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Vancouver Reefers - Any idea on how good or bad tap water is?


jayR

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Depends where you are. When I was in Orchards area my TDS was around 120.

 

Here in Camas, it’s 60.

 

Don’t fill with tap, just sets you up for issues later. Not sure what RODI unit you have but most are around 90gpd, so you’d be about a week to fill give or take, is that waaaay too long? 😂

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patience is hard. Especially when you're anxious just to get some salt in!  But, as we've all heard 10000 times...in this hobby, nothing good happens fast.

Unless you've got a line on RODI, I'd wait the time.

Maybe you can get some RODI from reefers in the area. If I was close enough, I'd offer to run my RODI into your containers for the cost of a couple frag IOUs :)

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Oh my gosh please don't!!! I made that mistake with my first tank a few years ago and ended up battling hair algae among other things!!! NOTHING good happens fast in this hobby, if I've learned anything it's that! PLEASE wait until you have enough RODI water to fill your tank plus some! You will be very happy you did!!!

Sorry so many exclamation points but I'm trying hard to get my point across [emoji23] from someone who's made the mistake

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+1!☝️

But to answer your specific question you should have a TDS meter.  A basic one would cost you about $25.  It will give you some idea how "good or bad" your tap water is.  If you are planning on a reef tank--now or ever--the water that goes in your tank should read "0" (Zero, Zilch, Nada, Zip).  

To answer your second question, there are good aquarium stores in the area (Portland metro area, that is) that sell both RODI and pre-mixed salt water.  If you are planning on getting a lot at one time, I would suggest calling ahead to give them the heads-up.

As a side note, as you probably know, a large system is very forgiving for most small mistakes.  It is also hell on big mistakes.  In a 20 gallon tank, if you put in tap water and get hair algae or corals die or whatever you can dump out the water and start over.  With a 550 gallon system, not so easy.

From your prior posts, it looks like you may be starting with dry rock.  You have a long wait ahead of you already.  What's one or two more weeks?

You are 100% doing the right thing in reaching out to this forum for questions.  There are lots of reefers here that will help a brother (or sister) out.  Looking forward to seeing how things come together!  

Holly

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Of course Holly nailed it! If you're close to Forest Grove I have a couple extra TDS meters you can have one if you'd like (if I can find them, around here somewhere) And if you want a chunk or two of live rock to add to your dry when you do start cycling I'd be happy to give you one as well. I'm not sure how much a few chunks of live rock would help with a 550 gallon but it could help I suppose [emoji2]

 

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Thanks for all the input!
TDS was reading at 60.
Coming out of my RODI is about 1-2.
Filling it with RODI water as we speak.
 
Time to change you DI resin if you're getting 1 or 2. Should be zero. Those 2 PPMs likely mean nothing or could possibly mean everything... No way to tell without actually testing the makeup of your water.

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As soon as mine shows 1 now I just order new on Amazon. Do you know the last time the resins were changed? I can't wait to see pictures of your 550, you really should snap a few when you get the chance [emoji16] I love watching the progress on people's tanks, watching them progress over time is so satisfying!

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jayR,

I would also not recommend using TAP water.  550 gall would be a dream tank for me and I would do everything in my power to start it off correctly. 

 I live in Camas on a well and my TDS is 49.  I also change my filters once I see 1 TDS coming out of my RODI unit. 

My unit is a 150GPD and I always have 25 gallons on hand.  I have about 3-4 clean 5 gallon totes for transport.  You are more than welcome to come get water from me. If you are willing to make multiple trips I can just stock up for you.  

Let me know.   

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