RO/DI and well water...

[Radioheadx14]

I am moving home for a year and a half and my parents have well water. The have a pretty good water softening system and the water out of the faucet is not bad. When i move home i will still have FW fish and wont be getting SW fish until i move again, but i water to get a RO/DI system for my FW fish, and then use it for my SW fish when i move. I have read that well water requires specific parts on a RO/DI unit. i did some surfing and i found this system http://www.spectrapure.com/St_MaxCap-RO-DI.htm Is that good for well water stock? is there another system that i could use? i read that i would have to get a specific type of membrane and would need extra filters and would not really need carbon filters. I want a system i can use on well water and then take with me for city water use in the future thanks for any help/advice.

 

[roka64]

I'm on well water and never had a problem with it. Of course, all well water is going to be different. This looks to be a decent RO/DI unit http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=4453 and a little cheaper

 

[Devilishturtles]

If you use RO/DI water for your fw fish you need an RO buffer. Never use straight RO water for freshwater fish.

Also, IME (and the reason I don't run RO water in my reef tank) is that RO units will suck the water out of a well FAST! I ran my well dry so many times before I finally just gave up and stopped using it. You may be better off using just well water but that's up to you. Both units are great, I like the price on Scott's much better.

 

[Radioheadx14]

hmm, so having FW fish & well water, should i not even use either RO/DI? i plan on getting one when i switch to SW and am back on city tap water. I didnt know if running some extra filtration on well water would be a good idea. I have had FW fish in the well water from my parents house for years, the pH is usually high but i rarely had fish die off. Also i have heard that rainbows like higher pH and i have heard they like lower pH... so i don't know... and i am dreading acclimatizing them from tap->well->tap.

Are there any good articles on well water and fish?

 

[roka64]

How about this Article http://www.diveintofish.com/ac/aq_wq_sow.html or This Article http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-tapwater.html?
Basically they say to aerate your well water (24 hours) to get the CO2 out of it.

 

[Radioheadx14]

hmm, i know with the well water i will be using, it goes through a softener, so some of the metals will be removed, and we don't have a problem with the sulfer, but sometimes if you leave a glass out, it sometimes turns yellow due to iron.

To those of you who use well water, what do you do? Should i buy some extra filter? just let the water set and aerate it... or something else?

 

[roka64]

If I leave water in a glass, it builds up lime and calcium, I think it is those two or just one of them. I premix my water anyways, so I always have extra water. I also have a RO/DI, but didn't have any problems before I had one. Like I said, all wells are going to be different. I'm not sure what's involved in FW well water.

 

[Radioheadx14]

ok, thanks, maybe i'll ask some advice on the FW forum... I may have to get a RO/DI unit with a buffer for my freshies

 

[roka64]

I'll just move it to the general hardware/equipment section. I think you will get better responses there.

 

[Radioheadx14]

any more well water people that use RO/DI units?