Tap Water....

[moosevandyke]

I know its been discussed alot and i went through some old post but wondering about tap water. I live in fort collins colorado. TDS is under 50. The LFS (the fish crew) uses the tap water and no RO/DI in their shop and all there stuff is beautiful. I dont mind spending the money but wondering if its something that can wait a week or two while i use tap for top offs while tank cycles. Thoughts. Thank you!!

 

[Badnade]

Chlorine and chloramines can kill the beneficial bacteria when cycling. You could possibly use the stuff that detoxifies it. I never have so I can't speak for it in terms of experience.

If it's just for top offs, you could buy some distilled water at the grocery store and use in the mean time.

I personally would not use straight tap water unless it was an absolute emergency and something was going to die if I didn't get water quickly.

 

[Biglew11]

The problem is you don't know what that 50 ppm consists of. If you the use that tap as top off water as the water evaporates that 50 ppm will increase.

Some say it's ok to use tap for initial fill up, but after that use rodi or distilled for the top off water.

 

[moosevandyke]

Yea that makes sense. Thats an easy solution until i can get one installed.

 

[Zer0]

You’re really just setting yourself up for a headache if you use tap water that you don’t know the composition of. Can it be done? Probably. Are you going to like the results? Probably not.

 

[Bfragale]

back in the day it was tap water all day every day- granted it was near I possiable to kee corals and major algae issues. These days personally I would not do tap water just because you have no idea what’s in it. I think it’s better safe then Sorry. I freak out of my ro/di hits a tds of 1 or 2 lol. Distilled would work in a pinch but I would plan on a ro/di unit for the long term.
Happy reefing.

 

[Jekyl]

Absolutely would not use tap water. Your LFS gets away with it because everything isn't permanent. Different forms of chlorine and copper are toxic. Not to mention the additional silicate leading to algae growth.

 

[G Santana]

Many years ago I did it and it was ok, but just ok. It wasn't until I learned about RO that my tank became very stable and that was before DI. IMO If it means waiting a little while, then wait to get your RODI unit, use the time to plan your tank!!!

Good luck with your build!!!

 

[moosevandyke]

Thanks everyone! I had a feeling this would be the response. Now to find a good RO/Di system.

 

[Jekyl]

Thanks everyone! I had a feeling this would be the response. Now to find a good RO/Di system.

I use the BRS 5 stage and love it. Comes with a built in TDS meter.

 

[Auquanut]

If you're just using it to replace evaporation for a week or two while the tank cycles, I really don't see much harm. I would use Prime sparingly to help neutralize the chlorine/chloramines before using it. Long term, I would only use RO/DI. The only way to be sure of your water quality is to make your own. Just one less thing you have to wonder about.

 

[HB AL]

I wouldn't use tap water unless I had an urgent emergency where I had no other choice at the time.

 

[rmurken]

Thanks everyone! I had a feeling this would be the response. Now to find a good RO/Di system.

I’ll be a little contrarian (with complete respect for all other views, which are well-taken and totally reasonable) and suggest that if your LFS is getting away with it, I don’t think it’s crazy to try it. The major advantages are quicker water changes, general ease, and using a lot less water. I wouldn’t immediately take as a given that the 50 tds includes something incompatible with a reef tank.

But just going with RODI is a safe bet and definitely the standard practice. And unless you plan to do larger than average water changes, I would tend to use RODI for topoffs no matter what, since you don’t want to concentrate what’s in your tapwater, good or bad.

I’d LOVE to be able to use tap water, but my supply has a fair amount of NO3, PO4, and silica, so RODI it is.

 

[moosevandyke]

I’ll be a little contrarian (with complete respect for all other views, which are well-taken and totally reasonable) and suggest that if your LFS is getting away with it, I don’t think it’s crazy to try it. The major advantages are quicker water changes, general ease, and using a lot less water. I wouldn’t immediately take as a given that the 50 tds includes something incompatible with a reef tank.

But just going with RODI is a safe bet and definitely the standard practice. And unless you plan to do larger than average water changes, I would tend to use RODI for topoffs no matter what, since you don’t want to concentrate what’s in your tapwater, good or bad.

I’d LOVE to be able to use tap water, but my supply has a fair amount of NO3, PO4, and silica, so RODI it is.

Yea. There are other folks in fort collins that use the tap water and have oldish tanks with no issues. It just seems for a couple hundred bucks you may be able to save yourself a headache. The LFS does have large display reef tanks that are beautiful with great coral growth etc. Thank you very much for your response!