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Thread: New guy question

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Oct 2012
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    New guy question

    Hi, I'm very excited to have stumbled upon this site. I am definitely building an ATS now! My first silly question:
    When using a scrubber, is it still necessary to use ro/di water or can I use my tap water as the scrubber will remove any phosphates in the tap water?

  2. #2
    Administrator
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    Oct 2008
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    Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
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    Welcome.


    A scrubber (algae) does remove most of the "bad" things in tap water (after all, algae does all the filtering in lakes and oceans), but it is not known yet if they are ALL removed. And what certainly is not known is if they are removed fast enough for you to put tap water right into your tank for top-offs (it's already assumed that you are not doing water changes anymore, so we are not talking about changing huge amounts of tap water at once; just small amounts via top off). Chlorine is definitely not removed by algae, but chlorine will, in tiny amounts, evaporate as the water is circulated in the system. Chloramines (chlorine + ammonia) do not evaporate, but fortunately they are broken apart by ascorbate and ascorbic acid, both of which are produced by algae. After the chloramines are broken apart, the chlorine evaporates and the ammonia is eaten by the algae. Again the question is if this is done fast enough.

    Some people are experimenting with using tap water instead of RO or RODI, but there are few results yet. I myself have a test 10 gal FW nano that I top off with tap (unconditioned), and for over two years it's been doing great. I pour in about a 1/2 gallon of tap water at a time. I also put a few gallons of tap water into my reef sometimes, but not enough to call it "top off" all the time.

    If you have live rock, or live sand, or any corals or inverts at all, your problem becomes copper. Copper can occur in city water or in wells. Yes a scrubber (i.e., algae) consumes copper, but the question is will the copper be removed fast enough so that no damage occurs. It really varies by how strong your scrubber is, so it would be an experiment for you. The best test would be to start with an new tank, and add corals or inverts one at a time (cheapest first).

    If you do add tap water, do it the day before you clean your screen, so that you have the most algae possible.

  3. #3
    Banned
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    Apr 2011
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    No, a reef tank should always use RO/DI water and a Saltwater fish only should always use at least RO water. I encourage everyone to read their local water studies (most cities mail them out once a year), you will be shocked and disgusted with how much 'poison' is in tap water, poison for a reef tank, but 'safe' for human consumption according to the FDA, although I will never drink tap water since it is so easy to make RO drinking water at home. On the last report from my city (which I seemed to have misplaced, the pictures below are the previous year, 2011) it actually stated there was e.coli in the water and it was 'above levels safe for humans' during the time they tested. That is very scary to me.






  4. #4

    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    usa
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    Thanks for the replies. I was trying to cut corners again. Guess I'll finally break down and get an ro/d I unit to go with my new scrubber.

  5. #5

    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    usa
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    I am planning on using a 6" X 8" screen. This will be a one-sided screen so I need 48 watts to light it? I was going to use 1 CFL bulb with a reflector but I see everyone going to LEDs. I am not much of a builder so I would like a small LED fixture if they are not too expensive. Any recommendations for this? How many watts or lumens of LEDs would I need and what color? Sorry if these are silly questions but I know nothing about LEDs.

  6. #6

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    Jan 2012
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    someone should fill a vessel with tap water(test the tap water first) and put a scrubber on it for a few months and test again to see if the algae will turn tap water into pure water,,,I would do this myself but I can't afford that many test kits unless.... would this test work using a TDS meter? then I could do it........

  7. #7

    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    Merritt Island, FL, USA
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    Waste water remediation, yes. Drinking water purification, please give me a submicron membrane, GAC and some UV...

  8. #8

    Join Date
    Mar 2010
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    USA
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    I top off using water from the machines in front of grocery stores. 25 cents a gallon. No issues. The initial costs of a RO/DI unit would pay for a few years of buying water for me. So it would never pay off for me.

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