Reverse Osmosis

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Goldie

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Aug 10, 2003
Messages
25
Location
Tennessee
How important is a RO setup for saltwater? I have been reading alot of people use them. Thanks...
 
Depending on the quality of your tap water it could be extremly important to somewhat important to just something to help impove overall water quality.

The RO unit wil provide you with almost pure clean water to start as a foundation of your tank. Using RO water for topoffs and for water changes (plus saltmix) will help keep external polutants that might be found in your tap water from entering into and collecting in your system.

I have found I get less algae growth when using RO water vs tap water.
 
Thanks for the reply. The reason I ask is I have noticed the RO units are fairly expensive and I cant afford one right now and probably for a while. I was trying to find justification for buying one. All the ones I see are $200 and up anyone know of a cheaper one than that? Thanks..
 
I used tap water for years with no problems. My tap water is pretty good, but the cost of clorine remover was getting more expensive than a small RO unit.
 
I fully understand Goldie about the costs of the filter. I ran freshwater tanks for many years on tapwater with conditioner. When I converted to saltwater I used tapwater for over a year because I did not have access to RO water nor did I have the funds to buy a filter. I did not think I had to many problems with algae in the tank but one day I bit the bullet so to speak and invested into a RO filter. WIthin a month I noticed the water was clearer and the algae that I did have was reduced.

Think of the purchase of teh RO unit as more of an investment than an outright purchase.

You should be able to find a good 3 stage RO unit for less than $200. I got my unit off of a guy on ebay. AquaFX is one of this sites sponsors and they offer RO units aswell. AquaFX has a three stage 50GPD unit for just over $130 after their 10% discount.

There are members here that dont use RO units and have very nice tanks. Some buy RO water from wal-mart or other sources and others use tapwater like Adrian.
 
Thanks for the great replys. I guess I need to have my water tested to know how good or bad it is.

You should be able to find a good 3 stage RO unit for less than $200. I got my unit off of a guy on ebay. AquaFX is one of this sites sponsors and they offer RO units aswell. AquaFX has a three stage 50GPD unit for just over $130 after their 10% discount.
I will check out ebay and the "AquaFX" $130.00 sounds a whole lot better than 2 or 3 hundred. Thanks Again... :D
 
Can someone explain to me the Gallons per day thing? Is there a limit on what you can use through the filtration system per day or something I dont get it. Thanks...
 
The GPD rating has to do with the surface area of the filter membrane that affects how much RO water can be produced over a given period of time. So basically if a unit is rated at 50 GPD, over a 24 hour period (or about 2 gallons/hour), you can expect to collect 50 gallons of RO water from the unit. This means yes, you either have to have the output plumbed to a large collection vessel (with a float switch preferrably), or you have to collect smaller amounts and transfer to a larger container for mixing.
 
Goldie...you can also find RO water machines outside of some stores. I get mine from a Glacier water machine for .25 cents a gallon. All ya gotta do is get a large container and fill up once or twice a month. If you can't afford a RO unit, i would suggest going this route untill you can afford it.....you might even decide you don't need one. When you think about it.....for the $200.00 it cost for a RO unit, you could get 800 gallons from that machine :wink:
 
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