Tap water

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

RO Buddy is a good small unit, about a $100. I know I will sound like a jerk, but honestly if $100 is a problem, then this is not the right hobby. This is very expensive, it doesn't get cheaper, and when you try to go cheap in this hobby, it usually creates problems that end up costing more. You spend money in this hobby like its nothing.

If money is an issue for now, then consider building a freshwater tank. You can use tap water for freshwater tank, its much cheaper, and much easier. For saltwater, you need money, lots of it.

 

[Narideth]

You can go pretty far in this hobby on a budget, but you have to have the base building blocks to do that. My LFS was using unfiltered water or a very old filter on their RO/DI filtered mix they were selling and the tap water quality here is very bad. It set my tank back so much that I ended up restarting the whole thing from the ground up. Bad tap water or poorly filtered water will make your efforts more difficult.

Consider good water to be the base of your tank - you need a sturdy foundation to build anything. Choose the places where it's important to invest - water is an important investment. It's literally the most important component of your saltWATER tank.

 

[Tamberav]

If I lived anywhere by the woods of Maine with a truly deep artesian well that does the filtering for me, I'd use RODI. No question. But, yes, I use tap water (that's I've already tested for baseline parameters.)

Tap water varies from place to place. It probably won’t harm a fish if treated with prime but it may harm sensitive inverts like cleaner shrimp and it may make your tank very ugly with ongoing diatoms (brown all over the rock and sand).

You could buy all the test kits and send a ICP test in for your water but that will cost more than buying water for a 5 gallon tank.

No one can know what is in your tap water and the majority of tanks do not use tap because it can be harmful or potentially make the tank ugly.

Tap water also varies seasonally.

I have quarantined fish in tap water and I will say bacterial blooms were more of an issue, probably due to excess nutrients in the tap water fueling them.

There are some successful tanks that use tap water, there are more that had ongoing issues from tap though.

 

[GatorGreg]

Can you use tap water for water changes

Dude.

 

[Jrswish]

No one wants to say it but stick with freshwater if money is an issue. Don't punish living things because you can't afford a rodi unit, even a cheap one would suffice.

 

[Doctorgori]

you can use tap; depending what’s actually in it …
although I prefer Telluride spring water over Flint River…
…Anyway, I used it for years in. FOWLR tank, I also used it on my reef in a pinch…but this was Great Lakes water which still isn’t half bad …. I wouldn’t recommend any long term use

 

[Tamberav]

Can you use tap water for water changes

I am assuming you are younger since you mentioned your parents in the other thread.

Can you just ask your parents to bring you some distilled water or RO water from the grocery store every time they go?

It is not very costly for your small tank so they might not mind?

 

[Doctorgori]

I’m gonna go contrarian here and slightly disagree with the status quo… Most are saying tap is bad but is it always?

Some of My relatives still (in 2024) get their drinking water from a pipe driven right in between rocks …

Water quality is absolutely not something someone can slap a universal attribute to… especially with no source or ICP info …this is just a parroted thing … I’m sorry …the entire continent of N.America doesn’t have polluted water…

I wouldn’t even drink Mesa Az water, but Cleveland tap is serviceable in a pinch ….

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I’m going to leave this thread here. This thread is filled with helpful information, and is what I read before I started my tank. It’ll show you how all the fundamentals work. We aren’t here trying to bash you. We are trying to help you and show you what works best for animals that we keep. There’s a lot more involved with salt water over fresh water, and yes, it can get costly at times. However, once you get past the initial cost of simply starting a tank, you can get by without having to spend a ton of money. You will save yourself a lot of headache and more money spent, if you spend the money now on proper equipment for your tank.

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