Some basic questions for saltwater setup...

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Rutrag said:
Another solution to the RO/DI dilema is to purchase an Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Tap Water Filter. It's a deionizing filter that you hook up to your faucet and will strip almost everything out of your tapwater but the water. I think you can get one for about $44 from Fosters & Smith. I've been using one for years. The disadvantage is that it's pretty slow at making the water. (I can push it to make 5 gallons in about 20 minutes.) It's not a high pressure unit and needs slow water flow through it to do its work. Also, the media in it eventually wears out and you ahve to get another cartridge which I think is about $30. Dependinng on how much "not-water" is in your water will affect how long the cartridges last.

Also, just to be clear, when you say inverts, I assume you mean shrimp, crabs, and snails. If you're thinking anemones with a standard light fixture, that's a no-go. Your run of the mill fluorescent light isn't bright enough to support them.
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I guess I should ask this so I know for sure I shouldn't go this way. What is this whole RO/DI thing and is it complicated and expensive to operate? Is it something that has to be manned? Or does it create so much water and then shut itself off? I have already put a laundry sink in the basement on the unfinished side because my office and tank is down here. My wife will kill me if I tell her I need to put something else in the house. Especially since I'm a computer geek and have to get my dad to do it because I'm not at all handy with plumbing or electric. :(

So, what would I be getting myself in to with this RO/DI thing?
 
wrmiller said:
I guess I should ask this so I know for sure I shouldn't go this way. What is this whole RO/DI thing and is it complicated and expensive to operate? Is it something that has to be manned? Or does it create so much water and then shut itself off? I have already put a laundry sink in the basement on the unfinished side because my office and tank is down here. My wife will kill me if I tell her I need to put something else in the house. Especially since I'm a computer geek and have to get my dad to do it because I'm not at all handy with plumbing or electric. :(

So, what would I be getting myself in to with this RO/DI thing?
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Let me first tell you that they look very intimidating. But it's extremely simple. I am an accountant who gets these drives to become a DIY guru occasionally and usually end up making the situation worse and still end up having to call in a pro. lol

That being said, I wanted to cry when I got my RO/DI filter in. And yeah, I made a mistake installing it and had to go to HD to get a replacement water line for my bathroom sink, but that was easy to replace.

The RO/DI stands for Reverse Osmosis and De-ionization. It will give you the purest water possible, so pure that some will tell you it's unsafe to drink! Don't ask me why, but that's just what I hear.

To install it, all you do is mount it to the back of the cabinet, wall, wherever. There is a piercing needle clamp thing you attach to your COLD water line and pierce the line, (don't try to make adjustments after the fact, this is where I messed up). The needle is your "on/off" valve for your filter. Then you attach another bracket and drill a hole in the drain pipe for the waste water. Some people save this for watering flowers and whatnot. I think it'd be more trouble than it's worth. When you need to filter water, you just open crank it up and let it filter. Most people have the float switches that will switch it off when it gets full. I don't - and as a result I've flooded my floors twice! lol Luckily I have concrete floors, so it wasn't a big deal.

100 G Aquarium Reef RO DI 5stage Reverse Osmosis Water | eBay

There is a link to the one I have. And I paid $100 for mine. This one is $77.
 
tjm explained things well. I'll add that what tends to happen in saltwater moreso than with fresh is that you can grow algae like no one's business to the point it makes your tank look filthy. Tapwater tends to have some amount of nutrients in it for the algae and the algae definitley take advantage of it. RO/DI takes everything but the water out of the water to starve the algae.

The worst kind (and perhaps most common) in my opinion is what you'll see refered to as cyanobacteria or cyano for short. This stuff typically forms a dark red slime mat. Sometimes it's dark green. Sometimes it will be referred to as blue-green algae. In any case, it grows fast and it grows EVERYWHERE. (Luckily, it doesn't seem to hurt the fish, but I do beleive it can affect corals.) On top of that, once it's started it's really hard to get rid of. Nothing I know of eats it, so you're relegated to sucking it out and scrubbing it off to control it. :blink::banghead::eek: In the long run, it's best to not even give it the opportunity to grow. The ways folks commonly do this is through running their own RO/DI units, buying RO/DI water from the LFS or other source, or using something like the Tap Water Filter.
 
Okay... I think you all have talked me in to getting the RO/DI setup. Makes sense and pretty inexpensive also. We have well water and automatically have 0.25 ammonia in out water since we live on old farm land. Will the RO/DI system remove that ammonia from the water it produces? Even now when do water changes on my freshwater tank I introduce that ammonia to my tank unnecessarily. I do use water conditioner to detoxify the ammonia but I'm hoping if I use this RO/DI water I will no longer have to use the water conditioner. Will that be the case?

Plus, I do plan on having at least a small salt aquarium and it sounds like having this set of filters is the way to go. :)

Other benefits I see of having the filter. Let me know if I am off base on any of these.
- I will no longer have to purchase gallons of spring water for my wife to use in her iron?
- I can refill the 5 gallon water bottles for my water cooler myself?

It seems like this system will pay for itself pretty quickly.

Have you had to replace the cartridges in your system yet? Are the replacements readily available and fairly inexpensive?

Thanks!
 
Well, it seems that I will need some sort of RO system regardless. Having the fish tank has made me discover that out well water has between 20 and 40 ppm Nitrate straight from the tap. I couldn't figure out why I wasn't able to get the Nitrate down in my freshwater tank. So I tested the water straight from the tap and voila, nitrates already in the water.

I called the health department and they said that the EPA standard for Nitrate in drinking water is 10ppm and we should have a RO system for our drinking and cooking. If I hadn't gotten the aquarium and API test kit we may have never found this out. Luckily we never use our well water for drinking but we do use it for cooking and for ice tea. I'm wondering if it has done anything to us over the last 11 years.(?)

Regardless I'm going to get a RO/DI now if I decide to try the salt water setup.
 
Check to see what your well tds is if it's very high like mine 1000+ after iron filter and water softener it might be cheaper to buy rodi water from the store. I only get about 1500g to a di cartridge adds up fast
 
Thanks for the info! So, how would I go about checking TDS in my well water? Is there some place local I should be able to take a water sample? Or do I have to buy something else?
 
Check with your health unit or check the yellow pages. If you het that unit you need a tds meter any way
 
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