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4 hours ago, pmang6 said:

 

This thread always has me wondering how many millions of dollars have been spent on equipment, additives, tests etc that are either unnecessary or wholly counterproductive....

I often think about that as well.  I've always felt that if you can create a more natural (hands off) environment for your livestock...the better chance you'll have at long term success.  When I go to pet stores I often see new products that didn't exist 10 years ago and I wonder if they are really necessary products or just another money grab.

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5 minutes ago, seabass said:

You can't make any generalized statements about tap water.  The quality varies from city to city, and can vary from day to day (with seasons, storms, or even maintaining fire hydrants).  Some tap water is fine to use, while others are not.  The livestock we choose to keep can also matter.

^This.

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3 minutes ago, seabass said:

You can't make any generalized statements about tap water.  The quality varies from city to city, and can vary from day to day (with seasons, storms, or even maintaining fire hydrants).  Some tap water is fine to use, while others are not.  The livestock we choose to keep can also matter.

 

We can always say that RO/DI water is safe to use.  This is why we see experienced people always recommending it.  With all these recommendations, there are people who have no idea that tap water can be a valid option for some.

 

There is a product (again, not suitable for all) which doesn't require wastewater, and can make filtered water almost as quickly as tap: https://www.amazon.com/Kold-Ster-il-Filtration-System-Small/dp/B001EHHXPS

This is basically a sediment filter, carbon filter, and Poly Filter pads.

I actually used one of those years ago, worked great because of how shallow the well was at the old shop. I never understood the whole RO/DI thing. All you really need to remove is heavy metals, nitrates, phosphates and pesticides. If I was going to play with tap water, I would get a small internal filtre and put a Poly filter in it just to be safe.

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25 minutes ago, seabass said:

You can't make any generalized statements about tap water. 

Of course not.  I know this as evidenced by what happened to my 75 gallon tank that I noted in a previous post on this thread.  I'm just stating what she said in her book because she actually advocated using tap water (which really surprised me when I read it)...but that was during a different time period as well.  

 

She was also one of the pioneers in the captive breeding/rearing of marine fish...so maybe she actually knew what she was talking about: 

 

http://en.microcosmaquariumexplorer.com/wiki/Joyce_D._Wilkerson

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12 minutes ago, seabass said:

You can't make any generalized statements about tap water.  The quality varies from city to city, and can vary from day to day (with seasons, storms, or even maintaining fire hydrants).  Some tap water is fine to use, while others are not.  The livestock we choose to keep can also matter.

 

 

Exactly. 
 

I would never say, “go use tap on your tank” because that’s not an option everywhere.

 

I believe in “best practices” but also like to challenge them as well.
 

 

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10 minutes ago, j.falk said:

Of course not.  I know this as evidenced by what happened to my 75 gallon tank that I noted in a previous post on this thread.  I'm just stating what she said in her book because she actually advocated using tap water (which really surprised me when I read it)...but that was a during different time period as well.  

 

She was also one of the pioneers in the captive breeding/rearing of marine fish...so maybe she actually knew what she was talking about: 

 

http://en.microcosmaquariumexplorer.com/wiki/Joyce_D._Wilkerson

I’ll check that out later when I have time to read through it. 

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35 minutes ago, j.falk said:

Of course not.  I know this as evidenced by what happened to my 75 gallon tank that I noted in a previous post on this thread.  I'm just stating what she said in her book because she actually advocated using tap water (which really surprised me when I read it)...but that was during a different time period as well.  

 

She was also one of the pioneers in the captive breeding/rearing of marine fish...so maybe she actually knew what she was talking about: 

 

http://en.microcosmaquariumexplorer.com/wiki/Joyce_D._Wilkerson

I love that book (a must for breeding clownfish).  I wasn't calling you out for your statement.  I just wanted people to realize that if this tap water experiment is a success, doesn't necessarily mean that others will be able to replicate the results (as Christy has already pointed out).

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My water at the farm rarely changes. I've been keeping a tab on it since we started doing so much with freshwater. Now the water in town probably changes day to day as they pump water in from different reservoirs. At times it tastes like boiled ass when they pump it in from Loch Raven.

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3 minutes ago, StinkyBunny said:

My water at the farm rarely changes.

You're lucky.

 

I've been considering using just RO and dropping the DI stage.  It would cut the cost of tank water; plus, it'd be nice having 200 gallons of stored "drinking water" around in case of an emergency.  My resulting RO water is about 4 TDS.

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Tap water should be fine for fish only tanks...people use it for freshwater fish all the time.

 

So if a person sets up a 500g fish only with badass angels...at least they can probably just pour treated tap water in it and not stress about 500 gallons of rodi.

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3 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

Tap water should be fine for fish only tanks...people use it for freshwater fish all the time.

 

So if a person sets up a 500g fish only with badass angels...at least they can probably just pour treated tap water in it and not stress about 500 gallons of rodi.

When I had FW I didn’t even condition the water...... straight from faucet to the tank.

 

In our new house we have a well .....so free water bitches!!! omgomgomg

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5 hours ago, WV Reefer said:

When I had FW I didn’t even condition the water...... straight from faucet to the tank.

 

In our new house we have a well .....so free water bitches!!! omgomgomg

It's free except for the electricity to run the well pump and the $800 when the well pump decides to shit the bed on a Saturday night. 😉 Take it from someone that has 4 wells to take care of, have a spare pump on hand.

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2 hours ago, StinkyBunny said:

It's free except for the electricity to run the well pump and the $800 when the well pump decides to shit the bed on a Saturday night. 😉 Take it from someone that has 4 wells to take care of, have a spare pump on hand.

We have city water and the well and in the spring we are installing a whole house generator.  

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39 minutes ago, WV Reefer said:

We have city water and the well and in the spring we are installing a whole house generator.  

I thought you said you had a well at the new place? I'm more confused than a porcupine in a nudist colony now.

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8 minutes ago, StinkyBunny said:

I thought you said you had a well at the new place? I'm more confused than a porcupine in a nudist colony now.

We do. The house is hooked up to the city water and we also have a well. It was mostly used for irrigation by the previous owners.  

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29 minutes ago, WV Reefer said:

We do. The house is hooked up to the city water and we also have a well. It was mostly used for irrigation by the previous owners.  

We have the same thing here. City water for the house and a well for outside, I also use that for the RO/DI.

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42 minutes ago, StinkyBunny said:

I thought you said you had a well at the new place? I'm more confused than a porcupine in a nudist colony now.

you forget to take your ginkgo biloba..................:unsure:

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4 minutes ago, spectra said:

you forget to take your ginkgo biloba..................:unsure:

Remember when geritol was synonyms with old people senility problems?

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52 minutes ago, spectra said:

you forget to take your ginkgo biloba..................:unsure:

 

47 minutes ago, Dirté Sanchez said:

Remember when geritol was synonyms with old people senility problems?

Oh look honey, we have a pair of Richards here.

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On 9/29/2019 at 8:06 AM, WV Reefer said:

Also, today marks the first day of the tap water experiment. I will begin by using top off water from the tap and then slowly work my way up to the water change water.

 

here's a secret

 

my 80g was started, topped off, and water changed with tap water since day one. I only test for nitrates and po4. Tanks po4 is 0.1 I know my limitations, i cant grow any sps, or delicate lps. But softies and leathers do just fine

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22 minutes ago, JBM said:

 

here's a secret

 

my 80g was started, topped off, and water changed with tap water since day one. I only test for nitrates and po4. Tanks po4 is 0.1 I know my limitations, i cant grow any sps, or delicate lps. But softies and leathers do just fine

there's only 2 things that worry me about using tap water and that's phosphates and heavy metals.

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2 hours ago, JBM said:

 

here's a secret

 

my 80g was started, topped off, and water changed with tap water since day one. I only test for nitrates and po4. Tanks po4 is 0.1 I know my limitations, i cant grow any sps, or delicate lps. But softies and leathers do just fine

So many people do and don’t admit it. I wanted to start this tank the same way but wasn’t confident enough to just go for it. 

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3 hours ago, WV Reefer said:

So many people do and don’t admit it. I wanted to start this tank the same way but wasn’t confident enough to just go for it. 

Here is my peice.

 

My 5g and my 20 long both used rodi. Had great results. Then the day I was filling the 80g, one of the fittings on my rodi unit sprang a leak. The 20 long was already drained, corals in holding bowls, fish in a 5g bucket. So I needed to fill the 80g fast and couldnt wait the 3 days for a new rodi, also didnt feel like spending $400. Yikes $400 at the closest lfs for some no name rodi unit that made 50gpd not 150 like mine.

 

Said f#ck it, a small prayer and sacrificed a small child and did the unthinkable. Like I said earlier. I know my limitations. Sps are out, I'm shocked the monticap hasnt died. It steady grows and hasnt lost color. My po4 remains so low because I grow enough macro to feed a farm on a monthly basis. Seriously, I grow about 5 pounds of chaeto, grape chalupa, and dragons breath a month. Higher end lps wither away. But the basic mushrooms, leathers Kenya, cloves, etc all do fantastic.

 

I was going to wait a full year to reveal my secret. But at this point, does it matter? I have a successful reef, it looks fantastic. And had I not stepped forward. Nobody would be the wiser.

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  • WV Reefer changed the title to WV Reefer's 12 Gallon Long and Dirty: Home of The Worm

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