Fresh water composition - good or not?

[Mihai]

My father is trying to use some fresh water that has the following analysis on its label:

chlorides: 6mg/l
sulfates: 21mg/l
CO3: 183mg/l
Sodium: 1.2
Potassium: 0.48
Magnesium: 9.72
Calcium: 60.12

It claims that it has no chlorine, iodine or chloramine. This water is to be used to prepare saltwater for water changes as well as for topoff.

Also, if you know of any DIY saltwater recipee, I'd appreciate the link.

Thanks for the help,
M.

 

[Anonymous]

Should be fine. Chlorides and sodium is irrelevent due to the amount of it in salt. Similar for calcium, potassium and magnesium, and CO2 only affect the pH which does not matter if you let it stand. Don't know about sulfates, but at 21 ppm, it should be fine too.

However, these properly labed freshwater usually is way over price, and I feel that it can be a waste of money unless it is going down the drain anyway.

 

[Anonymous]

agree.

Best to use comercial salt mixes IMHO. But I did come across this forumla.

http://spikesworld.spike-jamie.com/scie ... arium.html

Setting up a saltwater aquarium is about the same as a freshwater aquarium, until you get to the stage at which water is added. Fresh seawater is best; however, that isn't easily accessible to most of us. We can go to the pet store and buy a chemical mixture that, when dissolved in fresh water, gives the fresh water all the qualities of salt water. Or, we can make our own, by using the following ingredients: For every three gallons of fresh water, use 10 1/2 ounces pure table salt, 1 1/2 ounces magnesium chloride, 1 ounce Epsom salts, and 1/2 ounce plaster of paris. It seems safer, to me, to buy the mixture at the pet store. For example, the recipe says "pure table salt," and that it (and the other salts) can be of a "technical" grade. The table salt we buy to use on our tables is not "pure." It has stuff in it to make it easy to pour, some has iodine added, some has preservative added. I don't know if "technical grade" salts have additives or not. Pure sea salt would make more sense
to me.

My "gut feel" is that with a proper setup and a couple of months the system would tend to acceptable levels. Which I understand was the only method before 1960 or so. but that was even before my time.


I also feel you should use pure salt like water softener pure salt not the table salt. Besides it is much cheaper like $5 for 50# or so.

 

[Anonymous]

There is a price you pay for the water softener salt, just not in your wallet. IMHO, it is not worthwhile to make your own salt.

 

[GSchiemer]

How about phosphates, silicates, nitrates, etc.? I wouldn't assume they're absent just because it's not on the label

 

[Anonymous]

Actually and FWIW I don't see that much difference between that water and tap. For aquarium (fresh/salt or reef) use that is.

 

[Sponge_Bob]

Most (did not say all) big city tap water is perfect to make saltwater with salt mixes. Problem occurs when you use water from a well or the like. Otherwise, tap water is fine and probably the best water you can drink yourself. In a recent study, it was proven scientifically that the most healthy water to drink in Montreal, Canada, was their tap water over about a dozen or so bottled water of all sorts. That says a lot about the so-called better bottled water products sold at high price in supermarkets and the like.

HTH a bit

 

[Len]

Use of tapwater is debatable and depends greatly on where you live. Some municipal water is very good and safe for reef aquarium use, but then there are some really bad areas. The parameters you listed look fine, but the test is also missing a lot of critical parameters (like Greg listed) IMHO.

Personally, I find it safest to use a RO/DI. It might not always be necessary, but it's a sure-fire winner.

Also, what is good for humans is not necessarily good for making saltwater. You can't make a positive correlation.

 

[Mihai]

Thanks guys. A bit of background is in order:

RO/DI is not an option - there are no such filters where my father lives. Similarly there is no brand of commercial salt available in there.

Similarly, while he's in a big city, he's in Eastern Europe and I'd not trust it.

Finally, he's looking into a small tank at this time (a pico really for a month or two, then graduate to a nano), so he'll probably not need as much as to make a hole in his budget.

Finally, I also asked him about nitrates and phosphates, as those are the most likely things to cause problems, but he said that there was no info on the label. Now, can this mean that there aren't any? I don't know, I just hope there aren't.

If I could, I'd send him RO/DI water with the FedEx, I just can't .

Thanks a bunch,
Mihai

 

[Anonymous]

If it ain't on the label, it is probably too embrassing for them...

In rare cases, I do recommand DI filter if the quantity needed is not very much. Can't you send him a small package like the infamous TAP water filter? Or you can't send him *anything* at all?

 

[Sponge_Bob]

Use of tapwater is debatable and depends greatly on where you live. Some municipal water is very good and safe for reef aquarium use, but then there are some really bad areas. The parameters you listed look fine, but the test is also missing a lot of critical parameters (like Greg listed) IMHO.

Personally, I find it safest to use a RO/DI. It might not always be necessary, but it's a sure-fire winner.

Also, what is good for humans is not necessarily good for making saltwater. You can't make a positive correlation.

RO/DI is an overkill if you have good quality tap water. Now like I said, most (NOT ALL, I've stressed that in my initial post) big city tap water is fine. Take Nitrates for instance. Why do you think that most big cities around the world do not have any or minute amounts of Nitrates in their tap water? Well, do you know how much a water pipe system cost? Nitrates have another cute name... Nitric acid! The reason why most big cities don't have Nitrates in their tap water is simply to protect their pipes!!! One might be tempted to think that it was for our well being. LOL... Yeah, right. I wish it was true too. But it's simply due to money...again!

 

[Omni2226]

Tell him to take some tapwater and drop a nail and a copper coin in it then wait 24 hours.

If the nail doesnt melt and the coin doesnt turn grey its probaly safe to use. (I say this partly in jest but there is some truth to it).

Another cheapo filter is to add a little bleach to the water then bring it to a roiling boil for about 5 minutes, let it cool off and its potable.

I have been in a few places over the years were we didnt even have time to boil it, just a touch of bleach and keep on running...but anyway being where he is there may not be a lot of options.

Can he buy a cheap freshwater fish to test with before going to the expense of saltwater?

 

[Anonymous]

Use of tapwater is debatable and depends greatly on where you live. Some municipal water is very good and safe for reef aquarium use, but then there are some really bad areas. The parameters you listed look fine, but the test is also missing a lot of critical parameters (like Greg listed) IMHO.

Personally, I find it safest to use a RO/DI. It might not always be necessary, but it's a sure-fire winner.

Also, what is good for humans is not necessarily good for making saltwater. You can't make a positive correlation.

RO/DI is an overkill if you have good quality tap water. Now like I said, most (NOT ALL, I've stressed that in my initial post) big city tap water is fine. Take Nitrates for instance. Why do you think that most big cities around the world do not have any or minute amounts of Nitrates in their tap water? Well, do you know how much a water pipe system cost? Nitrates have another cute name... Nitric acid! The reason why most big cities don't have Nitrates in their tap water is simply to protect their pipes!!! One might be tempted to think that it was for our well being. LOL... Yeah, right. I wish it was true too. But it's simply due to money...again!

Oh yeah? Here's my tap water in action. Again, a picture is worth a thousand words.

 

[Anonymous]

Here's my RO in action.

 

[Omni2226]

Ours does that once in a while. Ironicaly its usaly after they "flush" the water lines to clean them lol.

 

[Anonymous]

Ours does that once in a while. Ironicaly its usaly after they "flush" the water lines to clean them lol.

Right. The problem with using TW is that you don't know when they are going to do that, and you don't notice it in smaller amounts. But that's probably a lot of fun with algae, diatoms, and all that nice stuff that "plant life" will cure. Me? R/O Baby.

 

[GSchiemer]

Yeah, I'd also recommend RO/DI water for mixing salt. Even the best tap water has enough phosphate (often intentional) to cause problems in a reef aquarium. There's also a concern for heavy metals, such as copper and iron.

Greg

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I'd also recommend RO/DI water for mixing salt. Even the best tap water has enough phosphate (often intentional) to cause problems in a reef aquarium. There's also a concern for heavy metals, such as copper and iron.

Greg

Totally... my tds out of my tap is in the 300s, 2-4 out of the RO.

 

[trido]

Wings. If your tap looks like that everyday would recommend that you move for your own safety. Keep in mind that your skin is a semipermeable membrane (absorbs). As for my city water. It comes out the Delta of California. The city send me annual reports showing how well they clean all of the pollutants. I have not been impressed.. RO all the way!!!

 

[Mihai]

If it ain't on the label, it is probably too embrassing for them...

This could be the case :-(.

In rare cases, I do recommand DI filter if the quantity needed is not very much. Can't you send him a small package like the infamous TAP water filter? Or you can't send him *anything* at all?

What do you refer to? He has a Brita filter, but I think that it doesn't do much and I'm not sure if it can be used without the pressure of the tap water. Similar for DI - if it gets hooked to tap it will be done in no time.

I'll keep you posted,
Mihai