# BC's tap water



## am3ience

How is it? I've heard from some members that you don't even need conditioners cause our tap water is so good. I was thinking of starting a saltwater tank, eventually with corals, and I've been reading using tap water could lead to some problems. Is it necessary to have an RO/DI system or can I get away with salt + tap water?


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## jhj0112

I only use tap water and have not had problem yet


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## GaryR

am3ience said:


> How is it? I've heard from some members that you don't even need conditioners cause our tap water is so good. I was thinking of starting a saltwater tank, eventually with corals, and I've been reading using tap water could lead to some problems. Is it necessary to have an RO/DI system or can I get away with salt + tap water?


I'm in Port Moody and recently got a TDS meter to help answer this question for myself. It was seeing 11 ppm. That's good, but I'm still thinking of getting a RO/DI unit in the next 6 months or so.


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## CeeZer

Some water comes from 'surface sources' and some is from underground wells.
Test for hardness to figure out which is which. I used to haul water from just across street as they had different source (surface water, softer and lower PH).

Moved since. I now use Fluval Water Conditioner and conditioning water 24hrs before water changes.


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## Algae Beater

I've droned on about this in many posts in the past. Municipal waters have extremely low TDS, an RODI is a waste of money if you are on municipal water, using simply a de ionizer and carbon is plenty. Chlorine is very low in general but It depends on your proximity to a booster station. Metals again can vary depending on your areas age. This time of year with the reservoirs low there's a little extra iron and manganese but easily removed with carbon or aquarium plants.

We have some of the cleanest water in the world period. But this dictates the need for proper buffering.


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## DBam

Algae Beater is dead on. An RO system probably isn't necessary, but familiarize yourself with the water conditions that come out of your tap. Don't take it for granted that you'll have great tap water every waterchange because people say that it's generally good; we are coming into a season which often brings heavy rains, murky tap water and nitrite spikes. I would treat for things like chlorine anyways, unless you're on your own well. That fraction of a cent worth of dechlorinator vs the value of fish is in favour of using it.


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## davefrombc

Tap water in the water system in the GVRD is nearly as pure as the output of most RO systems. It is among the purest in the world, and the reason I laugh at the people buying water all the time in the GVRD.. Their tap water is purer than the bottled water they buy. However, water in other municipal systems varies widely in hardness and somewhat in pH. Most well water is moderately hard to very hard and mineral makeup varies from well to well. 
The only way to know what your tapwater parameters are is to test it yourself. Your neighbour across the street or a block away may have completely different water than you in some communities.. GVRD water doesn't need to go through an RODI system, but one is most likely the best bet in most places outside of it. My well water here on Nicomen island comes out moderately hard, pH around 6.5, but after sitting and gassing off the CO2 in it, pH rises into the mid 7's and at times can be closer to 8. When I lived in Fort St. James in the central interior , our tap water was extremely hard, pH over 8 and was very high in both iron and sulphur . Water from the hot water tank stunk. Depending on where one is in BC, your tap water will vary between the too soft of Vancouver water to the very heavily mineralized water in many interior communities.


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## scott tang

sure we have great drinking water but ro is the way to go. iv had salt water tanks for 2 and a half years now and recently swiched to ro and my groath is insane !
i tryed sps before i swiched to rodi and it was a miserable falure ! i now have thriving sps frags and all credit goes to the ro water. any seryus reefer( sps and non photos )nomater where you live you probly use rodi and theres a reason! if you want a beginers reef with easy corals you sure dont need it its when you get more advanced. i bought a pilky way paly opne head online and with in 1 and a half weeks i got three new heads ! the big difrance using ro is your groath rates 

corals have to ajust every time you do your water change because your changing the levles of trace eliments they dont need that are found in our tap water there for using rodi water is the way to go my corals dont stunt in groath every time a do a wc they barly notis !


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## Galizio

scott tang said:


> sure we have great drinking water but ro is the way to go. iv had salt water tanks for 2 and a half years now and recently swiched to ro and my groath is insane !
> i tryed sps before i swiched to rodi and it was a miserable falure ! i now have thriving sps frags and all credit goes to the ro water. any seryus reefer( sps and non photos )nomater where you live you probly use rodi and theres a reason! if you want a beginers reef with easy corals you sure dont need it its when you get more advanced. i bought a pilky way paly opne head online and with in 1 and a half weeks i got three new heads ! the big difrance using ro is your groath rates
> 
> corals have to ajust every time you do your water change because your changing the levles of trace eliments they dont need that are found in our tap water there for using rodi water is the way to go my corals dont stunt in groath every time a do a wc they barly notis !


+1 
Can wait to upgrade to ro/di unit....


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## Galizio

Do you use ro or ro/di Scott?


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## Algae Beater

scott tang said:


> sure we have great drinking water but ro is the way to go. iv had salt water tanks for 2 and a half years now and recently swiched to ro and my groath is insane !
> i tryed sps before i swiched to rodi and it was a miserable falure ! i now have thriving sps frags and all credit goes to the ro water. any seryus reefer( sps and non photos )nomater where you live you probly use rodi and theres a reason! if you want a beginers reef with easy corals you sure dont need it its when you get more advanced. i bought a pilky way paly opne head online and with in 1 and a half weeks i got three new heads ! the big difrance using ro is your groath rates
> 
> corals have to ajust every time you do your water change because your changing the levles of trace eliments they dont need that are found in our tap water there for using rodi water is the way to go my corals dont stunt in groath every time a do a wc they barly notis !


So you're telling me that a system as dynamic and ever changing as an sps tank was affected by what amounts to less than 4 ppm of dissolved solids and less than 25 ppm of bicarbonates (on average according to metro Vancouver) ? There was something else at play man. A DI will take care of what matters, a carbon filter will get the rest. Unless you're on well water there is next to nothing to be taken out by a RO membrane.

A statement like tap water killed my sps needs to be tested and proved. Because in this water reservoir system there is very little that would substantiate that claim.


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## scott tang

are you a coral? Then u can't tell me some thing small doesn't mater we ad reefers strive to make the best inviroment for our little friends any thing I can do to make mine beter I will. why couldn't i grow sps before then 

yes I do use a ro Galizio 

So here's some thing to think about in Europe there's a company I forgot the name but IL be sure to post the article who tests for 20 some thing trace elements the idea behind it being you have a giant fuge with macro algeas and you never had to do wc just replenish trace elements and top up with ro why ro because even our water has things we don't want in our tanks that build up ie metals phosphate....


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## jhj0112

scott tang said:


> are you a coral? Then u can't tell me some thing small doesn't mater we ad reefers strive to make the best inviroment for our little friends any thing I can do to make mine beter I will. why couldn't i grow sps before then
> 
> yes I do use a ro Galizio
> 
> So here's some thing to think about in Europe there's a company I forgot the name but IL be sure to post the article who tests for 20 some thing trace elements the idea behind it being you have a giant fuge with macro algeas and you never had to do wc just replenish trace elements and top up with ro why ro because even our water has things we don't want in our tanks that build up ie metals phosphate....


Are you talking about SPS only? Isn't LPS ok with tap water though?? I remember this issue was discussed about a year ago here and most people just use tap water with great success.


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## scott tang

lps and softies are fine in tap water only thing being i notis isr more bleaching with tap then i do with ro 

many people including me have notised some zoa frags wont grow for 6 months if your on tap water using ro they start to grow in a few weeks enen in ruf shape


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## AquaAddict

My tap water reads about 8ppm but I always use RO water. I learned the hard way. That being said, I haven't change my filters in my RO unit for two years. I do test absolutely every time I use it - always 0.

AquaAddict


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## Algae Beater

I'm talking about measurable, quantifiable numbers and measurements. What is in our water is removed by DI and carbon. RO is there for nutrients, alkali metals and karst/limestone leachate. As our tap water has little to none of these elements, I was merely stating the scientific proof for not using one. Not things an aquarist notices but does nothing to quantify. 

I'm not personally attacking anyone. Merely trying to have an intelligent conversation about the attributes of something WE ALL USE. 

Didn't mean to offend you or your corals.


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## albert_dao

I use tap water...

Case closed?


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## davefrombc

Whether anyone wants to believe it or not, Vancouver water is purer than the output of many RO systems used on hard water sources and nearly as pure some RODI systems used on those same hard water systems or wells. Using an RO system on GVRD water is purely a users choice.. DI filters on their own will take out the bit of mineralization in GVRD water.


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## DBam

scott tang said:


> are you a coral?





Algae Beater said:


> Didn't mean to offend you or your corals.


Scott... Are you a coral?


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## scott tang

Yes  

I'm not going to try to scientifically tell u it's beter cause I don't have proof but verry few sps reefers don't use it and I have great growth because of it


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## albert_dao

I'm Algae Beater can provide metrics regarding our tap water profile. 

Kevin, time to call on a favor from the local municipality bro!


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## Algae Beater

Why call in favour? metro vancouver shows the laboratory results on their website.

And Scott, show me an SPS reefer with tap water like ours who has solid proof, not just here say regarding the difference if any on coral growth using tap or RO. This forum is plagued with people who make wild suppositions without a backing in fact or science, which is better than half of aquarium keeping. Controls and testing would be needed to even approach what could be considered proof of your claim. When the science supports the opposite, this is where I take the offensive stance. Science > crude observation. End of story. 

And btw I have kept many a reef tank over the years with and without SPS. Only ever used a three stage water filter, never an RO.


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## scott tang

Ro removes every thing so we as reefers don't hav to worie and the proof is the corals I don't need to to prove any thing to you The reason I use ro is so corals don't have to deel with trace elements they don't need 


I don't know what a three stage filter is but it doesn't sound like tap water lol


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## Algae Beater

Sediment, carbon, and DI make up a three stage. Perfectly suitable for our damned near pure tap water. I'm not asking you to prove anything only to not assume everything that reefers everywhere else do is relevant here. And RO is not 100% effective.


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## scott tang

Nothings 100% OK I can see how a three stage would work but I like the security of a complete Rodi system 

Sps still won't reach its full potential in tap mabie if you use a three stage but definitely not tap water


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## AWW

Here is my take on RO units.

If your investing hundreds of dollars in corals, and want maximum growth and color, an RO is well worth the investment. There is still lots of unkowns in reefing, and the less left to guess work is better. Our tap water in Vancouver is very pure, but any impurity leaves a chance of adding water of a slightly different chemistry. When you have so much invested, its worth being in complete control, and not leaving the chemistry of your tank in the hands of metro vancouver.


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## Nicole

This has been debated sooo many times and there are already numerous threads on the internet.
I've been using tap water since the beginning. 
Can you get away with using tap water? Yes. You will find a gorgeous tank that has sps/lps/whatever coral you want that is kept in tap water. You will also find a tank with RO/DI water that looks not so good. There will always be tanks that go against the grain.
Does it mean you should do it? That's up to you to judge. Look at how your tank is doing. Are you getting lots of algae? Having problems with coral growth? If yes, then you should probably look into what is causing those problems and dish out the extra bucks (such as getting RO/DI water) to improve your tank's condition.
If you're not having any issues and your tank is looking superb, no need to tamper with it. You will run into more problems tinkering with something that is already in balance.

I'm a LPS fan and have had good results with tap water. Can I provide better water conditions for them? Yes.
I recently started to keep some SPS corals. Are they doing well in my tap water tank? No. Will RO/DI fix the problem? Maybe, maybe not. There are lots of other factors.
Do I think all my corals would benefit overall from RO/DI water? Yes.
I just got a RO/DI unit a few days ago and will be transitioning to it for good.

Does this mean you can't keep SPS with tap water? No. It just means for my tank, the SPS aren't doing so hot right now.

In the end, even if I don't want to keep SPS anymore, I believe that my LPS and overall tank condition will benefit from RO/DI water.

I dish out thousands of dollars for corals. Not willing to spend a couple hundred to provide them with the best home seems a little silly.

Bottom line:
RO/DI water will help keep your tank's parameters as stable as possible. Will you need to use it? Depends.
Tank with tap water is flourishing? Congrats. Good for you.
Tank with tap water is not flourishing? Fix the problem/improve water conditions.
Every tank is different. What will work for others may or may not work for you.

If you can afford it, I would start with RO/DI just because it helps minimize the risk of having problems.
If you can't afford it just yet, no problem. Try tap water and see how it goes.


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## Animal-Chin

I bought a vertek RO unit from J&L for like $120. I've changed $40 worth of filters in the last 2 years. Seems like a small price to pay for a peice of mind. I mean some of my individual coral cost more than that...lol

My RO unit has clear canisters with the membranes in them. You can see them change color and dirty over 6 months or so. I know it's taken at least that much out of the water...


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## jbyoung00008

I live in Walnut groove and as of a few weeks ago I can literally smell the chlorine coming out of the tap. It wasn't smelly before so for some reason it's changed. I don't have a salt water tank so I won't comment on a RO unit. Normally I see no harm in not using De coordinator every water change I never used it when I was younger. I always do now on my fresh water tanks. This morning the water smelt so strong of chlorine coming out of the tap I decided not to give my dog tap water. He got Brita instead. I figured I'd give the heads up to people in my area that might not have noticed it yet.


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## maximusfish

I'm just a beginner in the hobby, but the first thing I was told at my lfs was "you take care of the water, and the water takes care of the fish". We decided to do some research on where our water actually comes from, and what is done to it (posted it on another thread), and we were quite surprised and fascinated by what we found out. Each municipality, by law, has to publicize an annual report on water quality. In Port Moody, our water comes from two sources, one of which is purchased from the gvrd. Then even within Port Moody, which water you get depends on where in the city you live and the time of year. For some parts of Port Moody the water goes through an extra chlorination station. So it's a generalization to say anything about Greater Vancouver tap water. You have to know the source of the water that actually comes to your own house. Someone in Heritage Woods 10 minutes from me is getting entirely different water. Yes the quality of the water is good, depends how sensitive you or your fish or your corals are, I guess. I think this may be part of the reason people on this site get different results using tap water. We called the city and they are quite happy to answer any questions if you can't find what you are looking for in the annual reports.


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## scott tang

is any one here on reef2reef there was a cool artickle about ever eliment an ro takes out wish i could find it agaIN


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