Water . . .

[msmith619]

Be carefull with College Station water. I used to live there and when I did, they had super high chloramine levls.... bad for fish. I don't have a RO/DI unit and buy my water in 5 gallon containers at Walmart. They have a Culligan machine that dispenses RO/DI water for 27 cents a gallon. Cheap enough for me.

[StevenSeas]

thanks for the heads up Mike

[Salty]

I did during the initial cycle but it is now well controlled. I do have more algae than some but I admit I'm bio-overloaded and a compulsive overfeeder. Alot of focus gets put on silicates but remember that the algae needs the nitrates to actually grow and turn the silicates into shell. Keep the nutrient level under control and the minerals won't matter. If I had a sump instead of HOB skimmer and fuge I'm certain my tank would be even better. I don't see why you couldn't have the same results. Also of note, I don't use any water conditioners, literally straight out of the tap into my mix up containers. I'm such a rebel!!!!!

[Gseclipse02]

Be carefull with College Station water. I used to live there and when I did, they had super high chloramine levls.... bad for fish. I don't have a RO/DI unit and buy my water in 5 gallon containers at Walmart. They have a Culligan machine that dispenses RO/DI water for 27 cents a gallon. Cheap enough for me.

be careful with that water make sure filter was recently replaced ... i used it to fill up my tank and BAM hair algae.... i was so mad never had any till than 2 weeks later i bought my RODI unit