Do You Need a Reverce Osmosis (R/O) filter with saltwater aquariums or is it optional?
Because tap water is full of impurities and additives not filtering this water will mean that your tank becomes full of impurities and additives. As stocking a saltwater aquarium is quite expensive (we all know that the prettier the fish/invert the more expensive it is) the relatively small cost of an RO unit seems negligible to the cost of replacing expensive livestock, this is quite beside the fact that we all strive to do whatever is required to maintain the livestock in our aquarium.
If the initial cost of an RO unit is too much at this present time perhaps you should consider buying RO water from your LFS until such time as you can afford your own unit.
Do you guy's hate Undergravel Filters for Saltwater aquariums?
RO/DI water is optional, but highly recommended. I started with tap water and noticed so many problems. Tap water contains ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate, and more. The problem with this is every time you do a water change you will be adding more ammonia to the tank and more nitrate, so you will never be able to get your nitrate low enough.
If you want to have inverts (such as shrimp, crabs, snails) and corals, get an RO/DI unit. It's cheaper to buy the unit then to go to the LFS and buy containers and water. You can by a cheap one by Coralife (not the best unit) for under $200, and The Filter Guys also make great units (I use them).
I'd highly recommend getting one. Don't start out the wrong way, it'll bite you in the end. I ended up having to start a whole new tank because I used tap water.
Here are a few forums as well:
http://www.ReefCentral.com
http://www.Nano-Reef.com
References :
90 gallon reef
Because tap water is full of impurities and additives not filtering this water will mean that your tank becomes full of impurities and additives. As stocking a saltwater aquarium is quite expensive (we all know that the prettier the fish/invert the more expensive it is) the relatively small cost of an RO unit seems negligible to the cost of replacing expensive livestock, this is quite beside the fact that we all strive to do whatever is required to maintain the livestock in our aquarium.
If the initial cost of an RO unit is too much at this present time perhaps you should consider buying RO water from your LFS until such time as you can afford your own unit.
References :
Technically it's optional, but I also highly recommend it. If you decide to keep corals, then I would say it's a must. You can buy RO/DI water from the grocery store or a bottled water store, or you can buy your own RO/DI unit. I purchased the 5 Stage RO/DI unit from BulkReefSupply.com, and it works great!
If you do decide to use tap water, be sure to use a good conditioner like Prime or AmQuel+. Just note that conditioners can't remove all of the impurities found in your local water supply.
References :
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/RO/DI-Filters-&-Systems-RO/DI-Systems/c9_10/p366/Standard-75GDP-RO/DI-5-Stage-System/product_info.html
its useful in controlling algae growth.you can make drinking water for yourself,and its good for softwater fish,i.e. discus.how ever it wastes water and may not solve the problem if something else is wrong,i.e. fish overcrowding, overfeeding,neglect water changes.or if the prefilter,membrane are not changed.do you have hard water?ask the municiple water supply for a quality printout.look into deionization,you can regenerate those.go on reefgeek.com,i would @least filter the tap water through carbon,take care.and you can buy purified water from the fish store to suppliment it.how big is the tank?
References :
hobbyist from w.n.y.