tap water for reef tank?

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schmidt1216

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Aug 17, 2015
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hey im starting a reef tank and my local fish store says its ok to use tapwater and they use it and have no problems with it and they have had no problems and it doesnt harm any of there fish or coral which all look very very healthy espeacialy
there sps coral which look amazing.
Hellppppppp!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Just straight up tap water?? Really? I think someone was mistaken. Tap water contains way to many different things for it to be used without being treated and filtered. Various contaminates, metals and chemicals like chlorine and also phosphates. While you could get away with using tap for a freshwater tank (still has to be treated in some ways) I haven't heard anyone say it's ok for a reef tank which is why people buy water from the LFS get distilled water or invest in RO/DI units.

Edit: I did some quick reading and to my surprise some people claim to use only tap water for their reef tanks. If you are considering starting up a reef tank many people will tell you to not chance it and just get an RO/DI unit and save yourself the trouble..myself included. Just using tap water can be a huge hazard to your tank and personally not worth the risk in my eyes. You can request a report from your local water company for the water you receive and you'll be able to see what's in it. The accuracy of the report may still be skewed depending on the pipes in your home and their age in regards to metals like copper. Regardless the water is going to contain some things that you'll need to get out of the water before you use it like chlorine or chloramine.

If you are going to spend all the time and money on the tank I wouldn't ever chance it by using water that wasn't as "safe" as possible.

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i called asked and thats wait they said we live in western Australia so it may be different
 
Where in WA are you? Might be able to contact a friend with a reef tank.

I'm in Perth foothills with a FW tank and the water does vary between winter and summer, particularly kh.
 
I ran my first reef for 2 years on straight tap water without issue. Water quality in my area is very good. The main reason I switched to RO/DI is that I was concerned that I could be in big trouble if the Water Authority ever did maintenance on my main or there was a breakage which could cause a huge slug of nasty to enter the system and find its way into my tank.


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Don't use tap water. In a reef tank, you want to know everything going on in the water column. Tap water is bringing a ton of unknowns, most importantly the nitrates and phosphates. I run my reef tank off of distilled water from the store and still have issues with algae growth because of it.
 
I wouldn't run tap due to the possibility of it changing like Sean said. You may be fine for years on it and then all of a sudden something new is added or removed and all of a sudden your tank goes downhill.


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Yeah,like those poor people in Flint ,Mich just found out.


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I bought a DIRO filter , wasn't sure on my city water even after a report from water company and also worried if something changed. The filter has long since paid for itself and still making water with 0 TDS on the water coming out.
Cheap insurance to me.
 
You can certainly get away with it if the water quality in your community and pipes are in good order. But there are enough variables already in reef keeping and one that is controllable is make up water quality and salt.


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I work for a large water municipality in the states. Most around the world are run the same. IMO you should not use tap water. Your LFS is not a permanent situation. When your tank is sitting around 17 yrs like mine then is when you`ll see the results of not using tap. That is what made me write that article.
 
I agree, my reef is 25 years old and after all that time tap water, even good tap water, can concentrate metals and other stuff you don't want.


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