Water Issues

[jackamo55]

At the moment I have been using distilled water from the store to top up my tank but this is starting to build up in price and at the moment i cant afford to get a RO filter . So i have bought some water conditioner to add to my tap water , can anyone give me some advise on using this ? Also a friend of mine used to use tapwater to top up but left it in a container for 24 hours before with an airstone in , then put it straight into the tank ... and he swore by in !! Anyone have any advise on this ?? Was thinking maybe add conditioner then aerate it for 24 hours before top up???

Thanks for your advice guys

 

[wontonflip]

The water conditioner remove the chlorine, but won't do anything for the other impurities. Just be prepared for algae outbreaks. That treatment you are talking about is good for freshwater, but not saltwater. That's how I used to prepare my freshwater tank water.

 

[jackamo55]

I should also add that i am adding some ammonia detoxifier which goes with the water conditioner to remove ammonia , nitrites and nitrates . I dont know to what extent though

 

[Cathic]

If you expecting us to say there is a special formula of things to add to tap to make it safe - we wont. Doesn't matter what you add tap will still contain harmful water pollutants.

 

[Marines_Wife]

For fun test you tap water. See what the levels are in it.

 

[chuck78]

+1 Wonton, Sorry to say but, there ain't many cheap shortcuts in this hobby.

 

[jackamo55]

I have tested my tap water levels and they are as follows ,
Ph 7.2
amm- 0.10
no2- 0
no3 0

other soon to come

 

[SarahSmile]

Are you testing your tap water with salt in it?
Your tests are for saltwater, so, useless for freshwater from the tap.
Also, it's the phosphates and chemicals in the tap water you should test for...I'm sorry, I know, I tried using tap water for my biocube forever ago and it was just not great for me, I switched to r/o and it's worth it, I promise you. It's not a cheap hobby and it doesn't pay to skimp on stuff like water. Good water is the building block of a successful tank.

 

[Toolman]

No petco or LFS near you? how much do you top off per day? I pay a dollar a gallon for fresh as well as salt so my water expenses are only around $ 8.00 per week.

 

[jackamo55]

Theres no pet co , I live in st johns newfoundland . The lfs is quite away away from were i live and without a car getting buckets of water to and from is not the best . I think i will stick with distilled water from the store until i can get something better

 

[Northstar24]

API test kits are good for both freshwater and saltwater - and they normally come with both color charts

That being said, tap water can be used, but expect it to cause problems down the line. Bare minimum I would use something like SeaChem's Prime to take care of chlorine. But even the best water conditioners wont do anything for TDS (total dissolved solids), phosphates, or silicates.

You're also in Newfoundland, the water table there may not be as messed up as it is most places here in the US. Call your local water provider and see if you can get the latest test results. This should be a full panel work up that will tell you everything that's in the water. The things you should be most on the lookout for are TDS, phosphates, silicates, and dissolved metals (copper in particular) It's quite possible that your tap water would be fine for your tank after being treated for chlorine - but for the vast majority of us, its not

 

[SarahSmile]

My api test kit does not have the freshwater color chart so maybe they do not all include them?

 

[fastrd400]

+1 Northstar