I think they designed around using tap water. There is a benefit to that - the pH has been really stable when it is set. There is a lot of buffering capability with the balance there. I really don’t mind either way, I do like using my filtered tap as a pH Up effectively. We’ll see how that goes.
You are absolutely right. I mean, like many other things, this is something I already “knew” but hadn’t yet seen the consequences of directly defying that guidance. I really wanted to try this, and now I’m figuring out why people don’t do this like this. Accelerates my learning curves and I laugh about it too. Happy to have you, laughing, along for the ride 
I’m really thankful for the participants of this thread and the advice. That contextual, wise advice received from so many folks is priceless.
GARDEN UPDATE:
Veg side is chillin. All 4 of my seeds for the solo cup challenge/disaster are above ground. Going to attempt some mapito today and get them into cups. The Frankenstein was tangled with itself in the plug, I attempted to untangle it, we’ll see if she makes it.
The Romulan cuts are showing signs of life on the top couple leaves. I think I’ll trim off yellows, don’t think they are helping. I’ve foliar fed a few times, no signs of roots yet.
The veg side of the tent as a whole. I’m pretty happy with this setup given the spatial constraints. There’s quite a bit happening in there, for a 2x3 tent. And most everything is doing well.
The flower side was a jungle this morning. Having seen and read some great input from @tamimes I set to work cleaning up the excess foliage.
I’m quickly developing a favoritism towards the mutant 907 Blue Genes x NL#1. It has a wonderful skunky scent with a hint of sweet/fruity coming through whenever I touch it. It also has a manageable structure. The 907 Blue Genes x Shiskaberry #3 crosses have more weird shit going on, including a self-topping trait I haven’t ever seen before in person. The main stem on one of them just splits in two, with two other branches also leaving the node. So, one of the nodes has 4 branches emerging. The Runtz x Sour Bubble tend to smell of somehow sweet burnt rubber at this point, but two of the specimens are behind the curve.
Anyway, trimmed up the bottoms of the older plants and took some of the obstructive larger fans. Rearranged the plants so the tallest are in the back, middle height in the middle, etc.
More work yet to be done, incrementally. Monday I’ll pick up a sealed container to fit the carbon filter so I can get that outside the tent. I can’t raise the light anymore without hitting it and that’d buy me another 6-8" easily. Something like this
I could also remove the platform supporting the reservoir, but that’s invaluable for reservoir maintence. Maybe in a couple weeks. I have intended to remove the carbon filter since the beginning, just now I have the proper motivation to actually execute it.
Cheers all!
