RO Water vs. Tap?

[rookiereefer]

I've been struggling with cyano ever since my 60 reef tank drilled tank with sump was setup for me nearly 17 months ago. I've done everything but drain it to resolve the algae problems with the exception of not having a refugium yet, which I am in the process of trying next. I have a skimmer in the sump and I only feed nori and 1 thawed cube of Ocean Nutrition Frozen Brine Plus every other day. I also added two Koralia 1 pumps to help with the flow. I have 2 separate 2 bulb PC light fixtures. One set has a standard PC white and actinic bulb which runs 12 hours and the other fixture has 2 white PC bulbs that run 6 hours The tank was initially filled with tap water in Sept. 2007 and I was told this was probably the main culprit because tap water has a tendency to have high phosphates. I measured my tank phosphates and they were off the charts >1.0. I also measured my tap water phosphates levels and they read zero. However, to rule out that my tap water was indeed the problem, I have bought and used only RO water from Besco since March. I also added media bags with Phospure to the wet/dry sump which I also hope to get rid of soon. Phosphate levels are down to 0.6 now. However, I haven't really seen any significant improvement in my tank. I really question if the RO water is making any difference and if it is worth the hassle of buying and lugging it home. If I had saw significant improvement I would buy a RO unit, but at this point I'm not sure it is.

Any thoughts about this or other suggestions for me to try?

 

[kev2me]

I think RO water is definitely the way you want to go with a saltwater tank. Tap water will not help anything.

Do you actively remove as much cyano as you can before the RO water change? Sometimes when you blow it off your rocks and sand you can get more of it out once it's in the water column when doing a water change.

I'd also try to get the refugium set up as soon as possible and get as much chaeto as you can into the system. The chaeto will help take any excess phosphates and nitrates you have hopefully leaving other nuisances to starve.

Also check your lights, older bulbs can start to grow funky stuff.

 

[killingseed2000]

cyano, can be a sign for not enogh flow, the flow pattern may not be right , maybe be over feeding , or a mix.

 

[iceman66]

You should invest in a TDS (total dissolved solids) meter, or borrow one, to find out what the TDS of you tap water is. This will give you an idea of what you'll need RO?DI wise.

 

[Jon Warner]

You should invest in a TDS (total dissolved solids) meter, or borrow one, to find out what the TDS of you tap water is. This will give you an idea of what you'll need RO?DI wise.

yes, you nailed it. Good quality RO/DI have become VERY cheap... everyone should have one.

 

[cloakerpoked]

yes, you nailed it. Good quality RO/DI have become VERY cheap... everyone should have one.

TDS is helpful, but ultimately may not be as helpful as we like to believe since it still tells us nothing about the composition of our water. I've seen analysis of some local water that shows something like 40% of the Total Dissolved Solids in their water was actually calcium, and a lot more is chlorine which burns out of the water in 24 hours anyway. If you call your local water provider, they should have data on exactly what the composition is of water put out by your water utility as far as TDS is concerned.

I kept a cyano free tank for 2 years using tap water before buying my RODI unit because I didn't want to tempt fate, but was getting great color/growth out of my SPS, LPS, and softies and I never really noticed any difference at all when I switched over to RO.

Because of my personal experience, I attribute cyano growth to flow problems and overfeeding for the most part (which will also contribute to phosphates.) although I've also seen old bulbs grow some weird stuff once the spectrum gets off. Something to remember, if you're testing .6ppm phosphates, the actual level in your tank would be a lot higher if the cyano wasn't taking it up. In a way it functions like a toxic fuge in that it thrives off the phosphates. If it wasn't there, your phosphates would be a lot higher than you're measuring.

Was just reading an article that raising the pH to a higher level (8.4-8.6) and cutting the light cycle can also help with getting this under control in some cases. Good luck.:nerd:

 

[Yellowtang]

Not enough info. Cyano or algae or both. What are the other water parameters. How often are the water changes how much. Have you tryed Red slime remover? Ie what have you done since September 2007? Have you tryed GAC or Purigen still use it quit
why? We can probaly get you fixed up but gota have more please. What color is it?

JR,

 

[AZDesertRat]

Bottled RO from the grocery can still be much different than RO/DI you make yourself. RO by itself only removes 90-98% of the contaminants in the tap water while a good RO/DI get basically everything. You may also be interested to know most bottled RO, if it is intended for drinking water anyway, has minerals and stuff added back into it to make it taste good. If you are using RO processed drinking water this may be some of your problem. A TDS meter will tell if there is anything in it.
Owning your very own RO/DI is the only way to have consistency which to me is the most important part of water quality. You want the same thing every time, just like with your salt mix, lighting etc. For like $169 you can have a high quality RO/DI with a handheld TDS meter, inline pressure gauge, RO bypass valve so you can use RO only for drinking and other uses and reef quality filters and membrane. Its cheap insurance.

 

[brandyrb]

I'll only use RO/DI water in our aquariums. Everyone I know of that's used tap water has non stop algae issues and in our area can't keep sps corals very healthy. I know a lot of people use RO for fresh water tanks, but I don't know about saltwater.

 

[NewMelee]

100% RO water I had alot of water issues with nuisance algae until I switched and even had to leach out of the rock

 

[moto826]

ro water is all i use

 

[dmjordan]

i use ro/di water in my tank and it is fine. in a pinch i will add tap water for my top off but i prefer not too. seems like whenever i use tap water to top off i will have a minor slime algae patch on the sandbed for a day.

 

[Mya]

I have used both. Before I really knew much about SW keeping I did. Also cause I was in a pinch the first time I set up my old tank.
Now all I use is RO/DI water. You can purchase a RO/DI unit fairly cheap now a days and a barrel in my town only costs $15 bucks. The amount of money I saved going to buy RO/DI water or SW mixed water from the LFS paid for the unit/barrel in just over a month.

If you can use the better water.. Why wouldnt you?

Btw, Cyano is pretty common. Even in the nicest of reef tanks you usually find Cyano looming in some corner. They say flow doesnt stop Cyano... just makes it harder to grow in spots with high flow. Also, Cyano can give you false readings on Phosophates and Nitrate lvls. If all else fails, medicate the stuff with the Cyano stuff and try to figure out what is causing the problems. I dont think its the water personally that is causing it. Its probably a number of small factors adding up.

 

[xrayrider]

Have you tryed Red slime remover?

First off, do not ever use this. It is a antibiotic. Yes it will kill the Cyano bacteria. It will only be a temperary solution, and it will come back, until you find the source of the phosphates that are feeding it. It will also kill off benificial bacteria in your sand bed. It could cause your tank to have to cycle again. This will definately add to your problems.

RO/DI is a must. Not only will phosphates in tap water contribute to nusance algae problems, but tap water often contains silicates, and nitrates, both of which will fuel algae issues.

 

[dmjordan]

red slime remover can also throw your ph off.

 

[FiReBReTHa]

dont forget about places adding chloramine to the water!

(chloramine = amonia = upside down fish)

I jst got my RO from the filter guys! ammazzzzing service and custom!

 

[AZDesertRat]

RO/DI is definitely the way to go and having your own personal unit is best. When purchasing water you are at the mercy of whoever maintains, or usually does not maintain their system. More often than not you are not getting what you think you are and without a TDS meter you never know.

Don't let chloramines scare you, any good RO/DI with a single 0.6 micron carbon block and a good vertical 20 oz DI will remove chloramines lickety split. All these vendors are pushing specila chloramine carbons when it is actually the ammonia portion of chloramines that is the problem, not the chlorine which is what the carbon block removes. If you want to spend additional money use it for better DI not more carbons.

 

[gilmour01]

ro/di, good flow, dont over feed, good skimmer....a few fundamentals to help with cyano.

 

[oceanparadise1]

Everyone is gonna yell at me for saying this, but up till I bought the 180 I used tap water with NO problems so if u can't afford an ro and know what ur dealing then u can get away with it! But def is better to go ro!

 

[AZDesertRat]

Tap water is 100% dependent on where you are located. In E. Rochester you have very low TDS due to the reservoir impoundment systems they use. This is very unique and is definitely not the norm. I would never ever recommend tap water even as a temporary measure.

If you can't afford RO/DI you probably should not be in this hobby. We keep some pretty unique creatures, plant and animal life and we as their stewards or keepers need to provide the best environment we possibly can or look for something else to occupy our time. Not trying to be harsh here but we need to do it right or move on.

Recommending tap water is not wise especially when we all have differing water conditions.Your TDS may be 50, mine is 830. You may not have TDS but your sedimement and particulates can be quite high, especially after storm events, my sediment and particulates are in the tenths of a part per million. I have traces of rocket fuels in my water as do most of us in the southwest and southern Calif. who rely on the Colorado River. You just never know.