starting a 10 gallon

[Monica]

I would like to start a 10 gallon tank but I have several questions first. 1. Do you have to have live rock? 2. Can you use distilled water instead of RO water? 3. Can you use a Aqua-Tech filter in salt water? 4. Is the Aqua-Tech 10-20 to much filter for a 10 gallon? Thanks

[tinyreef]

welcome to the hobby!

 

1. live rock isn't necessary but is recommended. some people only use LR and others ignore it. the ecosystem and 'look' you decide on will determine the 'need' for LR.

 

2. you can use distilled. it's purer than ro or ro/di. some distilled water may have copper traces from the distillation process however so you should double-check the process. the purest form of water you can possibly get is glass-distilled water (lab grade), but usually you have to settle for steam distilled (stainless steel distiller for $100). ro/di is perfectly fine to use however. i don't always trust ro water but depending on the source it too MAY be fine.

 

3. & 4. i don't know of the aqua-tech brand, other than in water filtration/purification (potable). anyone else?

[OscarBeast]

The small Aqua-Tech filters are identicle to Marineland "Penguin" filters, but they lack the bio-wheel and have a different lid (ie the 30-60 is a the same unit as a Penguin 330).

 

Since this is the case, my guess would be yes.

[printerdown01]

It will take longer for the system to ballance with out the addition of Live Rock and Live Sand, however it is possible. Yes, you can use distilled water rather than RO or RO/DI! In fact you CAN use tap water, it is just safer that you don't, for it can add phosphates to your aqarium (some people will caution you that it could add copper as well, but the levels of copper are actually less than natural salt water). From what I understand distilled is not purer than RO/DI, it is however close. I used to work in a lab where we had to keep glassware EXTREAMLY clean. In doing this we would wash with distilled, then RO, then finally with RO/DI. They had a great set-up for the RO in another building, which was really cool... but enough of that... Think about it this way, RO water is pushed through a semiperiable membraine (spelling?), the only thing that really gets through is the water and disolved ions i.e. salt (not all would pass though, but some). Then the water undergoes de-ionizaion, where the ions are pulled out (well theoretically, obviously not every ion can be removed, but it is close enough to call it "pure water"). This is the stuff that was used in the Japanese Alps when astronomer needed something increadibly pure in order to determine if nutrenos actually had mass. LOL, just read though that and I sound like a science geek, oh well, whatever.

[tinyreef]

printerdown1,

 

i think you're thinking of that experiment in the antarctic or the magnetized water from japan. and what's wrong with being a science geek? we all use turkey basters in our tanks and ***** and moan about nitrates and bacteria. most people would lock us all up.

 

actually there's four type of 'pure' water based on their conductivity (basically), some astm standard. glass distilled is type 1 and other distillation and di methods makeup the 'lesser' types 2 to 4. any of them is drinkable and usable in the reef aquarium and certain labs. type is the standard but too expensive to achieve other than for standards measuring purposes. it all comes down to $$$

[mimie]

Hi!

 

Just wanted to give you a link to THE most informational site for marine hobbyist:

 

http://www.wetwebmedia.com

 

There you will and should find all of your questions. They also provide free consultation via email and a extremely prompt in the replies.

 

Best,

mimie

[kovu]

A quick question about tap water.

 

If we can use it, but it is not safe to our aquarium because it may have copper, and phosfates, than is there a certain type of tap water conditioner that removes copper - phosphates?

[Goofnut]

Copper and phospates are removed quite well by a Poly-Filter:

 

http://www.poly-bio-marine.com/polyprod.htm

 

With a nano, it's usually easier and fairly inexpensive to use RO water from your LFS. I have two five-gallon jugs that I use to store it. One is for the saltwater mix, and the other is used for top-off water.

 

As far as the LR -it depends on what type of tank you're trying to create. If you use enough LR, it won't be necessary to put filter media in the power filter. If you don't use LR, you'll need the media in there so your bacteria can grow on it and remove the ammonia and nitrites from the water. A Deep Sand Bed will help remove the nitrates. Good luck!