Just back from LFS and have some questions

[fishfood]

Well i was out looking for some snails. No place around here has anything but turbos. Anyway to make a long story short i was told that there are 3 types of hair algae. I do not remember the exact types the guys said, but he did say that turbos will only eat 2 of the 3. He also told me that an RO system is useless unless there is a DI added to it. I'm looking at getting an ro soon and was wondering if that is remotly the truth.

 

[deuce_bigalo]

IMO you should buy an RO/DI unit
but r/o not completly useless
Here is a good link to look at:
<a href="http://www.btinternet.com/~aquariumcity/filters/Barracuda.htm" target="_blank">http://www.btinternet.com/~aquariumcity/filters/Barracuda.htm</a>

 

[fshhub]

as for the alage, did he mention angel hair, if that is the hair he was referring to, then most critters will not eat it, maybe some crabs,and some tangs may(not depending on the species, but the individual fish)
and most hair algae, IME/IMO the turbos will not eat, unless it is short(you may have to prune it til they get a good hold on the situaion)
oh, and i agree completely, ro is good,but ro/di is MUCH MCUH better

 

[chevron tang]

Hey there's a post on this page for you in response to your earlier question.

 

[volitan]

I started my 75 gallon tank with 20 snails- all turbos. I've never had a problem with hair algae. If there are some types of hair algae that a turbo won't eat, I guess I don't have any of it.

 

[fishfood]

The guy at the lfs said " if there is no DI with the RO than no phosphate, nitrate or nitrite would be removed". In looking into some of the units i think i recall them saying they do remove these things without having the DI?

 

[ky]

The DI works on the same principle as a water softner. It has a highly ionic resin in it that, when they come into contact with different elements in the water, exchange them. In other words, if your water has alot of magnesium in it, it will be removed by the resin. The filters don't remove these elements, obviously. I had to get an RO unit with DI because I have "City Well Water". I have alot of elements in my water. But some city water doesn't, and it is unnecessary. But keep in mind that, aside from chlorine, most of these elements are harmless.