tap water to start out with

[huey112]

Is there anything wrong with starting out your tank with tap water because I don't think I can make all the trips necessary to get RO/DI water from my LFS to fill my tank. If it's ok should I add something like aqua safe to neutralize chlorine, etc..

 

[EJS4]

Are you going FO or FOWLR? Have you tested your tap water for contaminates including phosphate?

 

[huey112]

I'm doing FOWLR. No I haven't tested my tap water for contaminates. That's a good idea. Should of thought of that.

 

[midiman]

Even though most advise against tap water use AT ALL, several people I know used tap water to start, and then used RO/DI water for subsequent top offs and water changes. That way, they could get started while their pocketbooks recoverd a bit from the rest of the purchases. Once the piggy bank was full again, they bougth the RO/DI units. They report no problems

I bought mine from eBay: vendor name filterdirect. I bought the RO/DI and two shut off valves: one for my garbage can storage tank and the other for use in my auto top of in my sump.

 

[electrikat]

I use only tap water all the time. However I did take a sample of our water to the local pool store and had it tested for chemicals and hardness. We use Prime as the conditioner. We have used several brands but have found Prime to be the best bang for the buck.

 

[jmmiller]

I used tap water to start my tank and then bought the same RO/DI unit on ebay as midiman. I havent had any problems with my water or the filtersdirect unit.

 

[badfish]

did you guys use any sort of conditioner, i was told that instant ocean has conditioner in it, should i buy another conditioner like electrikat did? My LFS said that the town i live in has good water, and since i am not adding any coral i should be fine. Do you guys agree. I filled up with tap, but will probably doing top offs and water changes with RO.

 

[electrikat]

Every town adds chlorine to their water supply to kill bacteria. Doesn't matter where you live you have to use a dechlorinator. I suggested Prime because it does so much more. It gets rid of chlorine, chloramine. Detoxes ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Also adds a slime coat without causing your skimmer to have problems with overflowing and bubbling.

 

[badfish]

awesome, i will pick som up later this week, thanks again.

 

[huey112]

Thanks for all your advice it has been helpful.