Setting up a 125

I'm thinking about starting up a 125 gallon fish tank. I'm still deciding between a reef or marine tank. Would using salt mix with well water be okay? Even with a water softener,the water is filled with minerals that make it discolored. Would this be safe? Also, what inexpensive salt mix would you reccomend? It'd be a hassle to go and buy 125 gallons of fresh or salt water with only 2 5 gallon buckets. Thanks ahead for any help.

 

sounds like a great project Guy

if it where me
even if I was going FOWLR , I would not use the well water, as unless you take the trouble of getting it tested regularly you will never fully know what is in there

RODI water is your best option, and even more so if you decide to reef the tank up

Salt mixes come in bulk buckets - I have a 175 gallon of Red Sea Coral Pro and I am sure other brands are available in same sizes if not larger

If you go fish only Instant Ocean is not a bad option, not the cheapest, but good value IMO
also for FO , the bulk stuff they sell at PETCO has been used by many with success according to reading on this and other sites

if you want to go reef then getting a salt mix with elevated levels on Calc , Mag and Alkalinity, is a convenient option IME - Hence I use Reef Pro, but there are others equally as good and in some peoples opinions better

Steve

 

Thanks. I might go fish only, and use the Instant Ocean. I never did get what exactly what RODI Water is.

For getting fresh water, would getting a truckload of gallon bottles from publix be a good solution? Would taking it slow and using power heads and salt mix in five gallon buckets be the best way to mix? Or, if RODI is easier, I might be capable of that.

 

if you used RODI water and Instant Ocean, then at a later date decide you want to get into corals = no problem at all (depeding of course on other factors like what lighting you have and what fish you have etc)
all you really need to do then is test your levels on Calcium, Magnesium and Alkalinity and use supplements to increase, if you find these levels are below ideal parameters for corals

RODI - is reverse osmosis de ionization - its a water pruification system that takes tap water and removes all of the total dissolved solids TDS from it so you end up with pure H20 and thus no risk of introducing unwanted nutrients etc

purchasing water in bulk is a method many do
but when you consider, you can get a 75 gallon per day unit for about 150 bucks from someone like Spectrapure- then to me, making your own RODI water seems very cost effective

you can mix in 5 gallon buckets , and again many people do so

but if you had your own RODI you could fill your tank over a couple of days or so, and then mix the salt in there with powerheads
leave it a week or so, and then add your dry rock, sand etc
so its just a more convenient method of doing it IMO

Steve

 

A 125 gallon marine aquarium is a fairly significant expenditure and a quality RODI unit should definitely be a part of that expense...

 

What type of system and average cost is needed to make RODI water?

 

check out 3 reef Sponsors Spectrapure and also Air water and ice
both have RODI units, and both get great reviews from those that use them , Guy

Steve

 

my neighbor's well water fades the paint on my car... just sayin... haha

 

Thats.... crazy. youd think that letting it settle and getting it tested as fresh water would be a good idea. Then you could use the salt mix and pH Buffer. I wish I had city water. :/ It'd be so much easier to be able to feed a hose to the tank, use a chemical that makes tap water safe for fish, then convert it to salt water... I dunno. Maybe i'll just make it a freshwater aquarium.

 

no no no, you wish you had RO/DI water