I had a fish store test my water, before i go and fill up my tank. I am going to use filtered tap water, because i can't afford to fill a 75 gallon tank with RO water. I am just wondering how the results are, i think everything is fine, but am worried about hardness and alkalinity. Ammonia is 0ppm, nitrate is 0ppm, Nitrite is 0ppm, Ph is 8ppm, and hardness and alkalinity are both at 300. I have read a huge different in opinions on that number. some say around 150 for both is best, and others say 300 is low. So what is the best numbers for those.
Water tests
- Thread starter sprky86
- Start date
Steveg229
Addicted
I would highly recommend purchasing your own RODI unit, as it will pay for itself after the first fill up and first couple water changes. Tap water can contain heavy metals, chlorine, copper, and other contaminants that you cannot test for. These contaminates will lead to many problems with the tank and inhabitants. Another option is using Distilled water which is the second best option. The rodi unit will pay for itself....
mariobrothersleeve
squirrel
Dont use store bought distilled water because they use copper plumbing to distill the bottle water. They have additives to drop it out and your filter will absorb it. Look under the pond sections. I have a total of 6000g in my 2 ponds i understand where u r coming from. Make sure u r always testing.
I know that the RODI system is best, but it is not an option right now. at least for right now. My water is well water, I know its still not perfect, but from what I understand it will be better than city water. So it shouldn't have chlorine and some of the other chemicals in it.
mariobrothersleeve
squirrel
My city has reverse osmosis, best water clarity in the world. There is poor quality water out there,so just dont take my word for it. If you are lacking money, i would wait to do it right. It could cost you double when you have problems later.
Ted
Living one day at a time
I dont have a ro/di at the moment. Just dont have the place for it. What I do now is buy my water from the lfs or from the ro machine at the store. For the initial tank setup I used a lot of "filtered" water not ro/di and prime. I have not had any issue with the tank. I have been doing this for close to shoot 25 years....I have had my share of big f@#k ups. A few things I make sure to do. First I run a skimmer on all my tanks, second I use carbon, third I have a refugium. Fourth I take things slow......
dannyboy
PLUHH
Try talking to your lfs, tell them you will do a lot of business if they can help w/ the initial set up. My last store didn't even charge me for ro water I was such a good customer but not all the stores are the same. Worth a shot.
