RO and DI...Help me get this straight!

[djminus1]

Yo...
I am about ready to set up my 90gal FOWLR tank. I have tried going through many posts to find out about RO and DI for my water. I need a real basic overview of this and also need to know if it is absolutely necessary. For reference..here is what my setup i slooking like so far...
90 Gallon Tank/Stand
CPR CY-194 Filter/Sump (Has Protein Skimmer)
CPR CS-100 Overflow
2 300w Titanium Heaters
900 GPH Mag-Drive Return Pump
3 175 GPH Powerheads
90 - 100 lbs Live Rock (Yet to be purchased)
Live Sand (Yet to be purchased)
Here are my questions...
Q. Is RO and/or DI absolutely necessary for a FOWLR? Someone told me its only necessary for a Reef Tank. Is this true?
Q. If the above statement is true regarding the FOWLR, will I be able to introduce a RO/DI kit when I am ready to build a reef?
Q. How do these RO/DI kits hook up to your water? Where do you make the water?
Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
djminus1

 

[sly]

IMO, you should get a ro/di unit. It will cause less problems with algae and also tap water is not reliable. If you have a major rain storm, your tap water could be flooded with calcium, copper or anything else. Although most fish will do fine with it, you water parameters would constantly be bouncing around. It's also good to get a clean-up crew (which you did not mention). This includes any number of snails, crabs, etc. These are invertebrates meaning that they will be more susceptible to water fluctuations.
Even though you could get fish to live on tap water in most cases, it is not a good solution if you could get an ro/di unit instead.
If you do tap water now you could add a ro/di unit later if you wanted to. At that time, if you were adding anything like coral, etc. you would need to do a massive water change and then let the tank sit for a few weeks to leach out any minerals that could have accumulated from the tap water. Then you would probably need to do a water change again to empty it all out. Then your corals would be in an environment that was clean enough for them to live in.
There are many different kinds of ro/di units. Some simply hook up to the outlet on your sink. They screw in and that's it. Others are actually put in-line in your plumbing and are permantly mounted. The hook-up depends on which unit you buy. Also, ro/di units are very slow. Some of them can only produce a couple of gallons per hour. In fact, a ro/di unit has a measurement on the specifications chart that says "gallons per day"... There is a reason for this. But they are worth it.

 

[reefnut]

Q. Is RO and/or DI absolutely necessary for a FOWLR? Someone told me its only necessary for a Reef Tank. Is this true?
Nothing is "absolutely necessary" besides salt and water but it is highly recommended for any tank IMO.

 

[sankysyuck]

RO is not absolutely necessary, but is a very helpful piece of equipment. To put plain tap water in your tank is not the worst thing you can do, but it’s not really that good either. Just from the tap sitting in pipes in your city builds up harmful chemicals. I definitely would recommend using an RO system. Or If your like me, and can't afford one, then I would recommend a deionized water purifier. It's less expensive, but it also isn’t as good as an RO system and takes a lot of time. However, while these systems are great, I would definitely not recommend only using RO water. Because RO systems are so powerful, they take out so many chemicals in water leaving water without key elements that fish need to survive. I would recommend using a combination of tap water and an RO system.

 

[djminus1]

OK...great answers guys. I have thought about it and I want to do this right. I like the idea of hooking it up to a sink. I have a bathroom in my condo that is usually unoccupied.
Q1. What units should I consider given the fact that I have a 90 gallon tank?
Q2. How is the water purification process done? Do you simply set it up and let it run?
Q3. What kind of containers do you use?
I am just trying to guage what the process is like.
Thanks!

 

[doboy]

RO = Reverse Osmosis. Water is forced through a semi-permeable membrane. It is a thin film wrapped around a perforate cylinder. Most good RO units use a TFC (thin film composite) membrane. Water is forced through the membrane. Only the particles large enough to fit through the holes in the membrane will pass on (water molecules). The rest is flushed out of the membrane with the "waste water". For every gallon of water "made" aqbout 10 gallons are used in the process. This is why the components last so long. The number one enemy of an RO membrane is chlorine. If you do not run a charcoal filter before the membrane canister, the life of your membrane will be drastically reduced. Keep this in mind if you buy one. Most RO systems come with smoe kind of saddle valve. You attach the supply line to the saddle valve, and place the saddle valve over a COLD water supply line. Once it's on tight, you screw the valve until you pierce the copper water line, the back off the screw, and water will flow to the RO unit.
Most household systems come with a pressure tank -- it's a tanks with a bladder in it that collects the RO water. Also, a small faucet, which you mount to wherever you want. When you run the faucet, the pressure is reduced in the tank, and the RO unit can start "making water to fill it back up.
Alternatively, you can run a tube to a bucket, and turn on the supply water. It will fill up your container at the reate it makes water. Just make sure you don't forget about it! RO units perform best under constant use. Sytems that are left Idle can eventually deteriorate the membranes. They are best used every day.
DI -- Deionized. True DI water is run through two tanks, one filled with positively charged resin beads, and one with negatively charged resin beads. The beads will electromagnetically attract charged particles in the water. Since most substances assume charged states when dissolved in water, they will "stick to the resin beads.
Resin beads must be re-charged, or replaced often (based on how much they have absorbed). This process is expensive. I do not have any experience with home use of such technology, only industrial. IMO, Reverse osmosis is the way to go.
Hope this helps.

 

[djminus1]

Originally posted by djminus1
Q1. What units should I consider given the fact that I have a 90 gallon tank?
Q2. How is the water purification process done? Do you simply set it up and let it run?
Q3. What kind of containers do you use?
I am just trying to guage what the process is like.
Thanks!
Can someone answer these questions. Keep in mind that I like the faucet hook-up idea.
Thanks!
:notsure:

 

[sly]

I addressed each question in order in my response to you. The others in this thread have also said the same thing. You should get a ro/di unit if you can. If you don't, you may have some problems and will eventually end up buying one anyway.

 

[djminus1]

You answered my old questions...now I need the new ones answered. I need to know some actual units to be looking at. See my last post.
Thanks!

 

[sly]

Sorry about that. You're right... I have to go to work now, but I'm sure that someone will be around soon to answer your new questions.

 

[plumbjohn]

If you look in the Dry goods section to the left you can find some RO units. also check the auction sit by the Bay . You can also look at the DEPOT for HOME or look LOWES that is where i got mine. As far as storage containers I bought a new 38 gallon trash can. filled it up and mixed salt to get the same Specific Gravity as my tank. I also added a heater and PH, and air stone. All these are set as the same as my tank so when i do water changes all is ready and takes half the time. Just make sure to test your RO water after 24 hrs to make sure all is well. Hope this helps and may your fish poo in crystal clear water:happyfish

 

[djminus1]

Ok...more questions.
Q1. Does anybody know of actual models that are good that hook up to a faucet?
Q2. When adding water to a tank to compensate for evaporation, I was told that you should use fresh water because the salt does not evaporate. That said, do most people stock both fresh water and salt water, the fresh being for evaporation and the salt being for water changes? Or can you just stock fresh water and add salt to it right before doing the water change?
Thanks!

 

[sw65galma]

Originally posted by djminus1
Ok...more questions.
Q2. When adding water to a tank to compensate for evaporation, I was told that you should use fresh water because the salt does not evaporate. That said, do most people stock both fresh water and salt water, the fresh being for evaporation and the salt being for water changes? Or can you just stock fresh water and add salt to it right before doing the water change?
Thanks!
Keep both Saltwater must be mixed for about 24hrs.
As the salt doesn't dissovle instantly.
So if you tossed in salt to the right Salinity...come back in a few hours,it could be higher as the salt dissolves.