I tell you what, I have been doing aquariums for over 35 years
A lot has changed in that time. I would not recommend anyone use tap water in their tank. All of the new books out there also warn of the problems with tap water. Why set yourself up for problems down the road?
If you do the research you will find that
ro water needs extra supplement added.
Where did you do your research? All commercial salts available for the aquarium trade have "suppliments" added, this would include Ph buufering agents.
Since this is a new setup I would use regular tap water
I do not completely disagree with this, although
RO/
DI water is much better. When starting a new tank (especially a big one) Ro/
DI water is an added exspense and filling a ank with 200gals of
RO/
DI water at once can be a pain. Tap may work for a first fill, but
RO/
DI should be used for all water changes and top-offs.
I would stick to damsels until you have cycled
Wow, this is really outdated. No need to use live fis for cycling any more.
LR or a plain old cockatail shrimp from the grocery store will do the trick. Be honest, cycling with damsels is hard on the fish and more people do not even wantthem in the tank after the cycling process. Catching them is a huge problem (especially with any amount of
LR) and bringing them back to the
LFS isa just a hassel.
I have been doing this for some time and I have a building that I run these experiments for setting up tanks and maintaining them,(this is my business).
And I wish you continued luck with it. You must be doing something right if you have been it for this long. Keep in mind, though, that, though, that ideas and techniques change. What you described may have worked 30 years ago and may very well work now. But please do not discount other options that are more "modern".