Do I Need A Ro Unit For A Marine Set Up

[QuotheRaven]

I am getting some "cured" LR tommorow BUT I have to decide between some variables Ok question 1.

Question 1: I have play sand thats in my Fresh water tropical tanks could that be put into my marine tank...unsure if it's safe though because of medications etc......The substrate I have currently is Crushed coral but Im thinking the sand may allow some burrowing critters in areas....

Question 2: Is there any other way to make the water safe WITHOUT having to use RO Unit or boiling the water prior.....

Question 3: I have 4 "spare" bits of LR which won't all fit in the tank with the new piece should I keep some and leave a piece or two as base rock then if things go bad keep the other bits as base rock??

I have a heater & powerhead , the tanks going to be a 10 gallon FOWLR.....

 

[SkiFletch]

1. Three bad ideas here. First, playsand (silica sand) is not the best for marine tanks since it does not buffer like aragonite sand or crushed coral does. Second, silica sand can be very sharp and detrimental to burrowing fish/inverts. Third, sand beds can store medications only to release them at bad times. Solution; go to your local landscaping or hardware store with some vinegar. Test the sands there by placing them in the vinegar and watching them bubble/fizz. If they fizz for one minute or less, they're just silica. If it keeps fizzing/bubbling beyond 1 minute, you've got aragonite based sand.

2. Ah the water difficulties in Australia. Unfortunately there's no substitute for RO water. However there is one other option that may be "safe" enough. Run tapwater through a carbon filter such as a Brita filter, or one designed for filtering tapwater (common on fridge water/ice makers). This will remove pollutants and harmful chemicals like chlorine/chloramine/bromine, etc. Then run the carbon-filtered water through a Polypad to remove any copper to make life safe for inverts. If you do not plan on keeping inverts ever, you do not need the polypad step as copper is not detrimental to fish (at least not in the concentrations found in tapwater). This will make the water "safe" for fish, but it will not and cannot remove nitrates, phosphates, and silicates which may lead to algae blooms.

 

[QuotheRaven]

Is the boiling water & cooling a safe option at all? I have previously tested for copper in the tap water and it seemed ok.... Also would water conditioner do anything??

And inverts constitute the "hitchhikers" also?

 

[QuotheRaven]

Bumping for more responses regarding the water

So you can go with a RO Unit...OR carbon filter but does boiling water do anything? I was under the belief it sterilized the water and made it safe...could be wrong...& where would one buy a RO Unit and for how much?

 

[QuotheRaven]

Well tommorow I will be picking up a large piece of LR (hopefully it's under 6 kilo's....), I have boiled water and letting it cool as it's the safest water I can provide....does water conditioner do it's job on salt water??

 

[tat2life]

Well tommorow I will be picking up a large piece of LR (hopefully it's under 6 kilo's....), I have boiled water and letting it cool as it's the safest water I can provide....does water conditioner do it's job on salt water??

i used normal tap water not boiled or anything... though boiling it will help clean it ALOT i just couldnt be botherd boiling 120 litres. i filled my tank up with water straight from the tap, turned on the heater, filter and left it for about a week then added some salt, left it for about 3 days. checked the salt level and water ph... both good... ph is a little low but nothing to worry about. aslong as the water distills for long enough you shouldnt have any problems... unless you are going to get coral so im told. but all mine seems fine so far... though when i do a 20% water change i will use RO water from the lfs. but no way im carrying back 120 litres of RO water just to cycle the tank lol. iv used tap water on freshwater fish for a few years without any problems. aslong as the ph etc are all good it should be fine with marine fish. just remember to let the water distill for a week or more before you add any living rock anything else and check the ph etc before you do.

 

[QuotheRaven]

I came up with a solution for the moment in that I will run a carbon filter pad with the powerhead or filter to remove harmful additives as I cannot afford a RO Unit... so I will boil the water then run it through a carbon filter....I have tested my tap water for copper & found zero.....would this be a Ok alternative?

 

[tat2life]

should be fine mate, so im told as long you dont have any corals tap water is fine aslong as you let it distill and use some of them drops that make tap water safe for freshwater tanks. i used some of them as soon as i put the water in

 

[QuotheRaven]

Im thinking what I'll do is have the boiled water/carbon water PLUS I buy more LR tommorow and if I have enough money buy a protein skimmer for nitrates etc...I may have to wait for the PS for another two weeks though....this is stressful and mostly because Im not sure if my waters safe because people rate RO Units so highly I am thinking I desperately need one if I am to have a marine FOWLR...but I cannot afford one...STRESS ARGH!

 

[tat2life]

lol have you tried looking on ebay or a local newspaper etc. dont your lfs sell the ro water by the litre ? im pretty luck i have 2 lfs about 10 mins away so i can always get some from there whenever i do waterchange. but you should be ok using tap water aslong as its distilled. i know a few guys who only use tap water. they put it in a bucket on monday, add salt wednesday, then add it to tank on friday whenever they do waterchanges. they dont live anywhere near a lfs so its there only option... other than buying a ro kit. but hey it works for them so cant be all bad. but i would deffinatly try getting some ro water... why not forget the rock and skimmer and buy a ro kit ? they cant be that expensive im sure i seen some for $110...usa dollars.

 

[QuotheRaven]

Only one aquarium near me sells RO water but thats about a good 30 minute drive and the only other place is a hour away and not being able to drive...Im outta luck...I have a budget of $120 this week and only one place near me has cured rock...and this is the only piece...

 

[tat2life]

ooooh that sucks, guess you need to decide what you want more then huh cured rock or a ro kit. if it was me id get the ro kit whilst you got the money. im sure the shop will get some more cured rock

 

[QuotheRaven]

The issue here is tat2life my cash is $120..Australian so thats only about $75 American so the issue here is because the availability of CURED LR is low while I can always buy a R/O Unit when I have the money

 

[tat2life]

yup true and to be honest i doubt you will find one for 75 us dollars i forgot you were in aussie lol. if it was me id get the rock and use the treated/distilled tap water. thats what i did anyway and it seems to be fine with my tank just ph a little low wich could be down to the salt as i seen in another thread the salt he used had low ph results compared to others.. i used the same and have the same ph lol so prob down to that. how long do you have to let the tap water distill before you have to buy the rock ?

 

[demonmagus]

1. Three bad ideas here. First, playsand (silica sand) is not the best for marine tanks since it does not buffer like aragonite sand or crushed coral does. Second, silica sand can be very sharp and detrimental to burrowing fish/inverts. Third, sand beds can store medications only to release them at bad times. Solution; go to your local landscaping or hardware store with some vinegar. Test the sands there by placing them in the vinegar and watching them bubble/fizz. If they fizz for one minute or less, they're just silica. If it keeps fizzing/bubbling beyond 1 minute, you've got aragonite based sand.

2. Ah the water difficulties in Australia. Unfortunately there's no substitute for RO water. However there is one other option that may be "safe" enough. Run tapwater through a carbon filter such as a Brita filter, or one designed for filtering tapwater (common on fridge water/ice makers). This will remove pollutants and harmful chemicals like chlorine/chloramine/bromine, etc. Then run the carbon-filtered water through a Polypad to remove any copper to make life safe for inverts. If you do not plan on keeping inverts ever, you do not need the polypad step as copper is not detrimental to fish (at least not in the concentrations found in tapwater). This will make the water "safe" for fish, but it will not and cannot remove nitrates, phosphates, and silicates which may lead to algae blooms.

what is a polypad? never heard of them.