Covid, going mental....so came up with a question

Neil S. · May 17, 2020

Righto....here goes..... Could a freshwater tank system be used as an ATO reservoir for a reef aquarium? In nature freshwater systems in the form of lakes and rivers empty into the ocean, bringing nutrients etc. A river has a constantly renewing water flow, point to point, and fish live just fine in those environments. Having a fresh source of water dumping into the freshwater aquarium and then being pulled out as needed for the reef aquarium seems like it could work (biologically). Has anyone ever looked at that idea before and has anyone ever tried it and found out why it is probably a bad idea. There we go....the results of too much isolation time. Your thoughts?

dbowman5 · May 17, 2020

the only draw back that i can think of would be the addition of nutrient rich water rather than ro. would the build up of hardness be an issue? So the covid brings curiosity and creativity? an even trade? remain calm and Reef on!

Webslinger · May 17, 2020

no . the kalk in it would kill the fish

dbowman5 · May 17, 2020

my FW has pH of 7.2 dKH 3 Nitrate 40 What Webslinger suggests would be bourne out over time if there were no water changes. My 3 dKH would add to the 9 and over time it would increase the total but i think the Nitrate would become a problem sooner. IMO

Webslinger · May 17, 2020

no, i put kalk in my ATO. Calcium for my corals and clean water in. Could work but sounds like a headache in the making.

Victor_C3 · May 17, 2020

I’ve thought of that before. It might be a good option if you’re saltwater system is getting to the point that you’re looking for sources of nutrients to add to the system.

Reeffragger · May 17, 2020

The perks of being a gamer and someone with lots of hobbies and being a little introverted is you dont go insaine with this virus. Unlike some people who are going mental over being home for a few months..

Lol

dbowman5 · May 18, 2020

Reeffragger said:
The perks of being a gamer and someone with lots of hobbies and being a little introverted is you dont go insaine with this virus. Unlike some people who are going mental over being home for a few months..

Lol

My son is online a lot and out and about very little. talk about not affected lol

WVNed · May 18, 2020

So my water company takes the water out of a big lake and I run it through a filter to take all the stuff out and then put it in a little lake to put it back in before I use it in my marine tank?

tylr9m482 · May 18, 2020

The first issue would be whether or not the freshwater system is maintained with RODI water or just tap water. I wouldn’t want anything that is coming from the tap going into my reef. Even if it were RO water, I’d think the extra nitrate and alk would effect the tank negatively but that’s just my own 2 cents. Let us know if u end up doing it

Tuffyyyyy · May 18, 2020

That’s an interesting idea, but I don’t know if it’s worth rigging up since you’ll need the ATO on the fresh tank too

WVNed · May 18, 2020

An honest answer would be if you have one of those reef tanks with zero nutrients it might be an interesting way to dose nitrates and phosphates.
I have no idea how you would judge the size of the freshwater tank to the marine tank and then you would be limited by the evaporation in the marine tank as to how much flow you get through the whole setup. It would also change with the seasons as the humidity in the air goes up and down.

I gave up trying to be Mother Nature. She is way smarter than me.

Webslinger · May 18, 2020

Copingwithpods · May 18, 2020

Tuffyyyyy said:
That’s an interesting idea, but I don’t know if it’s worth rigging up since you’ll need the ATO on the fresh tank too

Interesting idea as you would need just one ato on the freshwater tank. So when the saltys sump sensor reads low the ato pump would fill the freshwater tank with rodi which would then overflow to the saltys sump. This is actually good and bad because it's basically doing many water changes a day which sounds good but it's doing those water changes with sterile water which in time the freshwater fish won't appreciate. You could add buffers and trace minerals but these would end up in your salty tank, no bueno. I think in order for this to work the freshwater tank would have to be quiet large or the evaporation from the saltwater tank quiet low as to not completely strip the freshwater side of everything too quickly.

Reeffragger · May 18, 2020

tylr9m482 said:
The first issue would be whether or not the freshwater system is maintained with RODI water or just tap water. I wouldn’t want anything that is coming from the tap going into my reef. Even if it were RO water, I’d think the extra nitrate and alk would effect the tank negatively but that’s just my own 2 cents. Let us know if u end up doing it

This is my 135g. I use city tap water. Ive never used RODI. But my city water might be cleaner then others ? I know it has nitrates in it. The PH is very high and the water is hard. No idea what else is in it.. but we get our tap water from the reservoir 50 feet behind my house.

I know of no one else but 1 guy who also uses tap water in his reef locally and his tank is fine too. Everyone else gives me weird looks and tries to somehow convjnce me to go rodi.

Were planning on moving soon though... Soo the last thing thats going to be taken outa the house or first maybe is the tank. With a baby pool or tubs in my SUV to transport the fish and rock and corals and sand back and firth so i dont kill anything.

But the big issue.. is what is the water like wherever we move too ? I might have to then get RODI well see.

You may nit see it but i have 16 acros in here. All various sizes from. Colonies to frags and 10 other sps.. the other 40 corals are lps zoas ect

tylr9m482 · May 18, 2020

Reeffragger said:
This is my 135g. I use city tap water. Ive never used RODI. But my city water might be cleaner then others ? I know it has nitrates in it. The PH is very high and the water is hard. No idea what else is in it.. but we get our tap water from the reservoir 50 feet behind my house.

I know of no one else but 1 guy who also uses tap water in his reef locally and his tank is fine too. Everyone else gives me weird looks and tries to somehow convjnce me to go rodi.

Were planning on moving soon though... Soo the last thing thats going to be taken outa the house or first maybe is the tank. With a baby pool or tubs in my SUV to transport the fish and rock and corals and sand back and firth so i dont kill anything.

But the big issue.. is what is the water like wherever we move too ? I might have to then get RODI well see.

You may nit see it but i have 16 acros in here. All various sizes from. Colonies to frags and 10 other sps.. the other 40 corals are lps zoas ect

Nice tank! Very impressive you are able to maintain that with tap water but I guess it all comes down to what is in the water you are sourcing and if it works then no reason to fix it! I'd pick up a few gallons of RO water, just incase, from your LFS before your first water change in the new house if you decide to continue to tap water route. Like you said, water in the new place might be different than where you are now.