Tap water to start Salt tank!!!!

[whassupjake]

I need help! For reasons that will remain unspoken, I need to start a salt tank with tap water. All that will be in there initially will be fish - maybe feather dusters, inverts, and anemones later. My question is... Can this work and what chemicals would ya'll recommend to dump in there to remove metals, chlorine and the like. Any feedback would help and as soon as possible.
thanks.
whassupjake

[bookfish]

I think a lot depends on the quality of your water supply. I grow a lot of rare and expensive (take my word for that, if I have to do the math I may cry) coral and I only use tap water. I do dechlorinate with Stresscoat (preferred) or Prime dechlorinator and of course i use enough to break the chloramine bond so I liberate the ammonia. Usually I leave it for 24 hours mixing with a p-head but I have used it as quickly as 3-4 hrs post mixing.-Jim

[FishyMel]

When I lived in Kentucky, the water was great and all I had to do was add Amquel dechlorinator and salt and I was good to go. Here in Texas, I have to use R/O/DI water on everything including my freshwater tanks. The city really mess up the water with some nasty additives, some of which they won't admit (I suspect they use lye). We also have alot of phosphates in our water naturally. No good for salt systems. So..it would depend on the quality of your water supply. My guess is that your water would be pretty good in SC.

[Grayout]

why dont you just age the water before you put it in the system. by aging i mean let it sit for about a week or so in a rubbermaid bin with a powerhead. this allows many chemicals to dissipate out of the water. bob fenner recommends this technique and it has worked for me. give it a try. go to wetwebmedia.com for more info.

[redFishblue]

Most likely, you will have algae problems due to having a new tank. But using tapwater is going to make that a lot worse. Having green stuff all over the tank for months is not going to be fun.

[ACIDRAIN]

I have an RO system, that I use for my FW South Americans. And personally prefer my Cincinnati tap water for all my SW including my reef. Yes it has phosphates in it, but I use a scrubber to get most of it out. In my reef tank, I do 25% weekly-every other week, water changes. I have aragonite substrate. And the only thing I ever add to my tank is Kalk, and a very small amount of calcium to increase the levels up from 350 (without any addition of calcium) to 450, where I prefer it to be. And also, I add some iodine with each water change for the crustacea. I use De-Chlor brand dechlorinator when changing the water. I have rarely had any problem with out breaks, that were not controled with other critters. Such as emerald crabs for any bubble algea, blue leg hermits and a lawn mower blenny for any hair algea. ect. In the last year, I have had a 12 inch purple gorgonian Triple in size (fragged twice), another brown thicker type of gorgonia double in size, Purple and Red Zoo colony double in size, Green Star Pollops quadruple in size, red flowerpot grow about 1/3 larger, frog spawn double in size, toadstool leather triple (fragged twice), devils hand grow about 6-7 times original size (multiple frags) green finger leather tripled, cabbage leather triple, green bubble was rescued and thought dead, and now is 6 inches after 9 months, multiple new heads on several candy cane corals, cyanaria almost double in size from 4 inches to about 8 now, pectina a little growth (extremely slow grower, and was damaged when I got it), ect, ect, ect. This is just in my 75 gal tank.

And I have always only used tap water. I tired the RO water with my nano, and was disappointed at the slow growth, and all the problems of adding so many different minerals, trace elements, ect. So I figured, why go to all that trouble, when they are all in the tap water from the start? Only problem is having enough of a clean up crew to keep all the stuff under control, that grows from the phosphates that come with the tap water.

[ACIDRAIN]

Forgot I wanted to add something else. Many people on here will disagree with me, and some will agree with me. But the one thing to consider, is that there are many different people on here, with many different ideas, experiences, and ways to do things. All are right, though some are not as right as others. You need to decide which way is the best for you, and your application. As well, as what may work for you, may not work for someone else. And vs versa. So don't get discouraged is something you try does not work. Just try it another way, until you get the results you are looking for.

HTH.......

[bookfish]

The main things are to understand:
1. What your final goal is.
All systems are compromises in many ways so establishing your priorities at the outset lets you navigate the options efficiently. For example, my systems are all of the ""open canopy" style. It's louder, but it lets heat vent and encourages gas exchange.
2. Basic principles of closed system chemistry.
There are many ways to achieve the same end. For example-nutrient control. I use a bare bottom/high flow/heavily skimmed style system to try and remove uneaten food and waste before it can break down in the tank and eventually be converted to nitrates (algae food). Others use deep sand beds to denitrify the nitrate that is produced and still others just do regular water changes with more reliance on the dilution effect. All of these approaches work, some are just better for certain people and systems.
The point is that if you think about addressing the issues you will face during the planning process you'll end up spending less time and money in the long run. Also be wary of people promoting "this" as good or "that " as wrong because the truth is that as long as something is done with an understanding of how the system works, and makes sense to you, and can be shown to accomplish the desired goal, then it's all good.
Sorry for the novel length reply and don't get me started about why deep sand beds are good AND bad, depending...-Jim

[whassupjake]

Thanks guys, appreciate the help and I really appreciate the idea to go check out wet web media. HUGE resource. I did some studying and reading and feel more confident about the path to take.
I believe I will start with tap water (after I test it).
Then I will add some dechlor type chemicals, and then I believe I will add a serious portion of Macro algae's (caulerpa) and let them help suck the rest of the stuff that might still be lingering in the tap water.
All this combined with a few stiff water changes over the next few weeks and I believe we might have a plan.
Any immediate problems anyone sees with this course of action?

[bookfish]

I think if you can find a different macro algae genus (something that doesn't bloom like chaeto or gracilaria or blooms less often like halimeda) you'd be better off.
Just IMHO.-Jim