TAP water and only tap water.

[Therinx]

Yeah, we have always had great tap water in NYC, especially taste wise.

But i wouldn't use it in a tank with anything that is copper sensitive, and i'm starting to actually become concerned enough about lead that i was going to get a RO/DI filter just for our drinking water.

The last water report is here if anyone wants to look: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/pdf/wsstate15.pdf

[heathlindner25]

Originally Posted by Therinx

Yeah, we have always had great tap water in NYC, especially taste wise.

But i wouldn't use it in a tank with anything that is copper sensitive, and i'm starting to actually become concerned enough about lead that i was going to get a RO/DI filter just for our drinking water.

The last water report is here if anyone wants to look: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/pdf/wsstate15.pdf

Don't drink di water

[dastrder]

Taste and tds are 2 different things.

[madweazl]

Originally Posted by heathlindner25

Don't drink di water

Here it goes...

[heathlindner25]

Originally Posted by madweazl

Here it goes...

"It " ... isn't going anywhere, I was only trying to help.
I would just "T" off my unit and drink after the RO membrane, di resin is expensive, unnecessary to use for drinking water,and it makes water taste funny.

[Ebisan]

With a RODI system, you control your water quality. If you are using tap water, you are relying on your water district to provide consistent water quality. But you know that can go. Flint anyone?

[Tarawa]

DI water tastes like crap.

I should try a small "test" tank with no fish/coral with my tap water to see what happens. TDS from the tap is around 1100. See what kind of neat algea I can discover. =D

[OrQidz]

One factor is that tap water varies tremendously depending on where you are. If it works for you, great, but I wouldn't make any generalizations about it always working.

In the Portland area we have tap water with low TDS but I have crazy algae problems if I use it. Probably because my water district mixes in some river water which I suspect has higher nutrients. We also have chloramines. Bah.

[d0ughb0y]

Originally Posted by ecotanker

I top off with water straight from the tap, without any conditioner. I live in NYC, whose water is supposed to have the lowest TDS in the country.

the link to nyc water quality report shows range of 40-281 for tds.

sf bay area water tds range is 20-93. water comes from sierra nevada snow melt, it's like spring water coming out of the tap.

[Salty150]

Ummm... what am I missing here...?

Isn't the object to make these animals (fish and corals, etc.) at "home"?

We take them out of the ocean - the least we can do is give them water that doesn't have added fluoride, chlorine, etc., etc., etc.

Seems that some people care more about what is faster, cheaper, and easier for them - instead of the care of the animals we are entrusted with.

[SeattleReefer]

Originally Posted by Salty150

Ummm... what am I missing here...?

Isn't the object to make these animals (fish and corals, etc.) at "home"?

We take them out of the ocean...

I think I see the problem...



.

[saf1]

Its about all I have every used. 40 today is hosting same corals and sand from merging two of my 29 gallon bio cubes started over 6 years ago. Prior to that those two started after a power outage nuked my 100 gallon while on vacation. Yes, the rock and some of the sand has carried forward oddly enough.

Time and technology has changed, no reason to not pick and choose what makes sense and is affordable for the tank owner. If that means they use tap water but treat it properly no harm or foul. It has worked and probably will continue to work for many more years to come. Just like those who use distilled or RI/RO.

I'm in my planning stages and I'm actually going to be using NSW from around the Monterey area trucking it all the way back to Sacramento. I'm sure I will hear much of the same regarding the horror of me using NSW from a cold water region for my tank. Pretty positive that will work just fine too

In either case while not ideal I've had pretty good luck using normal tap. Daughters planted is also doing well. Then again, I'm running mostly a softie tank with too many bubble tips and hammers growing out of control

[saf1]

Originally Posted by Salty150

Ummm... what am I missing here...?

Isn't the object to make these animals (fish and corals, etc.) at "home"?

We take them out of the ocean - the least we can do is give them water that doesn't have added fluoride, chlorine, etc., etc., etc.

Seems that some people care more about what is faster, cheaper, and easier for them - instead of the care of the animals we are entrusted with.

I get your point. But water treatment can negate those items. It is all about chemistry which is why there is a rather interesting thread on the forums about no water changes

Yes, there some who go the route of faster, cheaper, and anything else along the fast track. However, the conscientious aquarist always has better success. Don't get me wrong because Murphy hits us all during our life but that whole conscientious bit is what makes a reefer mature and successful. At least in my opinion which means it isn't about faster but what works for them and their budget.

Who are we to judge.

[240gallons]

City water vs Rodi in my hood

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

[2_zoa]

Originally Posted by saf1

I get your point. But water treatment can negate those items. It is all about chemistry which is why there is a rather interesting thread on the forums about no water changes
Point is, hobbiest found out what true zero readings meant. Carbon dosing has come a long way and almost negligent to some extent.
Yes, there some who go the route of faster, cheaper, and anything else along the fast track. However, the conscientious aquarist always has better success. Don't get me wrong because Murphy hits us all during our life but that whole conscientious bit is what makes a reefer mature and successful. At least in my opinion which means it isn't about faster but what works for them and their budget.

Who are we to judge.

Right, who are we......well said
Chemistry does play huge part here. As you mention, system setup also plays big time here. There are lots of setups and methods at/in play. Set the time machine for a few years back. Zero po4 and No3 was huge. Never mind most were running refugiums with large amounts of macro algae. Still today, look at triton. Algae in Sump/refugiums,skimmers........Yet, just simply adding what's needed and not doing blind water changes.

Pics do nothing for this thread.......Why? Because pics don't prove any one thing in a system. I can tout the water, dosing, or anything. Then throw a pic up. Oops!!! I forgot to mention that I only have one fish in my 300 gallon tank, or.....I only feed my 30 fish every other or every 3 days. Etc,etc,etc. system totality is the only true story. Complete tank husbandry. Just is.

[2_zoa]

Originally Posted by 240gallons

City water vs Rodi in my hood

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

Which is which?
I read your post as the clear blue water as being city water????
On a high day I get about 70ppm for my tap water. Area or location does matter.

[outssider]

even if you have 1 tds coming from the tap that could be way too much if that 1 tds is copper or zinc. I've got copper pipe coming from the street and all throughout my house. There is no way I would let any tap water into my tanks.

[rosterv]

That's really nice you can buy seawater in Seattle @ $.05 a gallon.

[2_zoa]

Originally Posted by outssider

even if you have 1 tds coming from the tap that could be way too much if that 1 tds is copper or zinc. I've got copper pipe coming from the street and all throughout my house. There is no way I would let any tap water into my tanks.

I also have copper pipes running throughout. My very first tank ran on tap water for the first 18 months. No issues. If you run the water for a bit to flush the pipes of what ever your scared of. You only have to deal with the supply water.

[CStrickland]

I think my biggest worry is that even if there are no issues now, that can change without warning. All of those kids in Flint, MI have lead poisoning because some bonehead changed the water process to save money. Nobody caught on that it was making them sick for a long time. And that's lead, a very serious toxin for people. I have no reason to think that my water supply wouldn't become toxic to a reef tank without warning. Especially after flint since many of the anti-corrosives that they add to keep the lead in the pipes are made of stuff like phosphate and zinc that we really don't want to be adding. I wouldn't be surprised if they ramp that stuff up post-Flint in an abundance of caution.

If your water is that good, a rodi is not a big investment because your filters last for ever. If it's bad enough that you need to replace them often, all the more reason to use it.

while running the water may reduce the copper levels, it hardly makes it a nonissue given the extremely low levels that are toxic to coral. We are talking parts per billion. Also, I believe there can be variations between sources that make it more or less likely to leach into water. Cold hard water with a certain chemical composition can bore through copper pipes by pitting them. So without knowing another reefers situation it is silly to say they will be safe using it.

At the very least you guys need to treat the water with something like seachem Prime to bind heavy metals and remove chloramines. Even if you've had "no issues" before, it's not uncommon for a supply to disinfect the lines by cranking a big dose of disinfectant through them. So where you've been lucky until now, if you time it wrong you could add a huge dose of chloramine / chlorine. If that happens you'll wish you were more "scared" of stuff.

[2_zoa]

Originally Posted by CStrickland

If your water is that good, a rodi is not a big investment because your filters last for ever. If it's bad enough that you need to replace them often, all the more reason to use it.

My RODI unit was purchased on October 19 2009. I just replaced the filters for the first time cause the DI bed started to look a bit more orange in color. Is that pretty close to forever? Maybe I'll go a full 7 years this time around since I was still getting 0 TDS water. I even have a thread asking about calibration just to make sure I wasn't getting fooled by the TDS meter.

I can't speak to the lead poisoning issue that you speak of. I haven't heard about it. I don't watch much TV and I don't follow current events otherwise. I have less stress not worrying about the worlds problems. "Better" ways or cheaper ways of doing things are all around. Look at businesses moving to Mexico to save labor costs and not having to conform to an ISO 900x audit every year......

You are correct in the fact that not everyone can get away with their tap water. Also, to blindly say that it's OK for everyone to use tap water cause said user might get away with it....is not right. Mileage may vary for sure. When, I used tap water. I always treated it with API stress coat. The regular stuff since I didn't run a skimmer at that time. So, it was treated but it was tap water for me in the beginning.

[CuhRaig]

Our local tap water is 70 tds. Better than most but use rodi

[conjuay]

Originally Posted by Ron Reefman

You say that as if you are taking somebody else's word for it. A $20 TDS meter and you'll know for sure. Just my opinion, but I sure wouldn't think NYC would have great water quality... maybe it does, but for $20, I'd test it myself.

No, as a former NYer, New York's water is considered some of the best. Many people claim that is the water in NY that makes their bagels so exceptional. That having been said, a TDS meter is still mandatory.

[NS Mike D]

Originally Posted by conjuay

No, as a former NYer, New York's water is considered some of the best. Many people claim that is the water in NY that makes their bagels so exceptional. That having been said, a TDS meter is still mandatory.

It's pretty easy to find out for sure what's in the tap water versus using anecdotes.


2015 NYC water testing results makes debating what's in the water moot. I think similar information is available for most municipalities :

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/pdf/wsstate15.pdf


TDS ranges between 40 - 281 with average at 70. NYC water does contain copper, but I don't know if those levels are bad for reef tanks, or if they will accumulate with top offs.


some municipalities will test your tap water for free (like NYC)

[2_zoa]

Depending on where you live in New York, don't a good portion of the buildings still have the old cypress water tanks on the roof?

I've never been to NY. Just something I recall hearing a while back.