well and is much cheaper at $50 or less then an entire RO unit.

The main thing that can harm aquarium water existing in water out of the tap is phosphates. Unless you have a very poor home filtration system or water supplier you shouldn't find nitrates or ammonia in your water. You may find traces of heavy metals but using an inexpensive de toxifier will take care of that. The one thing to monitor closely is phosphates in your source water. The DI unit I mentioned will help with that if it's a problem although using some form of phosphate absorption media is recommended. Phosphates can cause algae blooms and outbreaks of cyanobacteria if allowed to run unchecked.

I would recommend SeaChem's Prime as a water additive. I have used this with good success as it takes care of various compounds in the water and can help in the creation of a strong slime coat in fish.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Most people will attest that the DI unit Aquarium Pharmaceuticals produces works quite well and is much cheaper at $50 or less then an entire RO unit....

As seaham noted earlier, using straight DI on tap water is NOT a cheap way of getting clean water. The original poster is trying to do this on the cheap... and using straight DI is NOT cheap. Yes - you don't have waste water, but depending on your intial water quality to start with, and how often you do water changes, you will spend waaaaaaay more money per year on consumables (DI resin) than you would with RO/DI (membranes/resin).

 

[Lance M.]

I use the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals DI unit that macman7010 is talking about. I got it for ~$27 and going on 3 months of use with 5 gallon pwc each week and the color change has only affected about half the membrane. The water comes out with trace phosphates but I run phosguard to remove it. In my opinion it works well for me but it could be different for you depending on your tap water. For me it's better than just using straight tap.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I use the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals DI unit that macman7010 is talking about. I got it for ~$27 and going on 3 months of use with 5 gallon pwc each week and the color change has only affected about half the membrane. The water comes out with trace phosphates but I run phosguard to remove it. In my opinion it works well for me but it could be different for you depending on your tap water. For me it's better than just using straight tap.

If your water is coming out of it with still something in it (trace phosphates), then I'd question how good of a job it's doing in the first place. Either that, or you're flowing the water through too fast for it to effectively remove everything. If it was a truly effective DI cartridge, that thing should be toast in 3 months - even with only 5g per week.

I run a dual full-size canister DI unit filtering water coming out of Kold-Steril filter unit. TDS of the water coming into the DI is about 80ppm. Coming out, the TDS is zero. I run at about 40 gallons/hour. Doing 5g PWCs per week, along with top off water, I get around 2 months per resin charge.

I guess my point is that while you've got a DI filter, it sounds like it's really not being effective. You end up with "semi-pure" water, which in my book is kinda like being "kinda pregnant". Granted... it's better than it was coming out of the tap, but for the money spent is it really worth it?

 

[Lance M.]

I think $30 every 6 months is fine. It's better than nothing. I run it exactly as it says making about 5 gallons in 30-40 mins. It even says filters anywhere from 25 to 125 gallon per cartridge depeneding on tap. I guess my point is it is better then nothing. I could go using straight tap but I dont. O and on the phosphates I was meaning I have trace phosphates in my tank and I run phosguard to remove it.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

O and on the phosphates I was meaning I have trace phosphates in my tank and I run phosguard to remove it.

Gotcha. Sounded like you were getting Phosphates from the DI unit. Running the thing at 5 gallons per 30/40 minutes, I'd guess it's taking everything out. If you're getting 6 months out of it, you must have some pretty pristine water to start with. Ever tested it with a TDS meter?

Didn't mean to stray too far from mike3epanda's original question, but starting out a saltwater tank with minimal cash up front is a tough proposition. It's a tough decision on where to save money, but personally, source water would not be the place I'd do it at. And what works with some people with their water might not work for others and their own water. It's one of those areas you need to go in to with your eyes wide open, and really decide what level of filtration (if any) you need. Shoot... I owned six test kits before I even filled up my tank - just to make the decision of how to deal with source water!

 

[Innovator]

A DI alone will do just fine and save you some waste water in the process. If this is for a newly set up tank, no livestock, there would be no harm in experimentation in just using tap.

This is bad advice, tap water will burn right throught a DI cartridge in no time making it useless. Not sure where you get your facts from?

My facts are from the fact that many professionals are using straight di instead of ro/di in order to save what would be wasted water. There are quality di's that will not be burned through excessively and, as I stated before, depends upon your city water supply.

 

[Agnate80700]

just to chime in, i must say this is a very interesting thread. A lot of varied opinions.
FWIW I use tap+aquasafe for topoffs/pwc and have never had a bit of algae, although I dont run that tank with corals and I will be using a ro/di unit (the same one roka linked on ebay) for my upcomming 150gal coral tank.

 

[macman7010]

I happen to live on a natural spring that produces very good quality water. I sometimes use DI water and sometimes dont and have not noticed any negative impacts on my aquarium when I dont use DI water. Again, this could be different for someone with poor quality water but getting a water chemistry breakdown from your water supplier would clear up any questions you had about quality of source water.

 

[mike3epanda]

whoa... arguements..lol.. its good tha i learn from all sides from a lot of people... anyways.. i decide to use tap water to start with with my cycle, i thinki can buy the RO/DI system in about a month and use it when i PWC. I might add dechlorinator and other stuff with it when i start my cycle. thanks for all helps people!

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I might add dechlorinator and other stuff with it when i start my cycle. thanks for all helps people!

You will have to add dechlorinator. The chlorine is in the water to start with to kill bacteria. When you're cycling, you're trying to make bacteria grow. Eventually, the chlorine will dissapate from your water, but if you're going this way, I'd use an additive that removes chlorines and heavy metals.

 

[seaham358]

A DI alone will do just fine and save you some waste water in the process. If this is for a newly set up tank, no livestock, there would be no harm in experimentation in just using tap.

This is bad advice, tap water will burn right throught a DI cartridge in no time making it useless. Not sure where you get your facts from?

My facts are from the fact that many professionals are using straight di instead of ro/di in order to save what would be wasted water. There are quality di's that will not be burned through excessively and, as I stated before, depends upon your city water supply.

what professionals? Are they in the SW hobby and keep reef tank?
Never heard of using just DI water, want to learn more here.

I should say that on a FO tank its not as big a deal to use ro/di as with a reef tank. Heavy metals and phosphates can effect coral growth and I have experienced this when I tried to save water and used a Kold-Sterile unit for 8-10 month on my reef. Coral growth came to an almost stand still when I used that water.
Again all water is not the same and if your lucky enough to have good well /city water then good for you. More oftern then not tap water is not good enough to have a reef system.

 

[Innovator]

Professionals as in zoos/aquariums. Many will also utilize a simplistic water softener before a di setup.

 

[seaham358]

Professionals as in zoos/aquariums. Many will also utilize a simplistic water softener before a di setup.

These people have very deep pockets, unlike most of us.. And I bet there is more to there water purification system then DI water.

And how can you compair a small tank to thousands of gallons? Not the same, small tanks need more TLC then large tank. And if the get a algae outbreak its a natural occurance which they probably want for some of the critters they keep.

 

[Innovator]

It is all relative, really. Considering I work in that profession I can assure you that there are many zoos/aquariums just running softened well water, let alone ro and/or di, and run basic filtration in contrast to the animal bioload in order to make the display interesting and active. This really is not the place to have a heated debate in regards to professional/hobby experiences, but if you wish to discuss further over pm I would be glad to answer any questions you may have.

 

[seaham358]

Heated??
All Im saying now is you can not compair a tank to a lagoon.