Does brita make tap water ok?
 

I know tap water isn't good for marine fish tanks but I use it in my freshwater tanks all the time. I just let it sit for awhile and add stress coat and my tanks with their plants and fish have been fine for years so why is it bad for marine tanks. Also I know you can go to the store and buy bottle water for the tanks or buy a ro unit but what about a water purification system like pur or brita, I know there not as good as bottled or ro but would the water from them be ok to use in a tank?

i dont think the brita or pur take as much out as an ro system does. its the phosphates you need to watch, and afaik, the brita or the pur dont do anything about that.. i always use RO water, i dont want an out break of algae

Could I use the brita or pur with a phosphate remover then?

AFAIK brita filters are just carbon, so they really don't remove much of anything. I wouldn't use it. The cost of filters and phosphate remover would add up pretty quickly.

good question, but at that point, it probably would be cheaper to buy a gallon of ro water from the store. refills are 39 cents around here..


oh, btw, welcome to reef central:)

You can use whatever you want. Its your tank. My experience is that when I need/have to use a brita/pur filter because I'm too lazy to get some Ro/di water from somewhere. I get a lot of extra algae growing. When I go back to distilled or rodi water it goes away. jmho

I don't think I've ever seen an RO water dispensing machine before. Are they at supermarkets or do you have to go to a fish store? Or do you mean refills like the store brand distilled water in gallon jugs.

Oh and thank you very much and I'm very happy to be here :)

Most Wal-Marts and some supermarkets have the RO machines. They are the big machines (usually near the entrance) that refills the jugs. Be sure to test this water for phosphates and nitrates though because the machines aren't always well maintained.

You can also check at the LFS. Lots of them sell RO water and some even give free RO if you provide the jug.

Walmart also sells RO water by the gallon. Green label, and marked drinking water.
(.58 per gallon)

If you cant find that they also sell distilled water as well.

Ok, I did a TDS test on those brita filters for you.

My TDS in tap is 274. This is the normal for me.

After the brita deal, my TDS was < A DRUM ROLL PLEASE>
TDS = 274

Did not remove a thing. Maybe get rid of some of the chlorine.

I also tried the PUR filter that screws on your faucet. The TDS that comes out of that is also 270.

Get a RODI unit, well worth it.

My TDS i put into my tank is 2 or less

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by jpatrician [/i]
[B]Walmart also sells RO water by the gallon. Green label, and marked drinking water.
(.58 per gallon)

If you cant find that they also sell distilled water as well. [/B][/QUOTE]
I don't think their green labled drinking water is RO water. I used it once in my fresh tank and it had one heck of a buffer in it.. had a heck of a time getting it down to 7.0.. also I believe the dkh was up but that is probably ok.
The ro machines in the stores use the local drinking water as a source so if you take your tds with you and check it before buying you should be able to tell the condition of the filter.

[QUOTE]I don't think their green labled drinking water is RO water. I used it once in my fresh tank and it had one heck of a buffer in it.. had a heck of a time getting it down to 7.0.. also I believe the dkh was up but that is probably ok.
The ro machines in the stores use the local drinking water as a source so if you take your tds with you and check it before buying you should be able to tell the condition of the filter.

[/QUOTE]


You have to read the labels...depending on where you are located the filtering process is different. Here in the CT area the labels will read "Processed by Reverse Osmosis." I know that the RI Walmarts the green label is not. I as well as 2 others I work with have been using the Green Label RO water for over a year now and have had NO problems whatsoever. TDS reads 0 on both the RO and Distilled.

Just spend the $150 or so on a good RO/DI unit. Some decent ones on ebay. I did, and I've never regretted it once. You'll make up the cost in no time - not to mention the convenience of having it in your own house. My TDS meter measured my tap at 470, and RO/DI water at 1.

In Houston, we have Windmill machines. .30 cents. I personally only use this and find it to be an excellent water choice. The machines are tended to daily and I like that too! I alos like it on occassion a very busy machine near the house will read sold out. That tells me if the filtered water is out, they dont sneak in unfiltered water.

Jpat, are the green labeled bottles at wal-mart located where they sell all their bottled water, just straight off the shelf?

Yes chaozie, right next the soda, and other bottled waters.

TDS of my tap water: 540
TDS of my Brita water: 270

Cut it in half, thats about it.

I had a similar idea because I was too cheap to go with an RO/DI, but I tested my tap water, and then my Brita water, and it actually caused a rise in phosphates...

i tried the brita filtered water (new cartridge too) for top off. and i got ...... cyano.. now i went back to only ro/di, and it went away..

look ma no skimmer.. just 4-5 gallon water changes every 2 weeks...

no phosphates, no nitires and slowly dropping nitrtae levels, which i believe are currently at less than 10ppm. i would have to look at my aquarium log to be certain, but its at a totally acceptable level...

I us a DI unit only. I don't really have a good place to put an RO unit in my apartment. Anyone know where to get a good TDS test kit?

Lots of them on eBay. You can usually find them for around $15 to $20.

I use Distilled water from Wal-Mart (think its a purple label) It says right on the gallon jug its distilled, RO/DI processed ect. I have had NO problems whatsoever except pushing a cart full of gallon jugs around, and spending 50 cents ect... Just buy the RO/DI from e-Bay. They have one on there for $100.00, unless you like pushing carts full of water around like me because I never get around to ordering the unit from e-Bay.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Badkharma [/i]
[B]Just spend the $150 or so on a good RO/DI unit. Some decent ones on ebay. I did, and I've never regretted it once. You'll make up the cost in no time - not to mention the convenience of having it in your own house. My TDS meter measured my tap at 470, and RO/DI water at 1. [/B][/QUOTE]

I second that!
For all the money, aggravation, physical work and inconvenience of buying bottled water I could have brought a RO/DI unit and that is what I just did and LOVE IT!!! All those months hauling heavy bottle around I should have thought better. I could have paid for the RO/DI with the money. I just brought one from Air, Water and Ice Inc, (the compact reef model) for $139 plus the faucet adapter kit and for mentioning Reef Central got a free TDS with it. Put together in less than 15 min and within hours had 5 gal of pure water =0.0, was 184.
It's simple. Unless you plan on quitting this hobby in a couple months, just break down and buy one. $ for $ the best investment I made so far!
I'm so excited I finally did it!

But if I didn't go to the LFS with my water jugs, what would I do for exercise?