weekly water changes with....

[x1crt]

should do 10% weekly water changes even thou im using tap water........or should i try to not do as much water changes?

[Mikeeee]

tapwater?

[Ehgemus]

less if I was using tap.

[x1crt]

tapwater= like.....water from the sink

[vsnph]

I shouldn't if I were you. Too much impurities in tap water might wreck havoc in your system eventually.

Would go for RO / DI or RO water if possible.

;)

[chimmike]

if all i had was tap water, I wouldn't do water changes. get some RO water from your LFS!

[sps1-2-b]

Ro/di is well worth the $100 or so. Using tap water will eventually lead to nuisance algae getting out of control. When it gets to that point a lot of hobbyist end up breaking down the tank and starting over. Just my .02

[Tangweed]

You can buy RO water at your LFS (Local Food Store).

[IslandCrow]

OK, let's think about it. Tap water isn't going to get any better while it's in the tank. It's going to have all the impurities it had before, plus the extra nitrates, phosphates, etc. produced by the tank inhabitants. In other words, though I agree that tap water is far from ideal, if that's what you're starting with and what you insist on continuing to use, it shouldn't affect your water change schedule. You're still exporting the same things you would be exporting if you were using purified water.

[AC11337]

I have always used tap and i'm at that point sps12b mentioned. The best thing to until u get an RO is do is monthly water changes but blast your LR and substrate with a pump weekly and let your filter get the detritus. Make sure you run GFO, replacing it after each water change.

[crvz]

I've been there too, Anthony. Better to invest in RO/DI much sooner.

[limitdown]

If you're using tap water, just make sure that you dose with some kind of decholorinator. Nitrates and phosphates are annoying, but chlorine/chloramine will kill your fish very quickly.

[camlov2]

Every time you top off you will likely be adding more nitrates phosphates and other things to the tank. Over time these would increase if you don't do water changes. Water changes should help to keep these numbers closer to the numbers in your tap water. Tap isn't great (might even be bad) but it won't be as bad as Tap without water changes.

[Tommy]

Local food store gets real old when the guy infront of ya has 3 five gall jugs and the person in front of him has 15 one gall jugs.
Not to mention the gas and your time

[Michael]

id suggest maintaining water quality with regular changes, the salt mix you put in will improve as lost elements would be replaced, im suprised you use tap-water, still you have had enough info from the guys on it, its up to you, long term success or failure. good luck