proof that instant ocean salt is BAD! (or what is in my tap water?)

[toonces]

in case you couldn't tell, the title is a re-make of the famous oceanic title.

anyway, i mixed up a batch of instant ocean with my tap water from boynton beach, and ran it with a powerhead for about a week. the bucket was loosely covered with a garbage bag to keep my son out of it and was out of direct sunlight. here's what it looked like today- obviously i didn't use it for a water change! no wonder i had algae problems after i set up my tank...

p.s. the pic is in my gallery if this doesn't work (or someone can tell me how to post a pic...)

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/36941bucket.JPG

[45commando]

Wow,I had my tank set up in Boynton Beach for 7 years & never had to use RO/Di.Never had any algae outbreaks.Not until I moved to Ft Lauderdale,did I have to invest in a RO unit.Have you tested the water supply to see if you get a reading of anything such as ammonia,phosphates etc?

[Smo]

Looks like my oil change bucket in the garage!
The IO should be fine. This picture is worth a thousand reasons why you shouldn't use tap water.

[toonces]

yeah, the instant ocean thing was a joke...kinda a take on the proof why oceanic salt is bad thread.

i have no idea what's in the tap water, but it comes out yellow from the tap. i've been using it to top off evaporation, but i'll go ahead and use nsw for water changes!