Water that is to Clean????

[CASTLES]

Hello Reefkeepers,

A couple of days ago, I read in a thread that a reef keeper was having trouble growing corals and frags, several reef keepers responded by saying that maybe his water was to clean, what does that mean? Can water be to clean and effect the growth of the corals, I mean is it not the goal of a reef keeper to have water free of any phos, nitra(i)tes, water changes w/ r/o water, etc. So are we not to have uv, protein skimmers, or not use r/o water and all that good stuff that actually is what keeps the fish and corals healthy. my corals grow at very slow pace but they are healthy along with my fish. I try to do regular water changes use always r/o water and do not overfeed, so again what is having water that is to clean and affecting the growth of corals, because I do noticied that at pet stores or other friends that do not use r/o water their corals thrive and they I now for sure they do not do regular water changes, and myself that I get paranoid when a water changes is due or I start seeing a coral not opening do the right things to correct the problem(s) suffer.

[Texreefer]

too much mechanical or chemical filtration can strip your water of essential elements. this, combined with very efficient fuge and or skimmer can leave you with water that is basically 'too clean'.. If this is the case and you don't do regular water changes, you are just compounding your problem by not replentishing those elements. you want water free of phos, heavy metals, silica, etc. thats why we use RO. to take out the bad stuff. a trace of nitrates IMO helps deepen some corals colors. so in a nut shell, yes, you want water that is not too bad(extra phos, nitrate, etc) and not too good (stripped of all nutrients,cal,mag,stront,alk,etc,) hope that helps

[CASTLES]

thank you that really helps texreefer

[hanknmorgan]

very interesting. I never realized this either. This may be part or all of my problem.

Not to digress here, but is RO the best bet for water? I cant justify the purchase of a filtration system for my small 12 gallon tank, but buying and carting around water from the LFS gets old quickly. Sometimes I question how "clean" that water really is anyway. I think sometimes the filters arent changed enough. I got a batch of water recently that I noticed actually smelled a little funky. What else do people use? In reference to the original post. Thanks.

[barderer]

I would highly recommend purchasing a RO/DI filtration unit. They are cheap and nice to have for drinking water and tank water. I love my unit. I have tested the water from the LFS I used to buy DI from before I got the filter. Their water checked out at 0 TDS.

[p00num3lli]

couldn't say it better than texreefer:)

[Texreefer]

you can get a hand held TDS meter for next to nothing,, you would be amazed at the TDS level of some"RO" water you buy.. for a tank that small just go to HEB and Get some 1 gal Jugs off the shelf

[RayAllen]

Yep, I think my water may be to clean as well. House has a water refining system on it. Was my wifes request, wants her skin and hair to be soft, lol. Less spots on dishes etc.... I need to buy myself one of the TDS meters to see what i my waters testing at.

[hanknmorgan]

you can get a hand held TDS meter for next to nothing,, you would be amazed at the TDS level of some"RO" water you buy.. for a tank that small just go to HEB and Get some 1 gal Jugs off the shelf

Yeah, I usually use about 6 gallons a month, so it really isnt very expensive. Is distilled water or spring water the best bet if I got the off the shelf route? I actually started my tank with distilled which I ran for a couple months initially and then was told by the LFS that distilled was not good for the tank because it doesnt have any of the needed elements and what not. Thats when I switched to RO. I did purchase premix salt for a little while as well, but got sick of paying for it and having to deal with seperate containers for salt and topoff. I agree that investing in an RO/DI is a wise choice but I cant justify the purchase presently with my current usage and budget.

[Gilbert]

i use tab water and still have a slow growth problem

[Texreefer]

i use tab water and still have a slow growth problem

read my first post. the stuff in tap water will contribute to slow or no growth

[CASTLES]

I have never used tap water and I do not trust the water from down here, so getting r/o system just makes more sense on the other hand I was told that it needed to have a di unit as well is that correct ? is it really useful to get a tds meter , i have never tested the r/o water compared to tap but i do noticed that if the water is from another r/o system or filters are old there seems to be some algae growth, and Ray my wife wanted that system to in our home but our plumber stated it was to late during the building of the home to go back and install it supposedly!!!1

[RayAllen]

The plumber lied. Ours was tied into our system within 1hr and that was 2months after our home was built.

[Joshua]

Long ago when I was dosing vodka my water ended up being "too clean" for my zoanthids and they didn't like it at all. The SPS loved it, the zoas not so much. It's basically a lack of nutrients, good nutrients that some corals use for food.

As for the RO water discussion, if you don't have one spend $100 and get one. It's what I would consider one of the absolute necessities of this hobby. Unless of course you have a nano tank, then the wal-mart distilled is what I like.

[Joshua]

I would highly recommend purchasing a RO/DI filtration unit. They are cheap and nice to have for drinking water and tank water. I love my unit. I have tested the water from the LFS I used to buy DI from before I got the filter. Their water checked out at 0 TDS.

I remember long ago when I first got my TDS meter, the LFS water I was buying tested 350+ tds, worse than my tap was in the 320's or so.

[Joshua]

Yeah, I usually use about 6 gallons a month, so it really isnt very expensive. Is distilled water or spring water the best bet if I got the off the shelf route? I actually started my tank with distilled which I ran for a couple months initially and then was told by the LFS that distilled was not good for the tank because it doesnt have any of the needed elements and what not. Thats when I switched to RO. I did purchase premix salt for a little while as well, but got sick of paying for it and having to deal with seperate containers for salt and topoff. I agree that investing in an RO/DI is a wise choice but I cant justify the purchase presently with my current usage and budget.

I prefer the wal-mart distilled to any other, it's filtered through RO and DI'd before they distill it. Most other brands simply distill it. IMO you don't need nutrients from your water, you get it from so many other sources.