Is RO drinking water the same as what i use for the tank?

[gsxrguru2]

Just wondering if the [acronym:c8f6d163a9="Reverse osmosis"]RO[/acronym:c8f6d163a9] system that is already hooked up to the sink for drinking will be adequate for the tank? The only reason i ask is because the guy at the [acronym:c8f6d163a9="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:c8f6d163a9] said that drinkable [acronym:c8f6d163a9="Reverse osmosis"]RO[/acronym:c8f6d163a9] water doesn't filter out all the stuff that aquarium [acronym:c8f6d163a9="Reverse osmosis"]RO[/acronym:c8f6d163a9] water does. According to him some of the minerals that we need to get out of our drinking water will pass through a [acronym:c8f6d163a9="Reverse osmosis"]RO[/acronym:c8f6d163a9] drinking system but not through a set of filters for water to be used in a tank system. pretty much what this is all boiling down to is wheather I should use what i already have or buy a system off of ebay. just wondering if any of you know anything about wheather this is true or not- the [acronym:c8f6d163a9="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:c8f6d163a9] guy was of course trying to sell his [acronym:c8f6d163a9="Reverse osmosis"]RO[/acronym:c8f6d163a9] water.

[krap101]

yeah. if your talking about a brita type thing its totally different i think. britas use carbon but [acronym:127e1a7e32="Reverse osmosis"]ro[/acronym:127e1a7e32] uses a couple diff stages of crap

[gsxrguru2]

I am talking about an actual [acronym:9b393cc486="Reverse osmosis"]RO[/acronym:9b393cc486] unit- it has the 3 canisters under the sink and the storage container. I am only concerned about wheather the filters for drinking are different than the 3 filters that would be used to make [acronym:9b393cc486="Reverse osmosis"]RO[/acronym:9b393cc486] water for a tank.

[Skuseman]

Yes they are different. I've been using tap for years on my tanks with [acronym:8b05d298bc="mail order"]mo[/acronym:8b05d298bc] problems. But my water supply is unusually clean. So I'm recommending you get a [acronym:8b05d298bc="Reverse osmosis"]RO[/acronym:8b05d298bc] filter from ebay. :P

[ccCapt]

It's the same thing. Some [acronym:2fb31a5ac8="Reverse osmosis"]RO[/acronym:2fb31a5ac8] units have a [acronym:2fb31a5ac8="Deionization"]DI[/acronym:2fb31a5ac8] cartridge in the unit, which is what most people use as the final filter for the aquarium water.

[jaiden]

same thing. get a [acronym:1c401501d6="Total Dissolved Solids"]TDS[/acronym:1c401501d6] meter or take the water somewhere to be tested. Then add a T fitting so you can still use the [acronym:1c401501d6="Reverse osmosis"]RO[/acronym:1c401501d6] for drinking, and then run the rest through a [acronym:1c401501d6="Deionization"]DI[/acronym:1c401501d6] for the fish.

it's exactly what I do.

[gsxrguru2]

So with a [acronym:7190278efd="Total Dissolved Solids"]TDS[/acronym:7190278efd] meter what sort of readings do i want to see?

[jaiden]

you WANT to see 0. But this depends on your source water.

you should get around a 90% reduction in [acronym:def1d97ffd="Total Dissolved Solids"]TDS[/acronym:def1d97ffd] from a [acronym:def1d97ffd="Reverse osmosis"]RO[/acronym:def1d97ffd]. So if you have 180 source, you should look for 18 out of the [acronym:def1d97ffd="Reverse osmosis"]RO[/acronym:def1d97ffd].

Then, the [acronym:def1d97ffd="Deionization"]DI[/acronym:def1d97ffd] should get it down to 0. But if it's 50 coming out of the [acronym:def1d97ffd="Reverse osmosis"]RO[/acronym:def1d97ffd] because you have terrible water, your [acronym:def1d97ffd="Deionization"]DI[/acronym:def1d97ffd] won't last long at all.

make sense?

[Ricky@3rdshift]

I was gonna ask the same ? b/c the Sam's brand water from walmart says [acronym:41c19e2fb0="Reverse osmosis"]RO[/acronym:41c19e2fb0] water on it in the back label. I have been using it instead of tap water or buying water from the [acronym:41c19e2fb0="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:41c19e2fb0].

[seaham358]

[acronym:d7bdb4e462="In my opinion"]IMO[/acronym:d7bdb4e462] a [acronym:d7bdb4e462="Total Dissolved Solids"]TDS[/acronym:d7bdb4e462] reading is not what you really need to be testing. You need to test your water for nitrates, phosphates and silacates. If you have a reading of any one of these then you need a Di housing added to the unit.
[acronym:d7bdb4e462="Total Dissolved Solids"]TDS[/acronym:d7bdb4e462] is total disolved solids, it does not say if the solids are good or bad and the 3 items listed above are not picked up by a [acronym:d7bdb4e462="Total Dissolved Solids"]TDS[/acronym:d7bdb4e462] meter.
Don't get me wrong you want a 0 [acronym:d7bdb4e462="Total Dissolved Solids"]TDS[/acronym:d7bdb4e462] out of the [acronym:d7bdb4e462="Deionization"]DI[/acronym:d7bdb4e462] unit, this tells you that it is working properly and the filters are good. [acronym:d7bdb4e462="In my opinion"]IMO[/acronym:d7bdb4e462] you still need to test the water for [acronym:d7bdb4e462="Nitrate"]NO3[/acronym:d7bdb4e462], [acronym:d7bdb4e462="Phosphate"]PO4[/acronym:d7bdb4e462] and silacates because even with a low [acronym:d7bdb4e462="Total Dissolved Solids"]TDS[/acronym:d7bdb4e462] you can have high levels.