TAP TAP TAP: Come on be honest....TAP Water?

TAP WATER FOR YOUR REEF TANK

  • I do not use tap water

    Votes: 695 66.1%
  • I use tap water

    Votes: 90 8.6%
  • I did use tap water in the past before I had an RO unit

    Votes: 153 14.6%
  • I use tap sometimes and ro/di sometimes

    Votes: 17 1.6%
  • I would use tap water in an emergency

    Votes: 124 11.8%
  • my tap water would kill my reef tank

    Votes: 98 9.3%
  • Other (please explain)

    Votes: 18 1.7%

  • Total voters
    1,051

ZoWhat

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I make my own pure water combining liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen in my backyard....my neighbors hate me

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SaltISlife

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Been using tap water for 20 years in fishkeeping. In northern virginia. For the last 17 years in fresh water. With discus and plants and lemme tell you discus are wayyyy more sensitive to water wuality than salt water fish are.

And the last 3 years for salt water and my reef.. no issies either. I just dump my reef crystals ina 5 gallon bucket and with a hose connected to my sink i fill it up.. mix it as it fills and dump it right in my 135 gallon 60 gallon and 30g reef tanks.

Maybe CITY tap water isnt as good in other areas. But in prince william county and fairfax we all get the water from the occoquan reservoir and thats millions of people. The water here is fine. And up north in baltimore discus hans a famouse discus retailer who sells discus from germany uses straight tap water.

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SaltISlife

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Calling it tap water for this type of use is barely accurate. Calling it "mystery water" would be more accurate. While there are some very lucky people who have had their water tested and have crazy low TDS and may be okay with it, the majority of people using mystery water do so because either they don't care or don't know any better.

In 2005 I filled my nano reef with tap water and got a huge algae outbreak. For 1 week I bought RO water from the grocery store. Since I've used RO/DI always. I later learned the water was typically 175 tds out of the tap. At my current house the well water is very clean at 50-55TDS with a DI lasting close to a year despite making a ton of water.


Ehh you sound like some dis us freak in my area who obsess over tds. SOME people do rodi some dont.. and Discus hans in baltimore has the best discus in the country and he uses tao water.. Tons of locsl breeders here breed in tap water. And ive taken corals bleached and looking like crap in tanks with rodi in northern va and they explode in my tank.

And my tank uses tap water.. it isnt about (not caring) and not knowing better. Its more that i cant fill 70 gallons of rodi on a 3rd level townhouse in a trash can. I mean where am i going to store this trash can on a 3rd level ? Sure maybe if you put your tank ina chilly basement or pipe it up 3 levels.. but for me thats deff not feasable. Nore am i having a trash can in my upper level connecting my sink running hoses from my bathroom to the can..

Tap works just fine. I havent not met 1 coral i cannot grow yet. And i have some high end sps and acros.


I think youre pretty ignorant for that comment tbh.


Also algae can be controlled by the proper fish and cleanup crew and uv sterilizers. tanks also go through algae phazes. I had the diatom. Green hair algae. And brown stringy algae explosions. But after 5 months of it being controlled with tangs. Algae eating fish of various kinds. And snails and urchins and so forth. I cant even grow algae anymore.

My tank is 2 years old and i gatta HAND feed my sea urchins due to not being able to grow any kind of hair or diatom or anything. My rocks have their biofilm on them now and nothing else can grow on them.

And guess what ... i do 50% water changes with tap water a month.
 
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ScubaShane

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I use tap water with Kordon Aquarium NovAqua Plus Water Conditioner. I mix it in a 5 gallon top-off container. My ATO feeds it to the 150g. Also my tap water is from a well that goes through a sediment filter.
 
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sixty_reefer

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35/50 TDS in my area been using it for over 4 years still going strong.
 

KrisReef

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I use tap water for my reef, but I run it through an RODI unit first.

When I lived in Northern California there was a "tap" that came out of the side of a mountain and there was a hose attached and the neighbors would come fill their drinking water from the pipe. Not sure who plumbed the spring with galvanized pipe but the water at the hose came out at +10gpm and very low ( I measured it once but don't remember). The water was mountain filtered snow melt and I used it for mixing and top off for years. I would fill jugs and transport water whenever I went that way.

No way to not filter my current city water and keep a reef alive with the vomit that comes out of southern california aquaducts, reservoirs and recycled sewage. I brush my teeth with it when I get constipated for the therapeutic effects.
 

fnlyreefready

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I use tap water with Kordon Aquarium NovAqua Plus Water Conditioner. I mix it in a 5 gallon top-off container. My ATO feeds it to the 150g. Also my tap water is from a well that goes through a sediment filter.
Same with mine. Goes threw 2 filters no softener
 

kyowang

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i use tap water No water conditioner all my fish look ok ! my tank is run about 2 month now i don’t cycle my tank just mix the salt and wait one day put fish in to there!
 

musicreef

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I used tap water with conditioner on my first small fish only tank with dead coral for decorations (no live rock) in the late 80's. I then started my reef tank in the early 90's with the API Tap Water Purifier and used that for a couple of years with no serious issues. My tap water has a TDS of about 45, maybe that helped.

API Tap Water Purifier.jpg
 

MnFish1

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Ehh you sound like some dis us freak in my area who obsess over tds. SOME people do rodi some dont.. and Discus hans in baltimore has the best discus in the country and he uses tao water.. Tons of locsl breeders here breed in tap water. And ive taken corals bleached and looking like crap in tanks with rodi in northern va and they explode in my tank.

And my tank uses tap water.. it isnt about (not caring) and not knowing better. Its more that i cant fill 70 gallons of rodi on a 3rd level townhouse in a trash can. I mean where am i going to store this trash can on a 3rd level ? Sure maybe if you put your tank ina chilly basement or pipe it up 3 levels.. but for me thats deff not feasable. Nore am i having a trash can in my upper level connecting my sink running hoses from my bathroom to the can..

Tap works just fine. I havent not met 1 coral i cannot grow yet. And i have some high end sps and acros.


I think youre pretty ignorant for that comment tbh.


Also algae can be controlled by the proper fish and cleanup crew and uv sterilizers. tanks also go through algae phazes. I had the diatom. Green hair algae. And brown stringy algae explosions. But after 5 months of it being controlled with tangs. Algae eating fish of various kinds. And snails and urchins and so forth. I cant even grow algae anymore.

My tank is 2 years old and i gatta HAND feed my sea urchins due to not being able to grow any kind of hair or diatom or anything. My rocks have their biofilm on them now and nothing else can grow on them.

And guess what ... i do 50% water changes with tap water a month.

Do you use tap water for ATO - do you have a cover on your tank (to slow evaporation)? I tend to agree with you - I have Stendker discus - and to do water changes - I drain 75 percent of the water from the tank - take a hose from my tap - and fill the tank (adding the conditioner periodically) - and have never had an issue. For my saltwater tank - the I use RODI - I guess I would consider that you are 'lucky' in the water you have. The point is - using RODI - there can be no 'disadvantage' - right? But - others have had problems with tap water - especially when - unexpectedly - the water company triples the chlorine - or chloramines - because of some outbreak. In theory - the Tap water has 50-100 TDS (PPM) - sea water has >10,000 TDS (PPM) - so whatever you're adding with tap water - you're right - it will be small
 

BZOFIQ

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The problem with this thread is...


People being very polarized because "TAP" water is very different across the US. You may have tap water that is perfectly fine in NY and you're arguing with a person whose tap water is 400 TDS with all sorts of nasties like chloramines, copper, etc.

TAP water is not created equal.
 

MnFish1

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Part of the 'tap water' issue may also be related to the levels of fluorine in the water - in the past the standard used to be higher than the current .7ppm - in the ocean the level is around 1.2 ppm - higher levels can damage coral - and cause them to expel zooxanthellae - especially certain corals. So - in this age where people are doing less water changes - and using tap H2O FOR ATO - This could be a problem. Likewise if you're using salt with added fluorine - using tap water could be a problem...Which echos what a lot of others have said - it all depends on your underlying water quality, how many water changes you do and what livestock is in your tank. For example - if I had fish only tank - I would consider tap water.
 

SaltISlife

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I dont doubt with evaporation and adding 2-3 gallons every 2 days for my 135g doesnt add more contaminants in the tank. This is why i use activated carbon and instead of doing 10-15% small water changes. I do 70 gallons every 3 weeks. The tank is 135 but with sand rocks ect its about 110 or so total water volume. 70 gallons would be about 70% of the tank.

I know that seems like a crap ton but honestly my 20 acroporas. 16 types of zoas. 17 types of lps and other sps like montis and so forth.. no one has cared about a big water change like this.

In fact they look alot better after the water change. Mainly because of my nutrients being replenished.. 80+ corals suck it out fast in a 135g tank. Even with a 2 part dose. Could it be because im also removing build up of contanminants fron adding water from evap ? Maybe.

But all i know is what i do works. And im not worried about chloramines or chlorine. Thats what prime is for.


For my discus i would do 90% water changes every 2 weeks. But for discus owners thats fairly normal
 

Reefing_addiction

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In tank rodi from LFS OR distilled from store when I need it now and don’t want to drive to LFS

just ran a hospital tank for my nem used tap water(changing 10 gallons a day)
 

Mastering the art of locking and unlocking water pathways: What type of valves do you have on your aquarium plumbing?

  • Ball valves.

    Votes: 72 51.8%
  • Gate valves.

    Votes: 70 50.4%
  • Check valves.

    Votes: 35 25.2%
  • None.

    Votes: 31 22.3%
  • Other.

    Votes: 9 6.5%

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