melodicone

Ok so, from what ive been reading, everything is pointing to either distilled or RO water, both of which are a costly way of putting water in the tank. are these the only options? if they are thats fine and maybe i should invest in a RO filter, but if not i would much prefer some way of safely using my tap water... i have a pur water filter attachment to my sink.... will using that help at all?

cerianthus

Any filter is better than none. What you have may be just RO system? It could be RO/DI. Google for info on its brand and model#. You may already have what you need.

melodicone

What i have is the Pur 3 Stage filter system. according to the website it says it removes 99% of lead and reduces other water contaminates, except for flouride. so its not exactly what i need. but its definitely better than using tap water. i read that using a water dechlorinator is not good for reef tanks... so i dont know what to do

lew2000

Interesting i have never read that using a dechlorinator or a product for chloramines is not good for a reef tank. Most municipal systems have moved to using chloramine instead of chlorine. Obviuosly you need to know if you don't yet whether (if you currently use a municipal source) what they use to treat. If you use a dechlorinator on a chlorinated water then you will free up ammonia. I am not sure how a chloramine treatment such as prime, amquel plus would be harmful? Not only breakdown chloramine by treating/binding chlorine and ammonia, but most treat heavy metals and some even treat for silicone - though not as big a problem in water systems. If you use a PUR, a tap water drinking filter is not going to last all that long - and output is slow. I never experienced a problem using tap water in my salt mix for my reef tank.

cerianthus

I guess that all depends on ones tap water. As far as dechloriator, have not used it for more than 2 decades, especially for reef, especially with slime coating. What I used to do was just let water age in reserve but since introduction of chlormamine, should use one that will breakup bond b/n chlorine and ammonia, theorectically. On the contrary, I still am not using any at this moment even w/ reports of added chloramine to tap water as need tobase as testing for E. coli are done during hot summer days.
I believe in RO/DI but too expensive to purchase and still expensive to run and maintained properly, not to mention the loss of rejected/wasted water.

If your tap is not too hard (moderate minerals content), look into Tap Water Filter by API (around $40) which can assist in removing dissolved minerals , metals and even Chlorine and chloramine. I believe replacement cart cost aroud $20.
With soft and moderate hard water, should last for while before changing.

lew2000

Well i do know that with chlorine it was possible to age water and chlorine would outgas - however, aging doesn't work on chloramine - very stable - (it can take many weeks with exposure to sunlight / actualy UV is what breaks it down.that is one of the reasons that it is used, as well as cities and counties and states started getting upset about chlorine being trucked and "trained" - what with some of the most recent accidents with chlorine tankers. As far as i know when you review the tech details and the MSDS of the product, these are proven chemicals that work on chlorine and ammonia -and break the chlorine/ammoonia bond. i don't believe it is theoretical? Sodium Thiosulphate turns chlorine to chloride ions and disulfinates (like Glyoxal-sodium bisulfite) to bind ammonia. Or maybe i misunderstood what you meant?

haedra

While I don't know anything about saltwater tanks, I thought I would throw this out there and let the ones who do know about them, decide!

I have a problem with nitrates in my tap water, and thatpetplace.com recommended a tap water filter for me that seems to be a good price:

http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod.../1/product.web

I'm not sure if something like this would work for you though, so please if anyone else has experience with this product, let me know.

cerianthus

That is what I mentioned above . This is good alternative to RO/DI, provided your tap is not very hard. For Very hard Water (high mineral content), both RO/Di and TWF will be be costly. This will remove minerals, metals, chlorine and chloramine.
Personally would recommend to have reserve ready (circulating and heated) using mentioned product. Thus in case of emergency, less panic and less alarmed rather than depending/using dechlorinator or any slimy/viscous products , especially for reef.

melodicone

The water in my house is VERY hard, so this may not be a good idea for me

When you say mentioned product what are refering to?
I do have an extra tank available that i can use to prepare water as far ahead as i need to, i know that the chlorine will naturally evaporate after a day or so of circulation, its the rest of the stuff in the water that i worry about. my water turns all of my shower heads orange in just a couple of months, there cannot be good things in there.

cerianthus

I know lime build up is somewhat whittish, not orange. Maybe something to do with HWHeater? Since should use only cold water, HWH shouldnt get in the way.
Since you say your water is very hard, Is this well water?
I was refering to TWF.
How about filling the tank with cold water and run filter with extra carbon or other resins (check Kent Marine Filter Media), before any addition, even LR.
In extra tank (reserve), heater and filter w/ extra carbon/resins.
If your water is city water w/ chloramine, should add product to detox them (or resin to remove, lmk if you find one) otherwise no need for such product as time will dissipate simple Chlorine in the water.
Hope this help a bit.

Mike

I have a pur 3 stage filter too. I measured the total dissolved solids (TDS) out of the tap and then out of the pur filter. They measured the same at 109. Hmm. I then measured the water coming out of the RO filter and it was 8! The RO is definitely doing it's job. For a reef tank with high output lighting using an RO or RO/DI filter is the way to go.

About the orange colors on the showerheads... Not sure, but maybe similar - I used to have a water softener that would make the showerheads a pinkish color whenever it would run out of water softener crystals. Do you have a water softener in your house?

melodicone

lol honestly i have no idea if there is a water softener in my house, i think i will invest in the TWF to see how that works out, if it turns out to be overly expensive due to the hardness of my water, i think i will try preparing my water ahead of time and using a dechlorinator that is considered "reef safe" (although everything points to no dechlorinators being reef safe) without the slime coat protection. In the event that i need to use one of these dechlorinators, i found a couple online that i wanted to see if anyone had any input on.
1: Kordon Amquel Plus
2: Kent Marine Pro-Dechlorinator

Im sure they arent too different, but if anyone can tell me that they've used either of these products in their reef water without any problem it would be very comforting!

Thanks everyone for all of your help! I appreciate it!

lew2000

I have used amquel+ The mfgr states one of the many benifits of amquel+ was in lowering nitrites. The only issue that i know of with amquel+ is that in the first few hours of use it can affect 02 level. However, from reading other reefkeeping websites - as long as KH and O2 are at good levels there has been no problem with its' use that i have read (maybe i missed something). Again, i know there are many different opinions about treating water - letting it outgas for chlorine (chloramine takes at least a week), but i personaly don't see how the use of these products removing chlorine/chloramine outweigh thier use. The only issue i see with using a dechlorinator, imho, is that it doesn't treat chloramines - if you r municipal water systems uses chloramine. i mixed up my batch of saltwater in a 50gal plastic trash can by using amquel+ with tap water for my reeftank - it would sting somewhat - but supposedly amquel fixed this problem.

melodicone

YAY! i just ordered my reverse osmisis system online. I found great deal i just couldnt pass up! or.. should i say it found me! I got my costco.com deals book in the mail and there it was, a Watts Premier WP4V system on sale for $149.99 including shipping! everywhere else i looked was charging double that! so I just ordered it and a couple of replacement filter packs I'm so excited!!!! Thanks again everyone for all of the advice! no chemicals for me!

JohnnyOcean

Hi Melodicone,
That orange colored water you were describing may be from rust. Usually from older pipes. If your home is an older home, then the pipe material may be the cause. Also in homes that have copper pipes also may be of concern If this is the case then your best bet is to test your water for metals and other contaminents that way you know what steps to take.

cerianthus

Glad to hear you got good deal!
Hope all goes well and keep us posted w/progress.