Tap water

[Enzo B.]

I was wondering if tap water is ok to fill up a new tank if so what should I add to it?

 

[wade1]

This very much depends on the quality of your local water supply. Most places (not sure about Canada) have to provide a printout of the analysis of the local water supply if you ask for it. You can call up your utility and request this to see what is in the water and at what levels.

I would personally say no to this question. It will cause a rather harsh algae outbreak and provide a year or three's worth of pains. I ALWAYS use the best quality water where I can along with regular water changes... its all for the health of the animals you want to keep. If you think about the overall investment, don't skimp on a couple dollars worth of water a week.

Just my opinion of course...

Wade

 

[Desolas]

I wouldn't. With how most people rush the cycle and initial setup of the tank, it always leads to huge algae problems when filled with tap water initially.

It isn't much of a hardship to use RO/DI, or at the very least DI water to start a tank off.

 

[Anonymous]

I started my tank with DI water and ran it that way for a year. It was easy to do since our tap water is really good here (26ppm) right out of the tap. The silica was off the chart so I used the DI for that. I've since gotten a RO/DI unit and can't really tell the difference in the tank. That was 6 months ago. I do believe over the long run it will be better for my tank. My next goal is to have it work automatically, but I'm too lazy to crawl under the house to run the tubing.

Regards

 

[madrefkepr]

I used tap water to start up my reef and am now SERIOUSLY regretting it. Everything when fine for a while, then my alkalinity went right off the chart! I was using seachem reefbuilder, and testing everything weekly, no problems. Then in a period of 1 week the alkalinity spiked. I have been told by several people that this is due to the fact that my water is so hard. Now I can't get alk to come back down. Whatever the reason, I will never put tap water in my tank again! It's just not worth it.

 

[nymedic]

TAP WATER SUCKS, Thats all that needs to be said 8)