ChelseaBidwell
Member
HI guys! I am new here and new to the saltwater aquarium hobby. I am pretty experienced and successful with freshwater. But this is all new to me. We just bought everything needed to start our 80 gallon saltwater aquarium. And we are going to build our sump this weekend. I've been reading a lot about how tap water is unsafe for the livestock in the aquarium. I am wanting to go ahead and start my cycling process when I finish the sump and have come across an article explaining how to shock tap water with chlorine and then dechlorinate it. Once I have done that, I have to filter it with activated carbon to rid of any metals that may have been in my tap water and it says I need to make sure all of the essential nutrients are present. I have purchased a dechlorinator that also removes all copper, iron, ect. My question is, how do I make sure that my make-up water has all the nutrients my livestock will need? I am doing this because I cannot get a RO/DI unit at the moment since I have spent well over $4,000 to start this tank. I want to start the cycling process and make sure I am cycling with water that is sufficient for the life of my future fish/corals. Has anyone done this and been successful or is there an easier way to do this besides buying pre-mixed water? Any help would be great! Thank you!