Is DIY tap water filter sufficient because i dont have R/O

Jake_the_reefer

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Now that makes sense...
But do you believe that we can put back all the good RO removes as well ?
Is it possible that we get so precise that the smallest parameter swing is what crashes a tank seemingly out of nowhere ??
And i am not being combative...lol...just trying to understand this new way of thinking with tech controlling everything.
I do think we can add it back because some nice brand salts have 75 trace elements (but you pay a premium for it) and I use to just use tap water for months) when I switched to ro I noticed a jump in growth and a decline in algae
 

BZOFIQ

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For lots of beginner setups with soft corals especially and low TDS top water that is conditioned is perfectly fine. No need for crazy elaborate unnecessary treatment with hang on back filters, just few drops of water conditioner will do.

You're kidding yourself if you think it's RO/DI or don't start at all.

That's like me saying its abyzz or you're not getting enough flow.
 
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Paul B

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It depends on your tap water. I ran my reef on New York City water for the first ten years with no problems.

One day the water company added zinc orthophosphate to the water to control corrosion in the pipes and I lost a lot of livestock. But if that didn't happen, I may still be using it. OK, Maybe not. :cool:
 

Reesj

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There are many people using tap water for their tanks including me.
It is not always possible for people to get Rodi system or rodi water. For me over here, there is no lfs to getRODI water and no rodi system seller. There is also the huge cash investment.

I have kept fish for over 25 years with treated tap water without any problems. Ultra sterile systems people preaching here are not the only way. :)
 

BZOFIQ

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It depends on your tap water. I ran my reef on New York City water for the first ten years with no problems.

One day the water company added zinc orthophosphate to the water to control corrosion in the pipes and I lost a lot of livestock. But if that didn't happen, I may still be using it. OK, Maybe not. :cool:

Paul, I've used Tap in NYC almost exclusively for more than a decade. At 38-42 TDS consistently I've had prominent owner of an LFS in NJ tell me that at that low a TDS he wouldnt bother with RODI for some setups. That number for him in NJ is somewhere between 200-300. Yes, it was a softies tank but my last setup looked far better than my friend's setups who said it couldnt be done.

Would I advise it for LPS or SPS dominated tanks - NO!
 

SDK

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Im new to the site, not to reefkeeping.
All this tech is whats new for me.
I was into it 30 years ago.
We couldn't keep some of the elaborate corals that people do now, but we kept some good reef tanks on very little tech also...

Old time reefer here too. Get an RO/DI unit as quickly as you can.

People tend to put a positive veneer on past memories. I had some awesome tanks back in the day too. I also had issues with copper in my water killing inverts at one house I lived in. As well as many more problems managing algae and cyano. In the 80's and 90's if you did not have Ultra Life Red Slime Remover on hand, you were not a fully equipped reef keeper.

I remember when the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Tap Water Purifier came out. It was basically a big DI sleeve with a rubber faucet adapter. That thing was primitive compared to units you can get now, but what an incredible difference it made almost right away for me!

I started saving up for an RO/DI unit as I was going through a $20 replacement resin sleeve almost weekly. They were "much" more expensive then. Probably the equivalent of a grand in todays money, and never looked back.

When I started reefing again after a break. I literally purchased my RO/Di unit with the tank. There was no point for me not to, because not a drop of water will ever go into a mixing bucket that does not go through the filter first...

Good luck either way, but I hope you consider all of the good advice on this thread...
 

BZOFIQ

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That said, NYC has very good TAP water - just don't do your water changes after a major storm.
 

Softhammer

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Maybe someone working in municipalities can chime in, but I know for a fact the output of tap water varies throughout the year. some places blast the water with certain chemicals periodically to help maintain the water supply. I know Chicago periodically blasted chloramine and or chlorine of some sorts for maintenance/ sanitizing. So while what you are doing could possibly work, unless you can analyze the tap water perfectly, the only way to make it work is to start fresh With RO. As stated above why take that chance with potential thousand in livestock when a really good RO unit could cost a slow as 150 bucks. We haven’t even breached to top off water factor. No debate there. Distilled or RO is an absolute must. You will kill animals with tap water top off. I don’t think anyone will refute that point.
 

Reesj

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I don't even know what my water TDS here in Sri Lanka.
I don't even treat water with any chemicals per say like some in Sri Lanka do.

I just have a huge water tank for backup purpose. I just take for my tank from it where water has been stocked there for weeks or months.
 

EMeyer

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I've seen TDS range from 5 to 350 a different locations within a 30 mile range.

If the 5 was copper, it'd kill the tank. If the 350 was all Ca and CO3, it'd be safe to use straight from the tap.

Not all tapwater is the same, and not all TDS is the same. I have seen beautiful tanks run on tapwater. I also grew up in the 70s and 80s when seatbelts were a new fad and bicycle helmets didnt exist. I survived, but I still make my kids buckle up.
 
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I do think we can add it back because some nice brand salts have 75 trace elements (but you pay a premium for it) and I use to just use tap water for months) when I switched to ro I noticed a jump in growth and a decline in algae
Thats good to know...
The tech available today is incredible compared to what i had, and some is so tempting, but i also dont want to rely on tech that isnt "necessary", and im sure you understand what i mean.
For example, the ability to control every individual wavelength of light was inheard of for me when i was doing it before.
But what some people are doing with reef tanks today is truly incredible.
On the other side of that is reading how tanks that have been well established for years suddenly crash from nowhere.
And i wonder how much we cause ouselves by trying to control everything to such a degree.
Of course i want my tank to be as good as it can be, but how much is too much...i guess is my real question.
 
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So everybody jumped at the guy and nobody asked what his TDS out of the tap is.

For lots of beginner setups with soft corals especially and low TDS top water that is conditioned is perfectly fine. No need for crazy elaborate unnecessary treatment with hang on back filters, just few drops of water conditioner will do.

You're kidding yourself if you think it's RO/DI or don't start at all.

That's like me saying its abyzz or you're not getting enough flow.
Thank you
This is what I'm trying to discuss and find out.
How much tech is actually necessary , and how mich should we leave to the systems in place in our tanks to control it.
Are we walking a tightrope controlling all of it ??
The tech is soooo tempting, but i also want a strong tank system that can rely on the organisms in it
 
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I don't even know what my water TDS here in Sri Lanka.
I don't even treat water with any chemicals per say like some in Sri Lanka do.

I just have a huge water tank for backup purpose. I just take for my tank from it where water has been stocked there for weeks or months.
Thats kind of my philosphy...
Have the water filtered and ready with as little chemical additive as possible.
And its very nice to be done topping off your tank in a few minutes because the water was ready and waiting.
 
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Old time reefer here too. Get an RO/DI unit as quickly as you can.

People tend to put a positive veneer on past memories. I had some awesome tanks back in the day too. I also had issues with copper in my water killing inverts at one house I lived in. As well as many more problems managing algae and cyano. In the 80's and 90's if you did not have Ultra Life Red Slime Remover on hand, you were not a fully equipped reef keeper.

I remember when the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Tap Water Purifier came out. It was basically a big DI sleeve with a rubber faucet adapter. That thing was primitive compared to units you can get now, but what an incredible difference it made almost right away for me!

I started saving up for an RO/DI unit as I was going through a $20 replacement resin sleeve almost weekly. They were "much" more expensive then. Probably the equivalent of a grand in todays money, and never looked back.

When I started reefing again after a break. I literally purchased my RO/Di unit with the tank. There was no point for me not to, because not a drop of water will ever go into a mixing bucket that does not go through the filter first...

Good luck either way, but I hope you consider all of the good advice on this thread...
Thank you for that reply.
Understood and noted
 

Gw2kpro

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Thats good to know...
The tech available today is incredible compared to what i had, and some is so tempting, but i also dont want to rely on tech that isnt "necessary", and im sure you understand what i mean.
For example, the ability to control every individual wavelength of light was inheard of for me when i was doing it before.
But what some people are doing with reef tanks today is truly incredible.
On the other side of that is reading how tanks that have been well established for years suddenly crash from nowhere.
And i wonder how much we cause ouselves by trying to control everything to such a degree.
Of course i want my tank to be as good as it can be, but how much is too much...i guess is my real question.

Good discussion. I think most of the "dosing" that goes on is simply replacing the elements in the water that are known to be rapidly depleted by growing corals.

In the scope of things in the hobby, RO units are widely available and inexpensive.

It allows me to know what's going into the tank. I have seen the TDS on my incoming tap water as low as 150 and as high as 280. I don't know what it is, or what causes the swing, but removing it takes out one more variable.
 

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On the other side of that is reading how tanks that have been well established for years suddenly crash from nowhere.
And i wonder how much we cause ouselves by trying to control everything to such a degree.
Of course i want my tank to be as good as it can be, but how much is too much...i guess is my real question.

You're looking at tank crash issues backwards in my opinion. The other side of this, is when your tap water tank does crash. Now you have a multitude of extra variables involved, because you do not know what you put into your tank, or if something in your source water changed...

RO/DI Does not make a tank sterile or too hi tech or weak. I'm still old school in ways that make the hobby enjoyable for me. I never use dry rock, don't have much in the way of automation and like to be hands on. I also don't try to eradicate every little bug or strand of algae. That doesn't mean I'm willing to take the chance of destroying my tank by not starting with a proper foundation of clean water going in.
 
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You're looking at tank crash issues backwards in my opinion. The other side of this, is when your tap water tank does crash. Now you have a multitude of extra variables involved, because you do not know what you put into your tank, or if something in your source water changed...

RO/DI Does not make a tank sterile or too hi tech or weak. I'm still old school in ways that make the hobby enjoyable for me. I never use dry rock, don't have much in the way of automation and like to be hands on. I also don't try to eradicate every little bug or strand of algae. That doesn't mean I'm willing to take the chance of destroying my tank by not starting with a proper foundation of clean water going in.
Very good point, and i 90% agree with you, and with eliminating variables...but what about the variables in the manufacture of all the many, many chemicals we dose with to replace what we take out ??
Can a bad dose of say...trace elements that was contaminated in some form...take out a tank ??
Or something we "add back" after stripping water bare throw balance way off ??
 

SDK

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Very good point, and i 90% agree with you, and with eliminating variables...but what about the variables in the manufacture of all the many, many chemicals we dose with to replace what we take out ??
Can a bad dose of say...trace elements that was contaminated in some form...take out a tank ??
Or something we "add back" after stripping water bare throw balance way off ??


That's like saying I don't wear seatbelts because I might get hit by a meteorite at the beach.

In 45 years of aquarium keeping I have never had a bad supplement crash my tank, but had plenty of problems that went away after I purchased an RO/DI unit

Control what you can. This makes it both less likely you will have a problem, and more likely you can figure it out when you do...
 
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shred5

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Depends what is in your water to begin with and what you need to remove.

Heavy metals can harm your inverts and if you tap has high amounts they may need to be removed.

Could be high in phosphates and they may need to be removed.

Could be high on copper etc.

You may not need a RO filter or a DI filter at all but most like you will need at least one.

Well water if you have a well can be highly variable.

City water usually you can find out what the levels are.
 
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