90 gallon set up

[Tategrant]

I purchased a new 90 gallon tank. I was wondering if I could use water from my hose and add aqua safe into it and add salt. I need to wait before setting it up because I do not have everything I need. How long would I have to cycle it before starting?

 

[Tkey3425]

I purchased a new 90 gallon tank. I was wondering if I could use water from my hose and add aqua safe into it and add salt. I need to wait before setting it up because I do not have everything I need. How long would I have to cycle it before starting?

Cycle usually last 4-8 weeks. Use live sand and base rock and you'll cycle pretty quick. Really you want to use rodi water. You can get a ln rodi unit from bulk reef supply. Saves money in the long run. I started my tank off with hose water a long time ago and algae issues kept rising. Now with rodi I never get an algae outbreak

 

[obscurereef]

Is this reef or FOWLR? You could get away with tap water if it was a FOWLR, but definitely don't recommend it if you're going to have corals. Getting your own RO/DI system would be best (especially since it's such a large system). At the very least, use distilled/ro water if you're going w/ a reef environment.

 

[Tkey3425]

Everyone goes reef with time just wait

 

[obscurereef]

Everyone goes reef with time just wait

Lol pretty much true In that case it's important to start out w/ RO/DI or distilled water.

 

[Tkey3425]

It's good for overall tank health. My fish all seem happier and eat hardier than my buddy's who uses tap with treatment. Also he can't keep a tang alive. I have 3 in my tank

 

[Tategrant]

How much are ro/di units?

 

[Tkey3425]

I paid $180 for mine but the cheapest place local is. .85 cents a gallon and I run through 2 gallons a day on evaporation and do 20 gallon water changes every other week so mine paid for itself quickly lol. Plus you can drink the water from it and its much better tasting. Some say it bad for you but so is bottled water. Also for every gallon made about 2-3 gallons goes down the drain. You can use that for other stuff as well. I have it plumbed to my sprinklers and give it to my dogs.

 

[Tategrant]

Do you just pour water through it and it comes out clean? Or does it take time?

 

[Tkey3425]

Do you just pour water through it and it comes out clean? Or does it take time?

Mine makes 75 gallons per day. So the night before I turn it on and when I wake up my 44 gallon Rubbermaid brute can is full. BTW I use a float valve to automatically turn it off when it gets full. Mix it all up and bam good clean perfect water for you tank everytime. Plus if you have your own machine you can be your quality control. I could sell tap water in milk jugs as rodi and without a tds meter no one would know

 

[Tategrant]

How long did it take to fill your tank

 

[Tkey3425]

How long did it take to fill your tank

4 days roughly for my 180 gallons but I didn't run it at night once it got 3/4 full so I wouldn't have to worry about over flow. I just dropped the hose from my system into the display tank and let it go. You could fill a 90 in a day and a half if you could sit there when it got close to full and watch it

 

[Tategrant]

Did you have your filter running

 

[Tkey3425]

The tank filter? I ran the return pump from my sump once the tank filled. Or are you asking was I running rodi?

 

[Tategrant]

The tank filter? I ran the return pump from my sump once the tank filled. Or are you asking was I running rodi?

No did you have your regular filter running while you were filling it up

 

[Tkey3425]

No did you have your regular filter running while you were filling it up

I'm confused what you're asking all my filtration is in my sump which gets water from my overflows. So I can't run any pumps or filters in my tank until its full.

 

[Tategrant]

Oh okay do you have to replace rodi media?

 

[Tkey3425]

Yes but mine has been in a year and made a ton of water I'd say almost 1000 gallons and it still puts out 0 tds. Once your tds creeps up on you output water is when you replace your di media. It's fairly cheap like $12

 

[Tategrant]

How do you check tds?

 

[Tkey3425]

A tds meter haha. That's the only way. Bulk reef supply's rodi unit has the option to add one built in