Help! Can I Use Tap Water For A Reef Tank

[Sea Turtle]

I am starting a new reef tank. Can I use city water to fill my tank?

 

[shibby]

for a reef no. its best to use RO water since corals and inverts are more suseptable to additives in tap water then fish are.

 

[Sea Turtle]

Is this expensive, and where do I get the best deals on large quantities?

 

[shibby]

you can buy an RO unit for around £80 i think and make your own, alota wastage though. or you can usually buy it from a fish shop that does marines for about £2.00 for 25 litres, you then would need to buy the salt of course to mix into it!

 

[Danno]

Actually you can use tap. Just be ready to use massive amounts of heavy metal removers and also adding chlorine eliminator.

And be ready for algae.....lots of it....

 

[home breeders]

Sorry to sound stupid but what is RO?

 

[scott133]

hi

you really dont want to go down that root with tap water buy Ro water it is safer for your coral and inverts

RO - Reverse Osmosis Unit

regards scott

 

[Buddyboy67]

Using RO is definately prefferable but I admit to using treated fresh water from the tap to do my top ups....Adding a good quality de chlorinator is a must however!!! I add easi life liquid filter media and de chlorinator before adding to my tank..Kept marines here for year..way b4 RO units were ever available to the home fish keeper,lol...

Saying this..if I lived closer to my local store I would probably buy RO to do the job as it would save the expense of the additives required when using tap water!!!!

 

[rabbut]

The safety of tap water really depends on your tap water's parameters for TDS, Nitrate, Phosphate, Copper, Heavy Metals, Disolved Organics and a handful of other things. Unless you know these parameters and are hence sure they are OK for the corals and inverts you want, then you can use it, but tap water being OK is a rarity. While we cannot give a strait answer to your question, the best advice would be to stick to RO wherever possible.

RO is basically specially filtered water than it almost pure and hence free of poisons and pollutants

All the best
Rabbut