Tap Water & Macros?

[SbCaes]

hey folks. odd question i wanted to throw out there.

 

do you folks by chance recommend using tap water for our macro algae tanks instead of the standard RO ?

and for top off as well?

 

thoughts? discuss

[got2envy]

I wouldn't because I have a well....but even if I had city water I would not. You will eventually run into problems like in a regular reef...GHA, diatoms, cyano...

[SbCaes]

I wouldn't because I have a well....but even if I had city water I would not. You will eventually run into problems like in a regular reef...GHA, diatoms, cyano...

 

 

hrmmmm i was under the impression that tap would speed up our growth. esp in a macro algae environment? gha in a macro tank? O_O"

[Zepo.]

hrmmmm i was under the impression that tap would speed up our growth. esp in a macro algae environment? gha in a macro tank? O_O"

The worse my RO/DI filters get the better my macros grow, once i changed the filters and started topping off with 0 TDS water the macros receded and nearly died off. So answer to your question yes.

[johnmaloney]

you would definitely want to remove chlorine and chloramine from the water

 

NSW if you can get it IMO

[Phyto4life]

agreed about the chlorine maybe adding some prime to the tap water overnight in a pail with a powerhead then testing for chlorine might help

 

aquarium pharmaceutical sells a carbon/di tap water filter for I think $50 might help a bit with getting the chlorine out while leaving a bit of inorganics

 

just bought the filter and my tds is at 6 ppm after 3 week's of using the filter with no trace of chlorine.

 

You could also run a pail with a phosban reactor and carbon in it

[got2envy]

hrmmmm i was under the impression that tap would speed up our growth. esp in a macro algae environment? gha in a macro tank? O_O"

 

 

yes I have heard of GHA in macro tanks...actually it can get out of hand. also cyano...I still get a bit of it every now and then...I have well water which is full of metals and it goes through a water softner, so I would not use mine unless filtered.

If you do decide to use tap water keep us informed...also test your TDS so we know where it is at.

 

NSW is da best

[bitts]

would say it depends on the tap water. have a friend who actually tops off all of his tanks with tap straight from the sink. but then others who's city water source is down stream from rocky flats, & even filtered wouldn't drink it. let alone put it in a tank. just test the water & see. shauns for example dosent even have chlorine in it.

[briansbelle]

what about using the "bad" water from an RO unit? The unit should remove chlorine and stuff right?

 

I usually put mine into the dog bowls and washer but would be so nice if I could save it for top offs on my macro tank