Lesser of 2 evils: Tap water vs. No Water Change

mxmarks · 04/15/2008, 06:50 PM

When I last did a water change, I used RO/DI. I don't have a unit, so I picked up some at my LFS. I mixed the water, did the change, and things were great. Since then, I've been using my powerheads to try and blow some large amounts of algae and dead cyano off rocks that it used to coat. It's making a cloudy mess of the tank. The skimmer is pulling up a ton more than it used to - it's a lighter color than it used to, but a lot of foam.

I'm thinking I really need to do a water change, to siphon out the garbage floating around in there, but I don't have any RO on hand, and even if I go and get some, I can only do it in 5 gallon increments (and it would have to wait until this weekend).

This is a 75 gallon tank, with an arrow crab, peppermint shrimp, pencil urchin, blue spot goby and lawnmower blenny living in it. It has a good amount of turbo and narcissus (ugh, I cant spell that!) snails, an emerald crab that may or may not be alive (havent seen him in ages!), and 5-6 hermits.

So what is the better option? I know NEITHER are good, and I'm learning my lesson (Next paycheck - RO UNIT!!!!), but dealing with the current situation, what action do any of you suggest.

And as a sidenote: This is the most frusterated I've been so far with this hobby. Nothing is worse than spending a gazillion bucks, setting everything up, only to have it look like an underwater forest, with brown sand. I know that this is normal in every beginners tank, but I just needed to vent to some folks who'd understand =)

Tswifty · 04/15/2008, 06:57 PM

distilled water from the grocery store works, also some grocery stores have RO water dispensers outside.

leonlesmann · 04/15/2008, 06:58 PM

You have a couple of options.....first of all, do not use tap water, that will only exacerbate the situation and make things grow faster. So you can hold off on the water change until the weekend.

Or in a pinch I've siphoned out what I can into your normal bucket or whatever and let it sit for a couple of hours. The junk will sink to the bottom and you can very gently pour most of the water back in. At most you lose a few cups of water but a lot of junk comes out at the same time.

DrBDC · 04/15/2008, 07:07 PM

Considering that some will not do a water change for the first 6 months, which I completely disagree with btw, I'd just wait. It will be much harder to remove tap water impurities than it is to not add them at all. You need to get yourself that ro/di unit and start doing 10% weekly changes asap. That will most likely eliminate the algae problem, or at least decrease it dramatically.

You can start with a $120 ebay filterdirect unit and later improve the membrane and add a vertical di unit if you're in a pinch. If you can come up with 200-250 you can get a much better unit out of the box though.

kayne_21 · 04/15/2008, 07:27 PM

My 4 stage 75gpd from the filterguys was only $160.

04/15/2008, 06:50 PM	#1
mxmarks Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Liverpool, NY Posts: 122	Lesser of 2 evils: Tap water vs. No Water Change When I last did a water change, I used RO/DI. I don't have a unit, so I picked up some at my LFS. I mixed the water, did the change, and things were great. Since then, I've been using my powerheads to try and blow some large amounts of algae and dead cyano off rocks that it used to coat. It's making a cloudy mess of the tank. The skimmer is pulling up a ton more than it used to - it's a lighter color than it used to, but a lot of foam. I'm thinking I really need to do a water change, to siphon out the garbage floating around in there, but I don't have any RO on hand, and even if I go and get some, I can only do it in 5 gallon increments (and it would have to wait until this weekend). This is a 75 gallon tank, with an arrow crab, peppermint shrimp, pencil urchin, blue spot goby and lawnmower blenny living in it. It has a good amount of turbo and narcissus (ugh, I cant spell that!) snails, an emerald crab that may or may not be alive (havent seen him in ages!), and 5-6 hermits. So what is the better option? I know NEITHER are good, and I'm learning my lesson (Next paycheck - RO UNIT!!!!), but dealing with the current situation, what action do any of you suggest. And as a sidenote: This is the most frusterated I've been so far with this hobby. Nothing is worse than spending a gazillion bucks, setting everything up, only to have it look like an underwater forest, with brown sand. I know that this is normal in every beginners tank, but I just needed to vent to some folks who'd understand =)

04/15/2008, 06:57 PM	#2
Tswifty Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: PA Posts: 14,022	distilled water from the grocery store works, also some grocery stores have RO water dispensers outside. __________________ "Enough light? Heck I could go barebottom and grow SPS in the stand!" - DiscoReefRover

04/15/2008, 07:07 PM	#4
DrBDC Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Ballwin, Missouri Posts: 10,358	Considering that some will not do a water change for the first 6 months, which I completely disagree with btw, I'd just wait. It will be much harder to remove tap water impurities than it is to not add them at all. You need to get yourself that ro/di unit and start doing 10% weekly changes asap. That will most likely eliminate the algae problem, or at least decrease it dramatically. You can start with a $120 ebay filterdirect unit and later improve the membrane and add a vertical di unit if you're in a pinch. If you can come up with 200-250 you can get a much better unit out of the box though. __________________ Some drink at the fountain of knowledge, some just gargle, but most are rabid. Current Tank Info: 180g sps+75 softy/lps on one system tunze's, seio's, mjmods, aquacontroller w/add ons, 2X400 XM10000 and 3X160 vho actinic, 110g sump, 110 frag tank, Geo Beckett and other stuff

04/15/2008, 06:58 PM	#3
leonlesmann Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: NC Posts: 7	You have a couple of options.....first of all, do not use tap water, that will only exacerbate the situation and make things grow faster. So you can hold off on the water change until the weekend. Or in a pinch I've siphoned out what I can into your normal bucket or whatever and let it sit for a couple of hours. The junk will sink to the bottom and you can very gently pour most of the water back in. At most you lose a few cups of water but a lot of junk comes out at the same time.

04/15/2008, 07:27 PM	#5
kayne_21 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Milwaukee Posts: 209	My 4 stage 75gpd from the filterguys was only $160.