Has anyone been successful with coral without using RO?

[Edward Smith]

Present or past experiences?

[skunkmere]

good question.

[PSam]

I used distilled water for a while when I got lazy about replacing RO membrane... I'm not saying for sure, but I still suspect the red macro & bryopsis took over during that period. When I got around to replacing the membrane, it was noticeably less.

[mbierzyc]

My last two setups didn't use RO water. Straight tap and it was not bad. The glass had to be cleaned pretty often, but the corals all looked good, fish were healthy.

I now do use a RODI filter on my new setup. I wanted to clean things up a bit...

[Engine 7]

Algae and more algae with a lot of red slime thrown in. 15 years ago noone I knew used ro water in their saltwater tanks. We all battled algae and cyano too....

[MrMexReefer]

yup, same here... i was using straight tap for months, when i became to lazy to drag RO from DLC. Like everyone else said, I had great looking corals, just annoying macro and lots of algea on the glass.

[suliaman007]

iv been using tap for 6 months.... no problem. i have power heads pointed towareds my glass and it helps prevent algea growth on it.

[JPagliai]

Honestly, I think it depends on the area you live. In my area, the water is pretty bad. My TDS measures 257 ppm going into the filter and 3 coming out. My swimming pool turns green every time I top off evaporation.

I never used water directly out of the tap, at least not after the initial setup. For a while, I was using the water from Jewel & Dominicks. It's RO water, but the quality depends on the day you go. During that period, I battled all kinds of cyano & bypropsis (but I was also using a wet/dry filter) I added a refugium & RO unit at the same time, so there's not telling which was the fix. Since then, though, I had only periodic outbreaks...nothing like before. IMO, an RO/DI unit is very easy to set up and worth every penny.

[whiirly]

There is a guy up in Crystal Lake who has well water and probally one of the best looking tank I have ever seen.I think he is just lucky though

[spider86]

My brother uses tap water chlorine remover and his corals and fish look great. He has a ton of coraline and not much algea at all. He does have to scrap the glass every other day to remove the coraline.

[Edward Smith]

Sounds like hit or miss. Different results is probably dependent on several factors: skimmer quality, water changes, circulation, DSB quality, and most importantly...tap water quality.

Here's why I asked:

I have a 18g nano at work. I have RO that I bring from home, 32 miles away. And, I have Ice Mountain cooler water 32 feet away. I'd like to use the cooler water but am a little concerned. They post the water analysis report on their website but their is a wide range of results according to the report.

I may start doing half and half for a month or two, to see if there's any changes but for going 100%

[PSam]

All those "minerals added for taste" and whatnot... I don't know man.

I can just feel the algae blooming...

[Kmiec123]

Depends on who's water, Chicagos water I have heard used with no issues.

[JPagliai]

Originally posted by PSam
All those "minerals added for taste" and whatnot... I don't know man.

I can just feel the algae blooming...

I agree. I think you'll have problems with bottled drinking water. I didn't check the site, but maybe they have RO water available. Since they're coming to the office anyway, you might be able to work a deal with the distributor.

[RandalB]

Check the TDS of the Water cooler and report back...

RandalB

[Edward Smith]

Originally posted by RandalB
Check the TDS of the Water cooler and report back...

RandalB

I dont think that will help with the answer? Even if the TDS came back elevated, how much can softies tolerate? At what TDS level are algae blooms likely to occur. What is the solid in the measured TDS's?

But I'm a big fan of acutally experiences. The posts above suggest there is some success but some experiences with algae blooms but no reports of crashing.

I think I'm going to start out with 25% bottled for 6 weeks, evaluate the results and continue increasing by 25% every 6 weeks unless things start to look poor.

[JPagliai]

At least take the time to read this article about things you should watch for.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/jan2004/chem.htm

As I told you earlier, I did use bottled water that you purchase from Dominick's & Jewel. I also used nursery water and bottled distilled water from the grocery store to top off my tank. In that time, I had a constant battle with diatom and cyano. Did I wait for my tank to crash before switching to RO? No, that would be pretty stupid.

I get the feeling that no matter what anyone on this board tells you, you're going to try it anyway. I wish you luck.

[Edward Smith]

Originally posted by JPagliai

I get the feeling that no matter what anyone on this board tells you, you're going to try it anyway. I wish you luck. [/B]

I've read the article previously and it does offer some value here but limited. The article is primarily focused on tap water.

I do appreciate all the feedback. If the above posts presented a consistent picture, that using bottled water resulted in poor outcomes, then I would not try it anyway.

But everyone has not had the same experience

mbierzyc: "My last two setups didn't use RO water. Straight tap and it was not bad. The glass had to be cleaned pretty often, but the corals all looked good, fish were healthy."

suliaman007: "iv been using tap for 6 months.... no problem. i have power heads pointed towareds my glass and it helps prevent algea growth on it."

whiirly: "There is a guy up in Crystal Lake who has well water and probally one of the best looking tank I have ever seen.I think he is just lucky though"

spider86: "My brother uses tap water chlorine remover and his corals and fish look great. He has a ton of coraline and not much algea at all. He does have to scrap the glass every other day to remove the coraline."

Kmiec123: "Depends on who's water, Chicagos water I have heard used with no issues."

[RandalB]

Originally posted by Edward Smith
I dont think that will help with the answer......

Okey Doke Ed...

Good Luck to ya.

RandalB

[Caragol]

You should make a DIY DI-only unit and hook it to the Ice Mountain cooler... then post pictures.

[Edward Smith]

Originally posted by ccaragol
You should make a DIY DI-only unit and hook it to the Ice Mountain cooler... then post pictures.

It would make a great cartoon with my office staff looking at it scratching their heads.