I started my tank with tap water years ago as well and would not recommend it. Too many unknowns being introduced into a more or less closed system. You will need to top off with fresh water due to evaporation and also do periodic water changes. Adding more tap water via top off & water changes will only concentrate those unknown elements & cause you all kinds of headaches down the road.
You should be able to obtain a copy of the water report your supplier (city of Edmonton?) publishes on line. This will show you the concentration of various elements in your tap water & the TDS (Total Dissolved Solids). Once you have that info, you can tailor the water filtration unit (RODI) to your particular needs. Folks in the greater Vancouver area are fortunate to have very low TDS right out of the tap, but I wager most of them still use a RODI filter for their aquarium. Perhaps a fellow Edmonton hobbyist will chime in here with more info on your local water source.
|