Piece by piece! I know I can do it. So, I'll start the questions small. Should I use distilled water in the tank? How exactly is the salt mixed and how much would I need? Can I put my heaters in the sump? Any advice on getting started?
Buy a R.O.D.I. unit and make your own water. Yes, you can put heaters in the sump, and the salt is mixed by you. I use a large pump in the bottom of my mixing barrel, and let it mix overnight. I use a refractometer to tell me when I've put the right amount of salt in.
Perfectly clean water, with zero T.D.S.
It's a must have, for a reef tank IMO.
search "reverse osmosis" on ebay, or look to the sponsors. Bulk Reef Supply sells them.
Di resin (on top filter) is old needs to be replaced. Should be golden/green color. Brown means its no longer cleaning like it should
Yes its cheap. Most online stores sell them. Get the refill bag which is around $18 for 3 refills.
How does it hook up? Is it hard? Where does my water come out?
I should come with two adapters. One that wraps around the drain pipe under a sink and the other on the cold water supply line. Water comes out line from the filter on top of the rodi unit.
Okay, I got my hands on a RD - 102 system. Now I'll be getting the water I need. Once I get tank and stand, I need to get sump, power filters, and etc. Then live sand. I was going to do a mix of live and non live rock.
If you are going with a sump you don't need a filter get a sump with a refugium. What do you mean by non live rock?
Is this tank reef ready (drilled)?
Meaning overflows?