Not so helpful LFS?

[Bribo12]

Are you in the DC area? I live on the eastern shore now but I remember tropical lagoon being decent. Blue ribbon koi is in VA near DC and it’s pretty nice too

 

[PSims113]

Are you in the DC area? I live on the eastern shore now but I remember tropical lagoon being decent. Blue ribbon koi is in VA near DC and it’s pretty nice too

Thanks! I will checkout tropical lagoon, they aren't terribly far from me. I'm between Frederick & Baltimore, but work close enough to where they are. There's also a relatively new place in Frederick I might try.

I don't really blame the place I went, they were pretty busy & one employee's knowledge doesn't mean the whole store is bad. I should have done more research and asked better questions. I did tell them maybe someday for corals, so they recommended upgrading my lights when I was ready.

I'm still on the fence about the canister, I don't want to drill into my tank (this seems beyond my skill set tbh), so it might be the best option but I'm looking into other options before I unbox it and can't return it.

Seems like the best idea is to use the rodi water since maybe someday I'll give corals a shot.

 

[Azedenkae]

I'm still on the fence about the canister, I don't want to drill into my tank (this seems beyond my skill set tbh), so it might be the best option but I'm looking into other options before I unbox it and can't return it.

Given your tank size, you can just use a HOB or even just have powerheads in the tank for circulation and that'd be fine. The advantage of a HOB is you can hide filter floss and stuff in there.

For a marine aquarium, the live rock you have can be all the biological filtration you'd need, so yeah. You don't necessarily have to have a sump or a canister.

 

[dracogrey]

If you use an RODI system, you don't need Prime.

Prime is still good to have on hand though in case there's ammonia or whatever.

Tap water varies from region to region. I am in Chicago, and run tap water through a simple Pur filter, and that's good enough to have a reef tank with corals.

Canister is definitely possible, but is way more of a hassle than its worth imo. Personally, I'd rather anything than a canister. Including putting a powerhead in my tank and wrapping it with filtration media. There's so many easier routes than canisters.

Again, it's not that it is impossible, just something I'd never go for ever.

 

[dracogrey]

If you use an RODI system, you don't need Prime.

Prime is still good to have on hand though in case there's ammonia or whatever.

Tap water varies from region to region. I am in Chicago, and run tap water through a simple Pur filter, and that's good enough to have a reef tank with corals.

Canister is definitely possible, but is way more of a hassle than its worth imo. Personally, I'd rather anything than a canister. Including putting a powerhead in my tank and wrapping it with filtration media. There's so many easier routes than canisters.

Again, it's not that it is impossible, just something I'd never go for ever.

tangent: I’m in Chicago as well. LFS told me tap was fine for a fowlr tank as well. Shocked me given all the info on reefs. Looks like my planned fowlr is its own beast in that regard. Thoughts?

 

[dlsorensen]

tangent: I’m in Chicago as well. LFS told me tap was fine for a fowlr tank as well. Shocked me given all the info on reefs. Looks like my planned fowlr is its own beast in that regard. Thoughts?

Tap water can be made "safe". It is not optimal to use this as previously noted because even with a fish only system, there will be a myriad of nutrients in tap water you don't want in your system. These could range from heavy metals which could harm fish to phosphates and silicate which will increase algae growth. If you are able to, I highly recommend using RODI water to get the best start possible.

 

[Nemo&Friends]

Just to let you know I use tap water for my FOWLR, and my fish are doing well. My oldest fish is about 12, and the younger ones are 3. But my guess is it also depends of where you live and the quality of the water provided by your city.
I really wonder, why tap water works for freshwater fish and not for saltwater ones.
I do not have a skimmer nor any fancy equipment.
I also have macro algae, but no corals. You may need better water for corals.
At least they did not sell you too many unnecessary things, which is good. I have the feeling a lot of the equipment people buy are not necessary. I think that LFS was very reasonable and it is a good starter point.

 

[dracogrey]

Just to let you know I use tap water for my FOWLR, and my fish are doing well. My oldest fish is about 12, and the younger ones are 3. But my guess is it also depends of where you live and the quality of the water provided by your city.
I really wonder, why tap water works for freshwater fish and not for saltwater ones.
I do not have a skimmer nor any fancy equipment.
I also have macro algae, but no corals. You may need better water for corals.
At least they did not sell you too many unnecessary things, which is good. I have the feeling a lot of the equipment people buy are not necessary. I think that LFS was very reasonable and it is a good starter point.

What fish do you keep with your macro algae? It’s something I’m looking at given some are a calciferous species—shaving brush and mermaid’s tail. (I’d have to find the right video to quote that correctly.)

 

[Nemo&Friends]

i have 2 tanks. My larger FOWLR has my fish ranging from 3 years to 12 years.
Then I decided to try my hand at macro algae. I had a starry blenny alone in a 40 G tank. I tried to add algae, but he ate all of it. So I returned the blenny to the LFS and started macro algae again. It was not that easy, and I lost algae at the beginning. But now it has finally taken off. I choose small carnivore fish for it.
2 firefish, 2 pajama cardinal, 2 scissors tail dartffish. Got firefish 1 year ago, pajama 6 month ago and dartfish 3 month ago.
I also have a coral banded shrimp and some astrea snails. So far snails are only eating pest algae, not the one I want to grow.
I cannot have regular algae in the other tank, as the rabbit fish, the hippo and my dwarf angel would eat it.
I am planning to try calciferous plant in the big one. When I inherited the big tank, it had a few calciferous plant in it, but at that time it only had damsel and clown fish. The plant turn sexual one day, and never grew back.

 

[Azedenkae]

tangent: I’m in Chicago as well. LFS told me tap was fine for a fowlr tank as well. Shocked me given all the info on reefs. Looks like my planned fowlr is its own beast in that regard. Thoughts?

I'll speak from a scientist's perspective first. There is certainly evidence that certain contaminants can cause harm to corals, for sure, and they can be quite sensitive at times.

However, too much of anything can kill anything, including us. Too much oxygen can kill us. Same with food and honestly anything that we take into our body.

Now, I have not seen a study where the effect of salt water made from tap water on corals and fish have been conducted. Given the vast number of studies on corals produced constantly, if there was a study I may have just missed it though. But then again, interest in answering such a question specifically by scientists is probably pretty low.

I have not seen robust experiment done by an aquarist to investigate something like that. Again, could have just miss it.

So as far as I am aware, there is no concrete, clear idea of what in tap water harms marine organisms, and how. Except copper + inverts, which was pretty clear. But other things, like using tap water + corals, honestly I am seeing less and less evidence that there is generally (i.e. not the uncommon case where one's tap water just has so much contaminant) harm caused by using tap water. Honestly, a lot of the toxicity attributed to using tap water could be due to coincidence or secondary, indirect effects. For example - an aquarist using tap water may also be less 'careful' overall at taking care of their reef, hence it's less the tapwater and more their husbandry practices than anything.

Anyways, whatever. I'll just speak from my experience.

I don't use tap water in my reef aquariums. Not once have any issues re: corals could be attributed to the usage of tap water.

I had corals grow plenty well. Same with fish.

I am not saying tap water is always safe, just that the dangers of it may be overblown. I really do want to stress this is just from my experience, and hey, I may just be lucky. The tap water of the six or seven or so places I lived in may just happen to be safe enough, for example.

 

[dracogrey]

I'll speak from a scientist's perspective first. There is certainly evidence that certain contaminants can cause harm to corals, for sure, and they can be quite sensitive at times.

However, too much of anything can kill anything, including us. Too much oxygen can kill us. Same with food and honestly anything that we take into our body.

Now, I have not seen a study where the effect of salt water made from tap water on corals and fish have been conducted. Given the vast number of studies on corals produced constantly, if there was a study I may have just missed it though. But then again, interest in answering such a question specifically by scientists is probably pretty low.

I have not seen robust experiment done by an aquarist to investigate something like that. Again, could have just miss it.

So as far as I am aware, there is no concrete, clear idea of what in tap water harms marine organisms, and how. Except copper + inverts, which was pretty clear. But other things, like using tap water + corals, honestly I am seeing less and less evidence that there is generally (i.e. not the uncommon case where one's tap water just has so much contaminant) harm caused by using tap water. Honestly, a lot of the toxicity attributed to using tap water could be due to coincidence or secondary, indirect effects. For example - an aquarist using tap water may also be less 'careful' overall at taking care of their reef, hence it's less the tapwater and more their husbandry practices than anything.

Anyways, whatever. I'll just speak from my experience.

I don't use tap water in my reef aquariums. Not once have any issues re: corals could be attributed to the usage of tap water.

I had corals grow plenty well. Same with fish.

I am not saying tap water is always safe, just that the dangers of it may be overblown. I really do want to stress this is just from my experience, and hey, I may just be lucky. The tap water of the six or seven or so places I lived in may just happen to be safe enough, for example.

“I don't use tap water in my reef aquariums. Not once have any issues re: corals could be attributed to the usage of tap water.”
To be clear, you do or don’t use tap water? May have confused myself. It’s also going to be a FOWLR tank which I was told makes all the difference in the use of tap water.

 

[Azedenkae]

“I don't use tap water in my reef aquariums. Not once have any issues re: corals could be attributed to the usage of tap water.”
To be clear, you do or don’t use tap water? May have confused myself. It’s also going to be a FOWLR tank which I was told makes all the difference in the use of tap water.

Sorry, I meant to say 'I don't use RO water'. XD

 

[dracogrey]

Sorry, I meant to say 'I don't use RO water'. XD

Got it

 

[JPM San Diego]

There are many ways to skin a cat. There are a lot of redundant ways to deal with mechanical filtration, chemical filtration, and biological filtration. One approach (thank you BRS for making this point) is to find a fellow, experienced aquarist who has a set up similar to what you are going for. And then, copy what he/she is doing.
Don't be afraid to ask them, "what do you have that's redundant?"
Some of us have more stuff than we need (we bought too much early on) and never pared it down.

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Just throwing this out there.
1. Tap water vastly varies from city to city, from Flint MI to Boulder CO. If you want to use tap water, have your water that comes out of your tap tested. Then you can decide.
2. One of my best tanks runs on a canister filter. Nano temperate tank, fluval 207, water change once every month or so, I clean the filter every six months. I never even have to clean the glass on this tank. I feed every day, and it is filled with NPS, Anemones, Inverts etc. So don't rule out a canister filter, just make sure it is appropriately sized for your tank. Also having a foam pre-filter on it that you can switch out with a clean one helps.

 

[Tired]

From what I know, there are two problems with tap water. One is what might be in it on a regular basis, and two is what might be in it from sudden changes. Bacterial blooms, something added to the water for a new treatment, all sorts of things that you might not necessarily know about that could take entirely workable tap water into much less workable realms.

I have a canister filter running on my pico. What I've done is remove all the media. It's just an empty container now. I wanted it for water circulation from outside the tank (to avoid the possibility of pump vibrations stressing fish), and for a little extra water volume. Doesn't need much cleaning because there's no media in there to snag anything, and easy to clean when it does; just dump the detritus out.