Its bad for saltwater in general. It just adds many micro elements and toxins that make it really hard to have a stable tank. If you have a LFS near you, see if they sell RO water. Usually its around a dollar per gallon. (if you wanna mix the salt yourself) or see if they sell pre mixed saltwater
I see, my issue is how I'm going to carry 20 gallons of water back to my house. I don't mind mixing the salt myself. After the initial setup, I would only be changing a gallon or so every two weeks right? I don't really plan on having too much bioload. Also how expensive are RO/DI filters and are they a hassle? Thank you for your help
The concern with tap water isn't the "unnecessary" minerals, as natural saltwater also contains 72 different minerals. The problem lies in the various chemicals present in tap water, such as chlorine, which is almost always found in city water and can be lethal to fish and corals. Starting with the right water quality is crucial to avoid future frustrations. As others have mentioned, it's necessary to replenish the evaporated water with fresh water (not saltwater) almost daily since salt does not evaporate and water does. Your salinity levels will gradually increase over time if you do not perform this maintenance.
I would not recommend it as the amount of Alk in tap water can potentially double this number easily and affect CA and PH not to mention content of heavy metals, chloramine, polluants. flouride and other elements not contained in sea water. tap water also offers no ph buffering and note many areas have copper in their taop water which you do not want in your system. Next will be phosphates in water which will cause further issues.
I see, would I have to readd the minerals to the RO/DI water when adding to the tank or will the fish be fine swimming in water lacking various minerals? Thank you for the help btw
The salt mix has the minerals, and minerals don't evaporated. Adding RODI water is what keeps everything even.
I have a bag of carbons in my HOB filter, would that remove chloramines and other pollutants?
Use seachem prime prior to mixing the water with salt, it should remove chlorine. Carbon should help with the removal of toxic metals if present. Alternatively you can run chemipure elite instead of carbon, it’s pretty good at keeping water clear and keeping phosphates low, and it’s pretty cheap.
If you wish to avoid problems later, you should avoid tap water.
As long as chemipure and carbon is being run to remove those pollutants I believe it should be acceptable. It should be safe as the water we drink from our carbon filtered pitchers. Though using tap may increase algae growth but this could be countered with water changes and gfo. However, I agree with you that RODI is much better for saltwater in the long run.
You cannot compare the requirements of humans with ocean animals.
Just curious, how is water changes with the same water going to help with algae growth?
