tap water

parrotchute

parrotchute

DUSTOFF MEDEVAC
So, going to sound like a pretty newb question, but has anyone actually had success using tap water?
I'm in a bit on a conundrum - I've been using my RODI unit for a while, working great, but the guy I rent from (I work with him and he gives me a great deal on rent with no utility charges) says his elec bill has gone up like crazy. Here I am, thinking it's free well water, but we think the pump drawing the water up from the well is using a lot of energy, especially when I leave the water on all night to fill up my buckets.
The option of buying distilled water is open, I guess, but I have a small car and live in the middle of nowhere, so it wouldn't be effecient at all.

I'm thinking of switching back to non-rodi tap water to save the expense. I've had it tested, and it seems good, except it's fairly "hard" and seems to have a lot of phosphates. I just got a phosphate reactor and am running phospure, so maybe I can get away with it? :shock:

Besides giving him money for electricity, anyone have any other ideas?
Alex
 
I haven't had luck. I have a water softener (reverse osmosis) installed which all the water in my house runs through, which supposedly takes out all the gunky stuff. But even then, it left around 10-20ppm of nitrates. I even did a side by side with my ro/di water and my ro water....ro/di was still better. Then again, I'm running off city water.
 
Here's a great article on what to except out of your tap water.
Reverse Osmosis/Deionization Systems to Purify Tap Water for Reef Aquaria

I have a water softener (reverse osmosis) installed which all the water in my house runs through, which supposedly takes out all the gunky stuff.
Click to expand...
Those are 2 totally different things. A water softner removes no impurities from the water. In fact, it removes calcium and magnesium and replaces it with sodium.
 
i have had 100% no success with tap water long term. WHen you use tap water, diagnosing problems will be extremely hard to do.
 
I started off with tap, but I do have a filter on the main water line before it hits the water softener. It was fairly low in nitrates (10 ppm) but I always worried about phosphates. You can test your tap water. You will probably be surprised what you find (Capt's article will give you a good clue). I would save up toward an RO/DI filter. There are some decent ones from Pure Water or Air, Water, and Ice that are pretty reasonable.
 
How many grocery stores do you drive by back and forth to work?
Heres my thoughts on RO.
The LFS I help at dont use RO water.They use tap water for top-offs and water changes and dont have algae issues.Every single tank looks great,coralline algae grows like crazy along with the corals.Softies,LPS,and SPS all look great with awesome growth.
However I tryed tap in my own tank when I first started in this hobby.Had all kinds of algae and cyano issues.
So I'd call it a gamble.Your tank might do great with tap water,but on the other hand,it might not.
 
if you;re going to use tap, be sure to first checkout your city;s annual water report to find out what is in the water.
 
+1 Yote. I'm actually having more issues with algae than when I used tap. However, I still think it is better to use RO or RO/DI.
 
I actually had a massive red algae/bacterium groth explosion in my tank cause i started it with tap, when i got smart(er) and started changing the water to ro that i got from walmart (culligan machine) the red stuff went away almost over night.

while i was standing there waiting for my buckets to fill, i was reading the inspection log on that machine, it was tested that morning and had 3ppm TDS, where as my house tap had something like 400 or something really really high... (no i dont actually remember the #'s but i remember the guy at the lfs just about flipped, he said it was the highest he'd ever seen.)

i blame the silicates that are in my local tap for the red/brown algae stuff that almost took over my tank.
 
Prob about one store, I COULD swing it if I had to, but if I can avoid it I would.
I have algae even WITH RODI water - I'm trying to get better at feeding exact portions.
I have well water, so I can't get the city to give me any test results. I tested it for nitrates, and it read 0.
Is there any harm I could do just trying it? Kind of an experiment...
I Don't mind using the RODI water, but like I said, its just eating the elec bill to death!
 
well, a couple things to consider, get yourself some carboys, these are thoes nifty containers that have a handle and a good sealing lid. there are a few to choose from, but i would think that this would be the most secure way to transport water. Just make sure you pay attention to what kind of plastic thier made out of. there should be a recycle symbol on the container, and inside that triangle there is a #, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7. I would only use something with a #1 or a #2, as the others are harder to recycle, and some have been known to leech chemicals from the plastic into whatever is inside them.

For mine, i just use the 5 gallon white paint buckets that they sell at walmart, they are a #2, and have decent lits, but thier not leak proof, so when i need water, i just throw them in the back of the pickup and go from there.

Something else that a buddy of mine does, he's been doing this a lot longer than i have, is when you buy your salt, buy it in the 5 gal buckets, the ones with the screw on lid, and the rubber seal in the lid. he carrys 4 of thoes full of water in his back seat in his mom's car, and he's never spilled a drop.

if you do get an ro filter, then use the "waste" water to water your plants or mop the floor, or wash clothes in.. you can start the washing machine, and pour a 5 gallon bucket of water in ontop before it gets full and save some time, and not waste the water that way as well...
 
Yeah, I use the old salt water 5 gallons for water storage. I already have an RO filter, I'm just trying to figure out if my well water is good enough...Update: I took a sample to the LFS and he said it looked good, but had some phosphates. Would my phosphate reactor be able to handle that?

Good tip with the laundry machine tho!
 

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