Calgary Water

[amoreira]

Has great hardness, but has in it significant Phosphate (~2 - 3 ppm), which is high enough to cause algae problems. So I run it through RO/DI to get rid of that and silicates (also causes diatom problems). Why take a chance and start with pure water. It cuts out all the variables, but the quality of your salt mix. Then if you buy the best (Reefers Choice, Reef Chrystals, H2Ocean Pro+ etc.), then you should have no water chemistry or nutrient issues.

[phreezee]

I have RO/DI and I prefer tapwater. No problems with nuissance algae, just tonnes of coralline algae (which has become a nuissance to scrap off the glass lol).

Advantages:
1) Saves time
2) Saves $ on Ca supplements

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by phreezee

I have RO/DI and I prefer tapwater. No problems with nuissance algae, just tonnes of coralline algae (which has become a nuissance to scrap off the glass lol).

Advantages:
1) Saves time
2) Saves $ on Ca supplements

Wow, one of the rare people to post something like this. How long have you been running your tank like this and what are you keeping with regard to livestock?

I don't have RO/DI at this time so I've been getting by with tap water treated for chlorine/chloramine for over two years now with no major issues. Yes, I have some hair algae but it's certainly not out of control and my livestock is doing well, including some soft coral and a hammer coral, which was added fairly recently. Coralline algae growth is also very strong and I have a BTA that's been in the tank for almost two years. Looks like I may need to start dosing calcium for the hammer coral though. I've been keeping tabs on the Greater Vernon Services site for water quality to get an idea of what's in my source water. Some of the things we keep an eye on such as calcium, magnesium, alkalinity and ph are at pretty good levels from the source:

North Kalamalka Lake Intake Water Quality 2008
Water System: Greater Vernon Water
Source: Kalamalka Lake
Facility: Kal Lake Pumpstation
Sampling Point: Kal Lake Intake
Date: 7/14/2008

INORGANIC Results (mg/L unless noted)

Aluminum <0.050
Antimony <0.0030
Arsenic <0.0050
Barium 0.027
Boron 0.021
Cadmium <0.00010
Calcium 40.6 (tap water from my kitchen faucet tested at 40 on 15 Jan 2009 using Hagen test kit)
Chloride 5.38
Chromium <0.015
Copper <0.0030
Cyanide < 0.01
Fluoride 0.24
Iron <0.20
Lead <0.001
Magnesium 19.8
Manganese <0.0050
Mercury <0.00030
Molybdenum 0.005
Nitrate (as N) 0.069
Nitrite (as N) <0.010
Potassium 5.07
Selenium <0.0050
Sodium 18.4
Sulphate 51
Uranium 0.003
Zinc 0.011

PHYSICAL Results (mg/L unless noted)

Alkalinity (as CaCO3) 152
Colour <5 TCU
Conductivity 409 microS/cm
Hardness (as CaCO3) 183
pH 7.8
Total dissolved solids 238
Turbidity 1.0 NTU
UV Transmittance @254(%) 91%

Obviously there is further treatment/filtration downstream of this source but I'm starting to rethink my requirement for a RO/DI unit. The TDS of the source water is definitely a bit high, but other than that I don't see anything to get too alarmed about. Perhaps someone with better knowledge of water chemistry can comment on the above numbers.

[phreezee]

Originally Posted by mike31154

Wow, one of the rare people to post something like this. How long have you been running your tank like this and what are you keeping with regard to livestock?

Softies, 2 large clams (10"+), large tangs running for about 2.5 years.

[BigFatBalloonMolly]

I hate how citys play God with our water. Watch out for the high amounts of Iron, Fluoride and especially Lead Those can really harm some sensitive fish.

[BC564]

The City of Calgary will not be using Chloramines as pottable water disinfection. They are however converting from Chlorine tonners (gas) to Sodium Hypochlorite production (basically bleach) There are no plans at this time to convert to Chloramines. I also use tap water for top off and water changes.