NYC water, again!

[paul]

Did I just waste my money?

I bought a fancy RO/DI unit for my new reef tank. Thinking it was the only way to go. My tank is in it`s third week of cycling, I have the usual cyano and some green hair algae troubles. Well, today I visited my local Petland Discount, they have a nice 90 gal. which, to me, looks incredible. There is no nuisance algae the 4 fish look healthy, and it has a tromendeous growth of coralline algae. So, I ask the kid what`s the secret? Turns out, nothing really. They use tap water, check salinity with a cheap plastic instrument (I use a refractometer $$$), throw in some Kent calcium, stronium, and iodine (never testing!). Lights are NO florescents and PC, maybe 300 watts total (if that).

Is anyone else using just tap water with good results? I`m thinking of using RO for drinking, and tap for my tank. I have to pay for water, just hate to pour money down the drain.
BTW, Queens tap registers 41 on my TDS scale, which is good, meaning that our tap water is pretty clean.

Paul.

 

[heuerfan]

My friend lives in Flushing Queens, he is using tapwater only and has a red slime problem. His TDS measured 45.

RO/DI unit is your friend for life!

 

[Pedro]

I once had all my corals in a temp tank while i moved the other one. During that time i added nothing but tap water. All my corals looked great. We do have the best water around. Problem is sometimes they treat the water for certain things. If you don't have a plan in effect you will be polluting the tank. It's a chance you take. Personally, i don't do it anymore. All my water comes from my ro/di. FWIW....

 

[paul]

Ok, so far 2 responses and both favor RO. Anyone NOT using RO? Has anyone used tap for a couple of years?

Huerfan, was the red slime problem caused by tap water?

Paul.

 

[heuerfan]

Yes, tap water is filled with phosphates and silicates, which are food for algae. Do a search on reefcentral.com, plenty of info there!

You can use tapwater no problem, but you will most likely encounter algae problems. But then again, i use ro/di water and i have have slight algae problems do to flow, overfeeding, etc...

You could always use tapwater and buy phosphate removers and slicate removers, but you will have to constantly change them out once they are fully absorbed.

 

[marrone]

I have seen plenty of people use just tap water and have great tanks with no algae. I have also seen areas of the city where, because of the old pipes, the water has rust and other things in it. If you pour water from your tap and leave it in a bowl for a couple of days you will see a film develop on the bottom and the sides of the bowl. Your putting that into your tank.

When I lived in Brooklyn and did water changes my Ph was always stable and I never had to worry about it dropping below 8.0. Every since I moved to NYC I have to check my Ph after water changes and it will drop below 8.0 sometimes, the local Petland by has the same problem.

Also when the water supply goes low the state will add copper to the water supply, be it in small amounts, but in a closed system will accumulate over time.

For a $100-$125 it's better to get a RO system and play it safe. Also if you buy bottle water now you don't have to as the RO water is just as good and you'll save right there.

Michael

 

[ShaunW]

It really all depends on what type of reef tank you plan on keeping. So more information is nesessary, for anyone to give proper advice.

However, in the long run it doesn't matter what type of salt water tank you have, the risk of problems increases when you don't use RO/DI. The most bang for the buck, IMHO, for keeping a sucessful reef is the RO/DI unit (the most your taking about is $150 well spent).

As for me, I would I would never allow a drop of tap water to enter my tank. But I keep lots of SPS.

 

[Rebels23]

Hey Paul,

I have been using tap water for over a year now, and have noticed no ill effects (I did have a very small speck of cyano once in the corner, but I changed my flow, and it went away). I live in Queens and I think the water is great! I actually just take a gallone ach night, and pour it into my sump straight from the tap. I measured it once on a TDS meter and it was very low.

Honestly, I think I haven't had any problems because for the most part I believe my tank is pretty balanced. My "eco-system" seems to be working so far.

And for what it is worth, I got a RO/DI unit for my birthday.

Just haven't set it up yet.

HTH

 

[4angel]

A newly developing tank will always go through some cyno / algae out break. This is almost a given. I would also say that a mature tank may go through an out break as well. over stock, poor skimming, no water changes can all contribute to this. When you talk about the quality of our drinking H2O it would probably rank as one of the best in the world. However our bodies can handle most of the stuff that used to treat our H2O. I don?t think the same could be said about our in home reefs. I would not take any chances in using NYC tap in any tank for the reasons mentioned in the replies to this post. LUCK would be the only thing that I could think of as to why some people or shops have had some success in using tap. I am usually unlucky for this reason I use an RODI.

 

[paul]

Wow excellent points! Did not know about the copper issue. It`s true, my seldom used basement toilet gets that "ring" around the bowl. Don`t want that crap in my tank. Also, I checked the tap for phosphates, my Hagen test showed over 1 mg/L, the RO is 0.

Ok then, only RO for my reef.

Paul.

 

[marrone]

A # of years ago I was having a problem with one of my tanks and went to the NY Aquarium and one of the Marine Biologist working there told me that from time to time they put copper in the water when the levels go down, usally in the summer time. It's very small but in a closed system it can build up.

My Co-op gets a report from the DEP for NYC drinking water and it lists all the things that are found in the water. Copper and lead are list as being found, mostly coming from plumbing pipes and systems. It's a pretty big report and it lists all kinds of things found like pesticides, paints, chemical and other run offs found in the water.

Michael

 

[Vic8361]

I have been using an RODI from the begining and have had problems with Cyano in the past. But would not even think about not using one. To much money invested in my tank to even think about it. Also you should see how much rust is on the sediment filters when I change them.
Me and my family love to drink the RO water as well.
Vic

[ April 12, 2004, 10:41 PM: Message edited by: Vic8361 ]

 

[jackson6745]

I have been using a the aquarium Pharmecuticals tap water filter since I setup my reef over a year ago. I have had no algae problems whatsoever....BUT....I change my carbon every 2 weeks and run phosban 24/7. My phosphates and nitrates are undectable.
A RO/DI will give you the purest water but it is not an excuse to overstock your tank with fish or miss water changes etc.....
Anyway, with that said, I just bought an Airwaterice RO/DI becuase I know I should be using it....LOL. My TDS out of the tap is 45 (bensonhurst, brooklyn), out of the RO is 0

 

[ShaunW]

FYI,
If your worried about wasted water, or don't have the time to wait for RO/DI water to be made, I highly suggest this product.

http://www.aquariumwaterfilters.com/RODI/Pumps.html
Bottom product. The Permeate Pump.

The way the RO membrane works is by creating a osmostic gradient across it and collecting the pure water (I am sure you all know that, sorry for the into). However, in most RO/DI units pure is relative, since what is coming out of the brine tube is pure, just not as pure as what is coming out of the RO tube. This pump takes the brine and puts it back across the membrane, thereby increasing the pure water yield and increasing the salt (toxin content) in the brine. Which get released down the drain.

It improves the efficiency of the unit by orders of magnitude.

 

[paul]

Thanks for the link Solbby, just purchased the pump. Came out to $98 but it will save me cash in the long run.

Paul.

 

[paul]

Just finished installing the pump. Well, I am disapointed. The pump does not do what it says, they claim that it reduces waste water by 80%! Before the pump I was making 10 gal. and wasting 50 gal. With the pump I get the exact same ratio. WTF!?

Paul.

 

[ShaunW]

Are you sure you set it up correctly? The instructions about connecting the proper lines is not as good as it could be. Initially, I mixed up the connections and was flushing permeate down the drain instead of the brine.

If you mixed up the connections what you have coming out as brine is really the permeate and vice versa.

It works great for me. I would say that it reduces waste water by more than 80%, more like 95%. It also increased the pressure across the RO membrane. Sorry if you don't like it, but since I now feel responsible for your purchase, PM me if you need any help setting it up. If your completely confident you set it up right, it may be a defective pump (return it).

 

[paul]

Solbby please do not feel bad. I will try to call the company on Monday and see what they say.
I checked my connections and all seems ok.

If it is not too much trouble for you, can you test how much water it takes to make 1 gal. of RO water? I placed the brine line into an empty 5 gal. bucket and started to make RO water. I Got 1 gal. of RO and little less than 5 gal. of brine.

 

[ShaunW]

Paul,
Did the test. For one gallon of RO water I got 1/4 cup of brine.

 

[paul]

Wow! That`s incredible, there has to be something wrong with my unit. I`m going to play around with the pump, see what happens.