Do you belive in RO Water?

[zacdl]

OK some people are saying RO water is a must some people are saying it really is optional.

Just want to see the %s on this one.

 

[SJSobczyk]

Well this is a tough one, it really depends on your city water. Some city water is perfect while some isnt. I know many reefers that use city water with no problems at all! So for me to say its bad or good, i dont know? I use RO strictly for the safety feature.

SJS

 

[Fluff]

I had to choose yes because my tap water is aweful. It's the only water "I" would use. But, I guess it really depends on how good or bad your water is.

 

[zacdl]

lol split 50/50 and I havent even voted yet.

 

[electrikat]

I believe it is completely dependent on the quality and chemical content of your tap water. If you have it tested, and it seems to be relatively free of heavy metals and phosphates etc, then if you want to use it ,you should. If you don't encounter any major problems with algae and cyano and fish death then I say it's a go. If you do, then start doing water changes with ro/di water till the tap is gone or diluted. Again, as always, this is strictly my opinion based on my own experience with only one water supply.

 

[zacdl]

OK I called my LFS today.
They said the tap water is good.
They said it is OK to use in a SW aquarium (they said they have RO water, but city water is really pretty good).

 

[fishfreek]

If you think RO is excessive then just start out with tap. If you run into water quality issues then you can slowly convert over.

If you do use tap water use some form of declorinator for your top off water.

 

[zacdl]

Yea im going to keep some water in a little tupperware thing and use it as I need it.

 

[electrikat]

I highly recommend Prime.

 

[zacdl]

I was thinking of AmQuel, something I can buy at walmart...

Prime has aloe vera doesnt it?

 

[electrikat]

Not sure if it's aloe, but it gets rid of chlorine, chloramine, and ammonia. It also detoxifies nitrite and nitrate. And it helps the slime coat without over activating your skimmer like other slime coat additions do. I've been using it for over a year(out right now) and it works great.

 

[zacdl]

It must not have aloe because aloe overactivates it.

Is it at walmart?

 

[ellisz]

I used tap water in my FO tank for 7 years with no problems. When I switched over to a reef tank, I had Cyano problems bad. I had to switch to RO/DI water.

 

[zacdl]

What do you mean by reef? You just added corals to it?

 

[electrikat]

Not at our walmart. It is at petsmart and petco plus my lfs. Cheapest at our petsmart.

 

[zacdl]

LFS I am about done with, its cheaper to have stuff shipped in than go there.

Ive been begging petsmart and petcome to come here.

 

[ZoozFishMaster]

Believe me, you do not want Petsmart and Petco to come 'here'. They are popping up everywhere and putting an end to quality LFS. In the future, you may just get what you wish for but at the expense of darn good fish stores.

 

[zacdl]

I really dont care at least I wont have to pay 150% more than anywhere else for stuff.

 

[steve r]

RO/DI water

just a bit of wisdom i have learned from this site. pretty much everything that the regulars here say is true or a good idea. i have never been steered wrong by anyone on this board..........the same can not be said of LFS in general.

here is our 29 gallon at about 6 months with help from the good people here on the board.

steve r

 

[Blazeherd2306]

Amquel and Prime are both good. I've used amquel for 1 year and never had any problems. Now I use Prime and find no problems with it either.