[awjn]

so i was wondering if i set up a tank with just live rock, live sand, clean up crew, and zoas, mushrooms. could it survive off of just light and a 2-3 montly phytoplankton feeding or would i have to feed the clean up crew and what not eventually cause it will run out of food.

[patrick1234]

yes it will be just fine that is all i have in a 3 gal and its doing just fine 6 months in
i use tap water and that keeps the clean up crew happy just cut the crew in half

[awjn]

y does tap water keep the clean up crew happy and what u mean cut the crew in half?

[patrick1234]

well do half the clean up crew you do in a reagular tank
tap water feeds alage grouth

[NATIVEVAMAN]

I have to say that this is the first time I have ever seen someone recomend the use of tap water in reef tank.An r/o system removes more than just things that cause algea to grow.Like metals that are poisonous to fish such as lead and copper.These metals are not removed by any filtration system and can build up over time.You can use distilled water or r/o water from the local grocery store or lfs.

[patrick1234]

i have never used ro water and i have never had any truble with it also the owner of the lfs store has a really nice 210 at home that he dose not use ro water with and its been up for 17 years now and it dose really really good in fact most of the time he has to cut back his corals that keep over growin

[NATIVEVAMAN]

That an lfs owner would use tap water in a tank is in no way a suprise to me.That you would do it after all you must have read about the pitfalls of doing it is a suprise.

[patrick1234]

(Like metals that are poisonous to fish such as lead and copper)
also he dose not plan on puting fish in

[patrick1234]

how can you say that 100% of the time tap water will lead to down falls

[patrick1234]

(That an lfs owner would use tap water in a tank is in no way a suprise to me)

And what is so wrong with lfs
Why because thay have a store
they are just like you and me

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Patrick,I didnt want to make this a debate but since you are bent on it,you got it.I can say that tap water is a problem because I have been doing this for nearly 30 years.I can say its a problem because I have seen litterally hundreds of aquarists come thru this forum with problems caused by tap water.I can say it because I know what is in tap water and I know that dechlor will not remove those things,a skimmer will not remove those things.Its fine with me if you use tap water in your tank and risk your own fish,but you recomending that others make the same mistake will not go unchalenged.

[patrick1234]

ok but for ever one persone you say has had problums with tap water i can show you one that has not had problums at all. and as i posted be for i did not say to use it with his fish he posted it was just for coral.
I under stand you have been doing it for over 30 years but as you know thare is 100 ways to do somthing and if it works for you good but it may not work for some one else.
and dont get me wrong im not debateing weather or not its wrong to use tap water or ro im just saying i have used it and will still continue to use it. since i have not found any down side nore up side other then the bloms.

[clown shrimp]

i dont use ro/di water either. i have not had any problems, i keep fish/coral/inverts.

[clown shrimp]

i also treat the water with PRIME

[awjn]

meh, i have a RO filter downstairs so i might just use that, we will see. my main concern is there is no food for the clean up crew and stuff, if i dont use tap water would it be fine?

[rlcline76]

Do not use tap water. OK, I have heard of some people using tap water and having minimal problems to nothing at all. I have also read on this site people hearing that the LFS uses tap and had no problem so they did it and had a nasty algae bloom. Algae blooms and cyano outbreaks are a complete nightmare. I would highly suggest RO/DI as the best way to avoid risking your tank's health. We put so much money into our tanks and then bungle it all up by trying to cut one of the most important corners. If certain people want to use tap, OK. Might want to have the water tested, not once, but a few times. Tap water impurities can change from day to day. Might want to find fun tests for lead and copper and everything else you do not built up in your tank, as well. Good luck with that.

[awjn]

i know but will the clean up crew run out of food 0.o

[rlcline76]

This is more of a water chemisrty thing...and will depend on what you want as a CUC. If you get a serious algal bloom, it will take up some of the nutrients in your water, start taking the available CO2...and when that CO2 has been exhausted it will take up what is not free in bicarbonate ions, which might take its toll on your KH and pH. Someone might want to doublecheck that for me...I am still trying to get a good grasp of chemistry myself. I got that out of The Manual of Fish Health.

You are going to have algae no matter what. Algae is one of the major components in the reef. Pods eat it, fish eat it. Most of us would rather supplement the algae via algae sheets or some vegetation from a local Asian market than to chance throwing off our water parameters.

[awjn]

mmm well my LFS said i should feed the mushrooms phytoplankton once a week and another one said i probably should not have to feed it at all, and if i do it would be a microscopic amount once a week. i think i will follow the latter advice and try not feeding it and see how it goes. He seems a lot more trustworthy to me.

[Adam J]

I started out with 3 mushrooms.I supplement with Seachems reef plus,reef calcium,and reef complete(all as needed of course).I now have 10 mushrooms.If they are getting bigger and multiplying I think they are happy.

[Alicamo]

If your planning a small tank, i would say don't feed them, because in a small tank its alot harder to correct a imbalance such as overfeeding. Mushrooms get most of what they need from the light source.

As for feeding a clean up crew, it really depends on how big of a crew you get. The tank will have algae thats no question, but you need to figure out how big of a crew your tank can sustain.

[Alicamo]

oh, one more thing

Not to try and offend or spark a fight, but i believe it is inadvisable to use tap water, or even recommend using it because of the differences that may occur. Two people using tap water can have completely different results because tap water has no universal standard, like RO.

I only write this because it is my understanding that we give/receive advise on this site based on what has worked for everyone, such as how many pounds of live rock to use in a tank, or watts per gallon with lighting. Trying to set a standard that will work most of the time if you will.

[awjn]

yeah my lfs said to keep the clean up crew small too so maybe 1 nass, 1 astrea, 1 hermit

[Adam J]

Wow,thats small.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

I have seen some on line sellers offer some totaly unbelievable cuc packages that always include 1 hermit per gallon 1 snail per gallon not to mention stars and shrimp crabs and blennies.In a 65 gallon tank there recomended cuc approach's 200 critters.ummmmmmmmm.....w here do the fish go?