The reason I am asking is that I am current running my 180 gallon under tap water. My tank is evaporate too much I don't have enought RO water to supply for it. Right now I only have a few coral and they seem to be hardy. They are torch coral, lether, mushroom, toastoad and zenia. I would like to have clam and some sps coral but I am not sure they can handle tap water. My tank currently run 4 of 160 watt VHO and 2 of 175 Watt metal halide. I have a refugi sump about 50 gallon and about 150 lbs live rock. I have lots of caulerpa in the sump and light 24 hrs. Any advise is greatly appreciate.
have anyone successfull keep coral using tap water.
- Thread starter tvnguyen71
- Start date
I think the major problem you'll eventually encounter will be algeal blooms. As your tank water evaporates all the "stuff" in the tap water is left behind, just like salt. Over time you will get more and more build-up.
Of course it is also dependant on how pure your tap water is.... and there ARE some good conditioners out there.. I personally like PRIME.
Of course it is also dependant on how pure your tap water is.... and there ARE some good conditioners out there.. I personally like PRIME.
Where is bob when we need him? 
In a nut shell, it really depends on what is in your tap water. As Snow said above, whatever not evaporated and utilized by your coral, the concentration will build up until the ionic balance is so far off that nothing will live in the tank. Think Dead Sea. This is why it is important to do periodic water change since it dilute some of the ions somewhat.
In a nut shell, it really depends on what is in your tap water. As Snow said above, whatever not evaporated and utilized by your coral, the concentration will build up until the ionic balance is so far off that nothing will live in the tank. Think Dead Sea. This is why it is important to do periodic water change since it dilute some of the ions somewhat.
Thanks for the opinion. For now I will stick with what I have and can afford. I will some day invest in another RO unit for my reef only. So Far my aqurium is doing okey and coraline algeal is starting to come out. I only replace my water with kallwasser. And trying to do 10% water change monthly. Will update my tank some day. Thanks everyone
tvnguyen71":u0mt9wbf said:
Absolutely!!!!!!!!!!!
Several people on another board showed excellent tanks with numerous corals using tap water. With thriving plant life like your macros there should be no difference in the water. And the plant life will prevent that algae blooms metioned before.
So the basic difference should be just that the macros grow faster then they would using stripped water.
Just like with ro/di water clams and sps require more calcium from what I hear.
It's entirely possible (I know a few hobbyists who do), but you better be sure your water quality is acceptable and that it's not leeching any type of heavy metals. In the long run, it's probably still much safer and more successful to go with filtered water (accumulation is a very real problem).
I am a huge advocate of 0 TDS RO/DI water. However, I can't ever argue with a buddy of mine that has a 155g bowfront with a simple sump and about 6 tanks chained together totalling about 400g. First tank has about 32 fish and the other system has about 80 fish total in it. No refugium. He has been using tap water from the begining, which was about 4-5 years ago. Has never had an algae bloom, pest algae, or unexplained deaths. He runs a little crappy DIY skimmer and just added a small UV filter.
You would drool if you saw his tanks. Can't argue with success. :roll:
You would drool if you saw his tanks. Can't argue with success. :roll:
Actually, I was talking about full blown SPS tanks. The singl bow front is all SPS. In the other sytem, there is one zoanthid and ricordia tank with pipefish and seahorses, one with nothing but fish, one withmostly SPS, but has some LPS and softies, one SPS frag tank, and 2 other "combo" tanks. Sorry I wasn't clear before.
Laura D":12mb31fk said:
You are absolutely right. That is the reason I fill my tanks with cold water from a faucet used daily and run the water for a minute or two before collecting it.
Additionally, my tap water here is treated so that it actually forms a coating on the pipes to isolate the pipes from the water. That also reduced the pipe water contact. And that is standard wter treatment practices.
But you are correct. Heated water in long time contact with copper (as in the water heater) will result in copper in the water. And in a study where various levels of copper in water were exposed to a macro algae, 1/10 of a pound of that macro algae accumulated the equilivant to 250ppm of copper in a 55g tank. edit: and abosrb that copper in a two week period. And 90% of the homes in the US have 250ppm copper or less.
As I have stated numerous time, plant life will condition the water to natural sea level values.
The TDS can be pretty high, but as long as none of the TDS is from undesireables, it can be fine. For example, if calcium, sodium, chloride, carbonate and a small amount of magnesium make up 99.95% of your TDS, and your TDS is at 350, then it is a pretty good. Infortunately, it is very difficult to trouble shoot if you get into trouble, so for most people, it is just better to spend efford to stripe all the TDS out, then add some of it back in with salt mix.
beaslbob":2ht6s1zh said:
This is just absurd.
I have seen quite a few successful reef tanks that use Tap, even a few that are envious! Your tank is in neither of those lists.
In the Macro Algae study you reference:
What Macro Algae?
Is it available to hobbiests?
Will it grow in a captive environment?
Is it even alive or does it need some type of treatment?
At what rate does it adsorb Copper?
Does it adsorb the even worse contaminates in Tap water like Zinc, Tin and Cadmium?
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