binaryterror said:
With the garded hose water, what if I let the hose run for like 10 minutes? Try to get everything out of there. I also have hot water that get HOT, and I mean REALLY REALLY hot! Like, I cant even put my hands under it. Maybe that will like burn out whatever is living in there (if anything). Unless cold water is better for killing bacteria and whatnot.
sorry to jump in this late but this needs clarification
IMO.. if the plastic is going to leach adding heat will only make it worse..
my oppion about
RO/
DI.. If I were think about using my tap water first I would get a
TDS meter (e-bay $20), a
PO4 testkit and test my tapwater.. I am positive that my tapwater would test horribly wrong for mixing up
SW from the
KH reading alone.. but if you can get a reading of less then 10 ms and test for
PO4 with a reading of zero.. and test every time before putting water into the tank and get these readings then I would consider it.. other then that.. A
RO/
DI unit would be on my shopping list..
PO4=algae
TDS= more and wrong minerals and buffers then you need/want.. there in the artifical
SW mix..
btw.. I read the average tap water
TDS measurement it 200-300 ms... low
TDS tapwater is a extream rarity but is not imposible..
there is always a chance that there could be trace amounts of copper in your tapwater... even a low
TDS reading could expose your inverts. to levels of copper that would not be condusive to life.. its just not a good idea to use tapwater in the first place.. the composition of the water can change and you wouldnt know it.. and testing the water for all the harmfull ellements constantly would be more expensive then a
RO/
DI unit..
as said before, its your tank, good luck..