So, I've meet like 3 people who don't use ro water and say that it isn't as bad as everyone seems to make it sound ... So who here uses tap water? Id love to get a unit but man that waste water is hard to throw away! I live in Toronto and water here monthly is like 100$ lol... Right now i buy my RO water from Big als, I might get a unit soon though... So who uses tap water and do u get bad algae ??
Who Here Doesn't Use Ro Water?
- Thread starter Albz
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Joshbrookkate
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- Apr 9, 2015
- Location
- Windsor
Scubasteve has it down to a science.....
S
sirhc13
Guest
Every cities tap water will be different, to put it plain and simple.....yes your tank my look healthy and have no major issues for 1,2,3 maybe even 4-5 years using tap water. Remember your live rock acts like a sponge, constantly filtering and absorbing all of the chemicals added in the treatment process of tap water. Your rock will keep absorbing until full.....then crash!!
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I never used tap water , but I use to like you I buy it from the store I used to use my
House ro it sucked always had 70-90 tds @scubasteve Yes he uses tap but I'm sure there's more "behind the scenes" stuff he dose to balance it for eg , he dosent do water changes so he's only using tap water for top off in sure I'd be harder if he did weekly wc on top of his top off . Maybe I'm wrong? Just what's makes sense to me .
House ro it sucked always had 70-90 tds @scubasteve Yes he uses tap but I'm sure there's more "behind the scenes" stuff he dose to balance it for eg , he dosent do water changes so he's only using tap water for top off in sure I'd be harder if he did weekly wc on top of his top off . Maybe I'm wrong? Just what's makes sense to me .
Joshbrookkate
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- Apr 9, 2015
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- Windsor
Scubasteve does do it and successfully to this point. But like most reefers in it for the long haul, I use RODI.
Definitely have to use RO for the long term tank and expensive corals. RO Units are fairly easy to install and cheap if you think about all the other money youre putting out for Corals, salt, fish.
I live where the water is like liquid cement an everything in the house is covered in Lime water stains. Don't be stingy when it comes to water, equipment and salt. But to tell you a little story I bought a RO unit a couple month back and hooked it up . I was getting my RO from a store 4 5 gallon jugs every week or other week. I changed and everything in my tank when for a dumper. Might have been the difference in water. Who knows
I live where the water is like liquid cement an everything in the house is covered in Lime water stains. Don't be stingy when it comes to water, equipment and salt. But to tell you a little story I bought a RO unit a couple month back and hooked it up . I was getting my RO from a store 4 5 gallon jugs every week or other week. I changed and everything in my tank when for a dumper. Might have been the difference in water. Who knows
scubasteve
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- May 4, 2014
- Location
- Cambridge, Ontario
Ya I've been using tap and yes I do keep expensive sps (wolverine, red Diablo) and zoas. Have been doing so for 3 years now. Every city is different so after you treat with prime you will have to test and check ph and such. Like others mentioned I don't do water changes so who knows how it would work with. I spent 6 months conditioning my lr before I used it to get a good bio filter going so there is never any buildup of anything. Anything that does come in gets nutrilized through binding agents with the prime which makes the particle bigger and can be skimmed out or consumed by bio filter. Since I stopped feeding pellets and flake I have never had an algae issue. I did start off with water changes but didn't do it long term as I had other plans lol.
For beginners it is easier to use RO but if you know how to control your levels and are confident on your nutrient export capabilities tap is not a problem at all. All I try to do is best mimic natures cycles and it's doing wonders.
For beginners it is easier to use RO but if you know how to control your levels and are confident on your nutrient export capabilities tap is not a problem at all. All I try to do is best mimic natures cycles and it's doing wonders.
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2016
- Location
- Bradford Ontario
I also only use tap water to top off. It comes from the tap into a bucket and add prime. I am curious since you are no longer feeding pellet nor flake food. What are you feeding the fish and coral ?
Just out of curiosity, How much do they charge for a water bottle (18L) fill up? If you are in Toronto, have you priced around to the local bottled water companies? When I was with Culligan -spit- (Hey admin. We need a BARF FACE emogie)we filled RO and DI water bottles, and shipped them to Toronto. Then Toronto built a plant and I lost my first job there. Water Depot charges $3.25 for 18L of RO, or less if you prepay for a package. Some branches can even bulk fill, as in 55 gal barrels. Check around. A home RO system may still be cheaper in the long run, but atleast it isn't going down your drain...
scubasteve
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- May 4, 2014
- Location
- Cambridge, Ontario
My fish eat mostly mysis and nori. Once every couple weeks I dump in a few thousand baby brine enriched with hufa supplement plus the constant feed of pods from my fuge (don't know how those nauplii make it past the impeller but they do) for coral I use reef roids, aqua vitro fuel and polyp booster by polyp labs (maker of reef roids) plus the fish poop. Eel gets whole saltwater shrimp that's chopped and mysis. Seahorse a get mysis and brine enriched with hufa supplements once a week
scubasteve
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- May 4, 2014
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- Cambridge, Ontario
Would be cheaper lol
Canadianeh
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- Sep 20, 2016
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- T-dot
How much you pay for RO water at Big Als?
the guy at
I believe its like 90cent per gallon. Or 99cent per gallon saltwater. Its not that i need a lot cause i have small tank but i want to find a cheaper place to buy.. Im going to search for any water depot around here in east york toronto
I believe its like 90cent per gallon. Or 99cent per gallon saltwater. Its not that i need a lot cause i have small tank but i want to find a cheaper place to buy.. Im going to search for any water depot around here in east york toronto
90cents per gallon and 99cents saltwater...
Canadianeh
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- Sep 20, 2016
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- T-dot
how many RO water do you use per week?
Nice price for a small system. I use at least 15 gallons of top up and 30 gallons of new salt water. At that price, my bill would be almost more then my entire house water bill, and I have 3 girls in the house lol
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I havent really calculated but say i do maybe 4 cups of top of each day? I have this little sandwhich box that i use lol so two of those a day... The top offs isnt really much. The water change everyweek 5g i do is more costly.. When my tank matures i will probably do 2-3 gallons a week change...
I would stick to jugs for that little. It would take almost 2 years to recoup the cost of an RO/DI unit and you would need to buy salt. The only reason I got an ro/di when I had my 30 gallon was i knew I was going to a 120+ system. I would have kept doing jugs otherwise
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heath
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- Oct 2, 2012
- Location
- Woodstock, Ontario
I couldn't afford that, I use 10g every other day for water top ups, never mind water changes...