Is RO/DI water necessary in a FOWLR marine setup?
I am planning on getting a 30 gallon saltwater aquarium with a power filter, skimmer, heater, ect. I am aware of all the items needed for a saltwater setup. I know that you dont need RO water for a Fish only setup, or most FOWLR setups. I know it is needed for a reef setup. This is all the info I can gather from many websites and a few books. Can I use a conditioner to remove heavy metals, chlorine, chloramine, ect. from the tap water, then add a good salt mix (instant ocean), then age the water and add to tank during water changes, or set up. I know to use conditioned freshwater for top off. Will the conditioned tap water be safe for invertebrates such as cleaner shrimp, hermit crabs, emerald crabs. I know you need it for corals but I cant find info telling me if I need the RO water for inverts such as shrimp or crabs?
I havnt used ro water in 20 years and my shrimp and hermits have been fine just be sure there is no copper in the tap water but a carbon filter will remove these harmfull metals. I often use collected rainwater but I also live way out in the country I do also use tap for topoffs with a dechlorinator and I have a seperate tank always mixing for water changes I use both rain and tap for this as well.
Reverse Osmosis,deionized,and distilled waters are the best way to go for any aquarium setup,in my opinion.they are “designed”to keep algae out of the tank,and lessen pollution.you can have a successful tank using tap water,but i would advise using some filtered water,even if its only through a carbon filter.with live rock,as with corals i would use the top 3 as much as possible.the tap water should be ok for inverts.don’t use it all the time.a 30 gal.is a small tank,prone to fast pollution.