crumj Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 While I'm not new to the hobby (my reef tank has been up for about 5 years), I have a newbie question: I'm looking for ways to trim expenses without damaging the health of my tank, and I'm wondering about skipping the deionized water from the local fish store and switching to conditioned tap water. I live in Portland, and the water analysis I got from our water company shows very little of anything harmful - no heavy metals, no nitrates, very soft water. Does anyone in Portland use treated tap water in their reef tanks? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alterego Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 I used to, but still had algae problems associated with the water. As soon as I went back to RO/DI water, the problems went away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowpunk Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 I know of a few(who don't want to be named for fear of getting flamed) that just run an RO unit without the DI and their tanks do great with no algae problems. You need to at least run RO to be safe I say. With that said I used to have a 29g that I only put tap water in and it was a great tank with no issues. I filled jugs and let them distill for a week before using them. I really have no idea if distilling them did anything but in my head that was the key to my success.(nutty) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoss Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 I used to take gallon jugs to my local starbucks and have them fill them up. Starbucks filters their water with a large RO system, so it's pretty clean. Just make sure to ask them if they change their filters regularly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 Frank only runs one or the other and he has a very nice reef tank. It's the very reason I have my RO/DI unit. He said he doesn't need both so he sold the one he won at the raffle 2 meetings back to me. Up here we really don't have the option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markdadof2 Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 I run both ro and di. I don't trust the water company to NOT change anything...so I take all precations. Just changed all filters but the membrane and I am getting about 85 gpd thru my RO (rated at 100 gpd). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowpunk Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 I run both ro and di. I don't trust the water company to NOT change anything...so I take all precations. Just changed all filters but the membrane and I am getting about 85 gpd thru my RO (rated at 100 gpd). are you just straight RO/DI or do you use a pump to get better pressure or what? I know some people seem to have problems keeping the GPD up near where it is rated. It sounds like you don't have that problem though. I only ask because I am getting ready to plumb mine in and wondering if I should add anything extra to make it more efficient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markdadof2 Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 mine is coming strait out of the fawcet in the laundry room...no extra pumps or anything. I'm lucky to have great water pressure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowpunk Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 mine is coming strait out of the fawcet in the laundry room...no extra pumps or anything. I'm lucky to have great water pressure. I hope to be as lucky. I am tapping into the main line in the garage I think. So it should be the best pressure I can get in the house. I hope it works out to be enough to keep it flowing strong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 I have and plan on doing so again. I did have a algae bloom in the beginning however, so keep that in mind. Nothing that the red slime control didn't fix though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 In Oregon City (Clackamas River Water), the water tests for very low TDS, and low to zero nitrates. I started off just using tap water. After 6 months, I had a hair algae problem that would not stop. I changed a bunch of things at the same time, including adding a tang and a fox-faced rabbit, and switching to RODI. My hair algae problem cleared up rather quickly. I would say invest in a RO/DI filter if you have the space to store some water. I use a 32g garbage can with wheels. I think it was $15 from Bi-mart. BTW- welcome to the site. I hope you find a lot of good information here to help you. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markdadof2 Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 I make up RO/DI water once a week and like Dennis, have a 32 gallon rubbermaid trash can on wheels (with a lid even) Works out great and I always have fresh water on hand for top off or for any emergency water changes that need to be done. I don't think I'd even attempt to keep a reef without at least an RO system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate213 Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 I have my RO/DI setup in my shop and hold the water in a 35 gallon garbage can (with top) - no wheels (tipped the last one over DOH!). Before that I bought the 2.5 gallon Safeway water jugs "Refreshe" branded. I read somewhere that they are RO filtered tap water. It was a pain every 3 weeks to buy about 15 of them, but it started some interesting conversations at the checkout counter. Im looking into a 150-200 gallon holding tank to hold the waste water. I want to setup a system to pump the waste water to our hanging flower pots, or supplement the sprinkler system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 I'm not so extravagant. I have about six 5 gallon buckets I fill with RO/DI water each weekend before and after water changes. I use some up through the week and then have extra on hand for emergencies. (I slacked off some this last week and was scrambling yesterday to get enough made to set up my new tank) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate213 Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Not trying to hijack this thread, but it is along these same lines. Yesterday FedEX dropped off my new filters for my RO/DI unit. It has been nearly a year since I bought my unit, so I figured I was due for a filter change. When I ordered the new filters, I also bought the TDS meter. In the past I have only checked the normal parameters, and have occasionally taken samples in to check TDS. Anyway I got out the new toy and checked the TDS of my tap water. It measured 42 ppm. Not too shabby since we run off a well. So today I went out to the shop and checked my 30 gallons of top off water. It was 366 ppm! :mad: I thought, how the heck can my outgoing water be worse than the water going in? So I tested the water going into the filter from the shop supply and it was around 53 ppm, so couldnt be bad pipes. It must be that my filters are so bad, that all the junk they have collected over the last year is breaking loose and passing through. Just goes to show that just because you have a RO/DI unit, doesnt mean the water is safe. Right now, Im better off to use my tap water. Another lesson learned... Thankfully this one was figured out before I crashed my tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Wow, I think I will either get me a TDS meter or borrow one within 6 months or so then. (Only been running it for a month or so now) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markdadof2 Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 I use my TDS to test my RO system frequently. I just changed out my filters even though my TDS was still reading 0. My flow is much better now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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