Do I need a RO unit
- Thread starter dlee
- Start date
1journeyman
Active Member
If anything mysterious ever goes wrong the first question will be "what type of water do you use?"
Do you have any idea what types of pipes the well uses? Your house? The mineral makeup of the well water? If the answer is "no" then you need an RO/DI unit.
You can get a 100gpd for under 200 bucks. In all honesty that's not much money for this hobby and will potentially prevent huge problems.
Do you have any idea what types of pipes the well uses? Your house? The mineral makeup of the well water? If the answer is "no" then you need an RO/DI unit.
You can get a 100gpd for under 200 bucks. In all honesty that's not much money for this hobby and will potentially prevent huge problems.
f14peter
Member
For the umpteenth time, I find myself in agreement with 1Journeyman.
Unless you can have your water tested and it passes as pure, and am confident it will stay that way, RO/DI is the way to go (Either store-bought or made in-home).
Years ago lived on well-water and it was really hard . . . dulled washed clothing, water spots on everything, showerheads that eventually would clog up . . . some really harsh stuff. Also, and while we weren't impacted because we were far enough away, the water fountain at a nearby park was capped off because the water (From a well) became contaminated.
Considering how much water you'll go through starting up a 90g, in-home sure has a lot of advantages, including cost in the long run. I've had my 90g up for about four months and with a 20g QT, storing LR, water changes, top-offs, etc, have probably run about 350 gallons through my RO/DI unit.
Unless you can have your water tested and it passes as pure, and am confident it will stay that way, RO/DI is the way to go (Either store-bought or made in-home).
Years ago lived on well-water and it was really hard . . . dulled washed clothing, water spots on everything, showerheads that eventually would clog up . . . some really harsh stuff. Also, and while we weren't impacted because we were far enough away, the water fountain at a nearby park was capped off because the water (From a well) became contaminated.
Considering how much water you'll go through starting up a 90g, in-home sure has a lot of advantages, including cost in the long run. I've had my 90g up for about four months and with a 20g QT, storing LR, water changes, top-offs, etc, have probably run about 350 gallons through my RO/DI unit.
scsinet
Active Member
You either need an RODI unit or you need to buy RODI water from somewhere, period. Well water is not in any way suitable for a saltwater aquarium. You have no idea what is in well water... minerals, heavy metals like mercury, arsenic, etc, and just plain old filth, not to mention what your pipes add to the water.
Public water treatment adds some bad stuff to the water, like Chlorine, but that's nothing compared to what they remove.
A system is only as good as the components that go into it, in this case, water, salt, additives, etc, and water is the baseline ingredient to that. If you don't start with a known standard and you end up having problems, they are going to be hell to find and fix.
Spend up, in this case you'll be glad you did.
Public water treatment adds some bad stuff to the water, like Chlorine, but that's nothing compared to what they remove.
A system is only as good as the components that go into it, in this case, water, salt, additives, etc, and water is the baseline ingredient to that. If you don't start with a known standard and you end up having problems, they are going to be hell to find and fix.
Spend up, in this case you'll be glad you did.
