tap water question

[kasha]

so i used manhattan tap water in my 55 gallon for 1 year and did some massive ro-di water changes in the past 2 weeks. my question is how much of the nutrients do you think accumulated in my live rock and gravel over time? how many water changes and time have to go by before i can safely assume all is out?

thanks

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

It is unknown as to how much can have accumulated. Check your phosphates regularly get a phosban reactor and run some sort of carbon as well to be sure. Do frequent water changes to be safe as well.

 

[reefman]

phosphate, silicate n other elements from tap water have already been absorbed for a year into the rocks, sand etc...
posting water par, a pic of your tank with good clear shots of your rocks n setup n maybe we can give a educated guess.

 

[nanoreefer22]

On a side note, you're using gravel for the tank???

 

[Awibrandy]

Try this calculator:
Click here: Reef Central Online Community it should give you a better idea. Even checking for P04 will not help because we are constantly putting it back in even when not using tap water. Since tap water is not the only culprit in the addition of phosphates. Rinse your frozen fish foods well, and check the dry ones label for it.
Do get a phosban reactor or two. I run phozar in one, and activited carbon in the other. Only place I get a build up of algea is inside of my overflows which I clear out once in awhile.
Oh yeah, it would be a good idea to get rid of the gravel and replace with sand instead...

 

[Paul B]

Lucliky for you, Manhattan which has water tunnels over 100 years old has some of the purest water in the country. When I lived in the city limits I also used that water for years with no problem. Some of that water is probably still in my reef.
That is one of the few places where tap water is not too bad. When the new water tunnels open up, you will not be so lucky. Those new tunnels are about 22 miles of concrete. The existing water tunnels which are 900 feet deep and were the longest tunnels in existance and made out of cobblestones have great water.

 

[e.muehlbauer]

While NYC does have some of the purest water in the country, phosphate, in the form of orthophosphate, is actually added to the water. I forget why....maybe to help precipitate other compounds? Using a phosphate test kit I got the minimum reading on my straight tap water. I also used tap water my first year in the hobby (before it was a reef tank...). The main problems aren't from water changes, but from the top-off water. I did use phosphate remover media in my first year or two...now I just rely on carbon...which I usually forget to change. I have no algae problems, but I do have to pull out a little excess Caulerpa every week.

 

[kasha]

whats wrong with gravel? i bought this tank with water, rocks and the gravel/shell substrate. why is sand better?

 

[muntai]

with gravel substrate, it is common for stuff to get into it, food, poo ,etc.. With a sand substrate, and proper amount of flow, or just a bare-bottom, you can much more easily keep everything in suspension to get removed by whatever filtration system you use.

For a gravel bed, you will most likely get stuff trapped in there, but one solution that isn't really that bad is to just to gravel vac here & there for maintenance. Keep in mind that this will probably vac out some various critters that live in the bed, but you should still have enough in the tank for this to not cause any issue. Also, a gravel bed wouldn't have need of such a diverse variety of life as a DSB would for proper functioning.

gravel will do nothing to boost ph and calcium level. also i like the look of fine sand just like real reefs.
i could go on and on but you get the picture.