Water conditioner
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You shouldn't, but you can. If your running a skimmer, your skimmer is going to go nuts when you add the conditioner.
redfishbluefish
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Unless you have extremely low TDS water, you don't want to do this. What happens is all the crap in tap water concentrates with evaporation from your tank. I have 90 gallon tank and lose about 1 1/2 gallons of water a day. I top off with RO/DI water. If you were to use tap, you would be adding all those bad things, while only the water evaporates.
Don't do it.
Don't do it.
I ran a fish only tank for years using arizona tap water, and our water is up there with the some of the worst, if he's still doing water changes the garbage still gets removed from the tank.
No, it all does not. Many substances in the wate rare cumulative meaning they are never removed no matter how many water changes you do. While I might in an extreme emergency use treated tap water in a fish only system I would never do so in a reef where you may one day have hundreds or even thousands of dollars invested in substrate, rock, corals, invertabrates and fish. Its not worth the risk. If you are starting out small buy bottled distilled water or find a trusted LFS with a RO/DI system and who will test the TDS or conductivity of the water in front of you. If you are going bigger and plan to stay in the hobby the very first investment you should make, even before corals, rock and fish is a reef quality RO/DI system. You can get one for $125 here:
http://spectrapure.com/Refurbished-90-GPD-RODI-System
Its the best investment you will ever make in this hobby.
http://spectrapure.com/Refurbished-90-GPD-RODI-System
Its the best investment you will ever make in this hobby.
I stand by what I said. I ran a Fish Only tank with Live Rock for years using AZ Tap Water. The answer to the OPs question is YES, it can be done, but the conditioner will drive the skimmer nuts for a few hours when the conditioned water is added.
So did I but I would never do it again. Just because someone does it doesn't make it right. As a certified water treatment plant operator with over 40 years in the industry in the southwest and as a reef hibbyist with 35 years experience I am telling you it is a mistake to use tap water. If you want specifics feel free to PM me so others don't steer you down the wrong path. As I said before there are many contaminants that are cumulative and will only concentrate and never go away. Hopefully other experienced reefers jump in here.
he didn't ask if it was right, he asked if he could do it.
ReefMadScientist
Valuable Member
I am from AZ as well. I will be the referee between Reefing & Desert.
He could dip water out of the toilet and it would work too but that still isn't something I would encourage. The purpose of these forums is to steer newbies in the right direction, just beacuse it works isn't doing that. Qualify your answers and caution the OP on what can happen don't just say yous shouldn't but you can. Give an explaination or refer them to articles on the subject.
No need. Im done.
To the OP, what you need to realize is water conditioners do not remove anything. Most neutralize the chlorine and some such as Prime bind some substances so they are not as toxic. They are still there but in a less toxic form and are still accumulating over time.
We all start out with a fish only system at one time or another then we slowly start upgrading to a reef tank. When you have used conditioned tap water you will have lots of undesirable contaminants in not only the water but also in the porous live rock and substrate. These things never ever go away, even in the water it is mathmatically impossible to do enough water changes to ever remove it all. Some things such as phosphates and silicates can really cause problems down the road and give you all kinds of fits and "uglies". You will fight algaes or all types and colors almost guaranteed.
Something I have heard over and over is, "If it is worth doing, it is worth doing right the first time". That really rings true in the reef hobby. I can look back at the last 35 years and count the many different skimmers I bought, or pumps or lights. All seeming like a good deal at the time but none really performed as they could or should. I was trying to take the cheap way out, or at least being thrifty. The thing is, I spent much more replacing and upgradin than if I had just bit the bullet, saved up for the better product in the beginning and done it once. This really applies to water quality in an aquarium, be it fish or coral. Water is the single largest ingredient in an aquarium and everything depends on its quality AND its stability. Tap water changes. What happens when a big storm blows through and the treatment plant has to change their chemical additions and treatment methods to keep up with it? Or Joe Contractor digs up the water main down the block and causes a cross connection when your neighbor has his garden hose stuck in a tree well or watering his garden and it sucks the fertilizers and dirt back into the water main? Or when the fire hydrant on the corner gets hit by a car and knocked off and they have to shut down the distribution system causing low pressures and reversal of flows then don't get it well flushed when it is turned back on? Or when your water utility changes their residual disinfectant from free chlorine to chloramines, they don't have to notify you of this.
The thing is, you have zero control over tap water quality and a conditioner is not going to fix it. When you use distilled water or RO/DI you have ultimate control over your water quality. When you add your salt mix you get the very best product since salts are designed to be used with 0 TDS water and your calcium, alkalinity and other parameters are controlled. You are not building up contaminants that cannot be removed by water changes and you are not getting things out of whack with hard tap water that may already have high calcium or may contain copper, phosphates, silicates, nitrates, ammonia. You don't know what is in your water so you really don't want to put it in your tank. Fish are higher life forms than corals so they deserve good wate rquality just as much if not more. Sure, we have all done it at some time or another but we also learned from our mistakes or at least now realize there are better ways to do things. Can you use conditioned tap water, yes, should you, no and for the reasons above as well as those found in many many articles on all the reef forums.
We all start out with a fish only system at one time or another then we slowly start upgrading to a reef tank. When you have used conditioned tap water you will have lots of undesirable contaminants in not only the water but also in the porous live rock and substrate. These things never ever go away, even in the water it is mathmatically impossible to do enough water changes to ever remove it all. Some things such as phosphates and silicates can really cause problems down the road and give you all kinds of fits and "uglies". You will fight algaes or all types and colors almost guaranteed.
Something I have heard over and over is, "If it is worth doing, it is worth doing right the first time". That really rings true in the reef hobby. I can look back at the last 35 years and count the many different skimmers I bought, or pumps or lights. All seeming like a good deal at the time but none really performed as they could or should. I was trying to take the cheap way out, or at least being thrifty. The thing is, I spent much more replacing and upgradin than if I had just bit the bullet, saved up for the better product in the beginning and done it once. This really applies to water quality in an aquarium, be it fish or coral. Water is the single largest ingredient in an aquarium and everything depends on its quality AND its stability. Tap water changes. What happens when a big storm blows through and the treatment plant has to change their chemical additions and treatment methods to keep up with it? Or Joe Contractor digs up the water main down the block and causes a cross connection when your neighbor has his garden hose stuck in a tree well or watering his garden and it sucks the fertilizers and dirt back into the water main? Or when the fire hydrant on the corner gets hit by a car and knocked off and they have to shut down the distribution system causing low pressures and reversal of flows then don't get it well flushed when it is turned back on? Or when your water utility changes their residual disinfectant from free chlorine to chloramines, they don't have to notify you of this.
The thing is, you have zero control over tap water quality and a conditioner is not going to fix it. When you use distilled water or RO/DI you have ultimate control over your water quality. When you add your salt mix you get the very best product since salts are designed to be used with 0 TDS water and your calcium, alkalinity and other parameters are controlled. You are not building up contaminants that cannot be removed by water changes and you are not getting things out of whack with hard tap water that may already have high calcium or may contain copper, phosphates, silicates, nitrates, ammonia. You don't know what is in your water so you really don't want to put it in your tank. Fish are higher life forms than corals so they deserve good wate rquality just as much if not more. Sure, we have all done it at some time or another but we also learned from our mistakes or at least now realize there are better ways to do things. Can you use conditioned tap water, yes, should you, no and for the reasons above as well as those found in many many articles on all the reef forums.
sawdonkey
Valuable Member
The answer depends on what type of "saltwater aquarium" you plan to do? I had a FOWLR that I used only tap water in for over ten years. No algae problems, no other issues, and I still have some of the fish today. If I were to go back to FOWLR, I'd probably get rid of my RODI system. All of the live rock from my FOWLR is now in my reef and hasn't caused any problems that I'm aware of.
Now, if you ever plan on having corals, as mentioned above, you might as well do it right and just get an RODI system.
Now, if you ever plan on having corals, as mentioned above, you might as well do it right and just get an RODI system.
Actually I believe the answer depends on your tap water quality which as I pointed out is something you have no control over. If you had a domestic deep well that was properly designed and constructed where you were the only user and you had all the historical water quality data showing it was in a stable formation with little change over the years then I might chance it. If you receive your water from a municipal or oter source then its probably not worth the risk, even for fish only. Yes there are those whi have done it, myself included 20 years ago, but again it is a risk you can eliminate for $125 and not concern yourself with ever again. A RO/DI is easy to justify, not only can it be used for the tanks but you can also quit buying bottled water and drink the RO portion yourself and pay for it very quickly.
Harry_Y
Valuable Member
I've been in this hobby a long time and have a lot of mistakes over the years.
Not Using RO/DI on my first few tanks ranks up there pretty high on the mistakes I've made.
Get a RO/DI unit and avoid many of the issues right from the start.
A RO/DI unit really is one of those necessary pieces of gear you need for a successful reef tank.
Not Using RO/DI on my first few tanks ranks up there pretty high on the mistakes I've made.
Get a RO/DI unit and avoid many of the issues right from the start.
A RO/DI unit really is one of those necessary pieces of gear you need for a successful reef tank.
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