have you taken into consideration just purchasing distilled water from walmart or a grocery store? it isn’t that expensive under 1$ a gallon and should it be cheaper than the RO water at LFS
This seems to be a topic that has occurred over and over again in this forum and many others. It basically comes down to that the vast majority of people who have kept successful reef tanks for any length of time put the purchase of an RO unit as a very high priority on their lists. It is possible to run a salt water tank and keep some animals alive, but it will be a struggle to keep it clean looking and don’t set your goals too high.
“I also wanted to make sure that any newcomers that come are considering the hobby know that there may be different ways of doing things, especially if money is an issue. “ Currently much of the country is having tough times. I hate when an LFS convinces someone that only has a part time job that they can afford a thriving reef tank full of fish and stony corals. These things are referred to over and over again as money holes and people should be warned. If before you even start you know you can’t afford the $150 for an RO unit you need to have it set in your mind you probably won’t have a thriving reef tank any time soon.
I started with FOWLR and very little LR. I used a single strip of normal output fluoresces and kept my fish load very low. I did this for many years and drooled over other people tanks on the forum for several years. It is possible to do a salt water tank on a budget, but people should not get disappointed when they compare their tanks to the TOTM on Reef central.(many of the TOTM on RC have budgets well over a million dollars) There are many ways to go about it. For me… in as many years as I have kept reef tanks I have never purposely added a drop of tap water to my tanks.(accept my freshwater tanks)
“I may even get the occasional algae bloom that I have to fight, but that is what makes this a hobby for me. “
With out trying to sound too mean, but in all seriousness…. If the part of this hobby you enjoy is fighting algae blooms then why spend any time asking questions on how to run a proper reef tank? It’s easy to have an algae filled tank you can fight with. If in your priority list a lighting system to support corals comes before an RO unit then the algae blooms will not be occasional, but continual.
If you want to talk about what might be in your well water you can talk with my girl friend who is an environmental scientist. Unfortunately in the area surrounding northern Delaware and anywhere south of Wilmington, it would be a much shorter conversation to discuss what is not in your water. Testing for some of this crap that is not only toxic to humans in certain concentrations, but also to reef animals is not easy and the test kits will cost a lot more then an RO unit.
In the end you will be doing a lot of water changes and aglae scrubbing and if you take into account your time and the cost of salt the RO unit pays for itself in no time.
As far as mandarins go, either of the two species of mandarin kept in the hobby in my opinion shouldn’t be kept in anything smaller then a 75g(+fuge) and shouldn’t be placed into a tank that isn’t at least 6 months matured. There has to be sufficient microfauna(“podsâ€ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ) for it to eat. If the animal survives being acclimated into a smaller tank it will likely just starve. If your wife really wants a mandarin you should try to explain to you that they require a slightly larger tank and a lot more LR. Or you could purchase it and explain to her a month after having it that the animal is slowly starving to death and you have to make a change right away or it will starve with in 6 months. 
A lot of guys have gotten bigger reef tanks because their women would attached to a fish that they latter found out really should be kept in a larger tank.
Again, don’t want to upset you or drive you from this forum or the hobby. Just want you to hear our warnings. Sure it is doable, but it will cost you more $ if you include your time and the end product will likely not be near as beautiful or enjoyable. I also used distilled water from Walmart for years, but once I hit two 20g tanks I decided it was more economical to buy an RO unit then pay by the gallon.(the unit paid for itself in time) Please remeber we are trying to help.
really, it’s just that people here love this hobby and want you to also. having to continuously fight problems will more likely than not make you quit it before experiencing the thrills it can bring. that is all that is being communicated to you, ihunt. it’s really discouraging to put a lot of $$ into it [which you probably have done so far, tank, saly rocks, sand, lights, etc] and then have the results be disappointing, when it’s possible to avoid the pollution issues by using good water. rodi doesn’t avoid all issues, just the ones that come with less than great water quality. we’re trying to replicate the ocean in miniature, so anything not naturally in sea water should be avoided. use lfs rodi water until the $$ is available for a filter.
I really do want to make sure everyone understands that I appreciate what you all are saying and the advice.
I think I originally came off sounding like I feel like I know better than you all do, and I did not mean that. In the end, I just had to make a decision, do I want to get the RODI unit, and look at an empty tank for another month or so before I can start stocking, or do I want to go with tap water, and start the cyling process and start stocking my tank. Then, just about the time that I would have to start doing the larger water changes, I may have the money together to buy an RODI unit. (and yes, I am assuming that since I have cycled live rock and “cycled, live” sand that my nitrification process will be shorter than most)
I also have to deal with the wife, who has been very understanding with all the money I am spending. But she was starting to wear down at looking at an empty tank and the fact that I have taken over our dining room with fish stuff, and the acrylic stuff. Not to mention the fact that I may have to spend another $150-200 before I could start putting water in the tank. I still have about another 30 lbs of live rock that I need to buy, and the canopy to finish the stand (which the wife insists on) which may mean purchasing a new light system because my power compacts are the same exact length as my tank and may not let the canopy sit down on the tank.
you write:
" I have about 29lbs of dead rock, 10 lbs of cycled live rock, and 80lbs (split between my sump refugium (15lbs) and tank (65lbs)) of the Oceanic bagged, supposedly cycled live sand that you can get from either Petsmart or Dr. Macs. "
“I still have about another 30 lbs of live rock that I need to buy, and the canopy to finish the stand (which the wife insists on)”
personally i’d go with buying a rodi over adding another 30 lbs of live rock. they’d probably cost around the same. while tank may seem a bit empty for a while, you can slowly add rock, and it does not need to be “live” once the bacteria start colonizing. save a bit on that.
many of us also have spouse issues and i cert’ly understand. “Look at all those ugly wires! Salt everywhere!”
[quote=“moliken, post:26, topic:1618”]
many of us also have spouse issues and i cert’ly understand. “Look at all those ugly wires! Salt everywhere!”[/quote]
“What are all these buckets doing in the laundry room?” “What do you mean you made it a “fish closet”??” “What’s al this water on the floor?” “It was HOW MUCH???”
If you already have live sand and some live rock there is no need to keep buying live rock - especially from the LFS. Base rock will colonize and become live rock very quickly, keep your eyes posted on the forums for people getting out of the hobby or who downsize and have extra LR and/or RODI to unload. Reefcentral.com is another great site for finding stuff cheaper. You can search the local club forums on RC to find used equipment and livesgoods semi-locally.
cdangel0 and moliken,
Thanks for the info. If I am ok to start off with the rock I have now, then maybe I will start looking into RODI units. I am planning on talking to the wife tonight about taking over the bottom half of one of the closets in the house to put a tupperware container that I can store RODI water in. I am sure that I will have to give up more of my hunting/computer room than I have already given up, but I guess that is a sacrifice I am going to have to make. Thanks again for the help.
Billy
good luck, and it will all work out.