RO/DI water

[susieq]

My 55 gal. tank has been up and running for over 1 year. I was using tap water filtered with a PUR water filter until 1 month ago. Clown fish, algea blenny and shrimp tolerated this water. I had algae problems so I ordered the clean up crew, urchin package, scarlet crabs. One of the sea urchins died so I am now using distilled water. All the inhabitants are much happier and healthier with the distilled water. Here's the question: My tank is on the second floor of a school building. I simply can not carry all this water up the stairs. a 20% water change every two weeks, or even a 10% every week is just too much weight. Not to mention the cost and the number of empty gallon jugs. Is everyone here confident that the ro/di processors specifically for aquariums, are enough to filter even phosphates from tap water? My arms just can't take the strain.
Thanks in Advance

 

[yosemite sam]

A good RO/DI filter is worth its weight in gold. My tap water has well over 1 ppm phosphates (yikes!) but they are undetectable in water from the filter.

 

[pallan]

same with mine lots of phosphates in the tap but nothing through the ro unit and it makes water for you to drink as well so its good for you. was doing 10-15 gallon changes every two weeks now i do 5 gallons weekly alot easier than driving to fish store and getting all that water. dont know if its much cheaper since the filters are spendy but im sure it is close.

 

[chipmaker]

Yep, RODI units are worthwhile......and at the rate your usiing sand buying water it would not take long to pay one off yet alone counting wear and tear on the old body! I bought two RODI units off that big popular auction site for under $100 and my tds in my water is 0.......In the few months I have them in use, they have already paid for themselves, with just the price of gas and my time to make a 60 some mile round trip to town and the hassle needed to store what I needed.

 

[airforceb2]

I agree with everyone here. I love my RO/DI unit. I got it for under $100 on the auction site and would recomend it to anyone.

 

[susieq]

Thanks everyone. The unit you are all talking about is the one I've been looking at. I'm going to order it today.

 

[devildog01]

Sorry to hijack this, but I have a question. I currently buy ro/di water from my LFS, but I wanna get my own ro/di unit. However, I know that ro/di takes out EVERYTHING so when you add saltwater, the salt adds everything the water needs, but do you need to add anything to the water when all you need to do is fill with freshwater?

 

[chipmaker]

Only a test would be able to tell you what your water lacks when you use fresh rodi water for topoff. Its pretty common to have to add calcium. Not all salts are created equal either.

 

[susieq]

I agree with testing. However, in theory, if your water is balanced at the beginning of a water change cycle and only H2O evaporates, you should only have to add ro/di water to the tank. As the water evaporates, the remaining water becomes more concentrated. Topoff maintains balance.

 

[salty tank]

Originally Posted by Pallan
same with mine lots of phosphates in the tap but nothing through the ro unit and it makes water for you to drink as well so its good for you. was doing 10-15 gallon changes every two weeks now i do 5 gallons weekly alot easier than driving to fish store and getting all that water. dont know if its much cheaper since the filters are spendy but im sure it is close.

WRONG! you shouldnt drink RO/DI water because it takes everything out of the water. Our normal drinking water has stuff in is like chlorine that makes it safe and clean for us.

 

[pallan]

Originally Posted by salty tank
WRONG! you shouldnt drink RO/DI water because it takes everything out of the water. Our normal drinking water has stuff in is like chlorine that makes it safe and clean for us.
Not gonna pretend to be an expert but IMO the clorine etc.. that makes it safe to drink doesnt make it better to drink. the RO removes all that stuff that the clorine takes care off and the clorine is also removed leaving pure (as close as it can be) water. sure it does not have all the chemicals we add to it to make tap water what it is today but we get it back to a pure form. I bougth my RO unit for drinking water and just have recently started using it for aquarium Love it both ways.