Ro

fishyfun2

fishyfun2

Member
Ok, i know, i know, i know...U can't cheap out in this hobby, right? Well, i know this has been hashed out B4, but the RO vs. tap water thing, is RO ALWAYS better? Our drinking water here at home is city water with a Culligan's filter. I haven't had it tested yet. If i do have it tested, what things besides chlorine/chloramine am i interested in knowing about? Copper, phosphate, what else is important? And why?
Also, just found out that i can get RO water at a store here for $1 for 5 gal. (And when i buy 30 gals. i get next 5 gal. free). Seems like a good deal. So am i just being ridiculous not immediately going that route? If i do RO, do i have to add anything to condition it?
 
keebler

keebler

Member
Originally Posted by FishyFun2
http:///forum/post/2893554
Ok, i know, i know, i know...U can't cheap out in this hobby, right? Well, i know this has been hashed out B4, but the RO vs. tap water thing, is RO ALWAYS better? Our drinking water here at home is city water with a Culligan's filter. I haven't had it tested yet. If i do have it tested, what things besides chlorine/chloramine am i interested in knowing about? Copper, phosphate, what else is important? And why?
Also, just found out that i can get RO water at a store here for $1 for 5 gal. (And when i buy 30 gals. i get next 5 gal. free). Seems like a good deal. So am i just being ridiculous not immediately going that route? If i do RO, do i have to add anything to condition it?

Ask what the ro's tds is...but you're right, that is a pretty good deal. The water from my ro/di costs me about 2 cents a gallon (I did a little math), so it will pay for itself, it will just take a while. Unless you have a huge tank, buying the ro water from that store is a fine option.
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
.
RO systems are typically used to reduce the levels of total dissolved solids and suspended matter. The principal uses of reverse osmosis in our hobby are for the reduction of high levels of nitrate, sulfate, sodium and total dissolved solids.
RO units with carbon filters may also reduce the level of some SOCs (soluble organic compounds) like pesticides, dioxins and VOCs (volatile organic compounds like chloroform and petrochemicals). An RO unit alone may not be the best solution for these types of contaminants, but installing a properly design-ed RO unit to reduce the levels of other contaminants may provide a reduction in SOCs and VOCs.
And I am sure what Keebler means to say is ask what percentage of DDS will be removed by that particular unit
 
fishyfun2

fishyfun2

Member
So, Joe, all i know about the RO water from this local water store is that it has gone thru a 12-stage RO filter. Hands down, this WILL be better water for a FOWLR (reef down-the-road) tank than what is coming out of my Culligan's at home, right?
Thanks, u guys are the best resource. I feel like even I know more than my LFS. They are using tap water in their tanks and advocate using Damsels to cycle.
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Twelve stage???? What I would do is take a sample of that water and one from your home to your local fish store and ask them to check the DDS for you I am sure they can and will if they want you as a customer if not go to another store. The water with the lowest DDS is the one to go with
 
nordy

nordy

Active Member
Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/2893649
Twelve stage???? What I would do is take a sample of that water and one from your home to your local fish store and ask them to check the DDS for you I am sure they can and will if they want you as a customer if not go to another store. The water with the lowest DDS is the one to go with

What he said! Some city water is better than others so finding out the tds in the water coming out of your treated system is the way to go before deciding whether to go with buying water from your LFS. It does sound like agood deal though on those prices!
Don't know what they could possibly mean by 12 stage, a good 4 stage ro/di will give you water as good as you would possibly need. BTW, I used tap water with dechlorinator for years in my FOWLR tank and it did fine (I did have "some" algae) but went with a good ro/di unit when I went reef early last year and highly recommend it. They do cost up front, but in the long run are a good investment.
 
fishyfun2

fishyfun2

Member
Good advice from all, thank you. It is nice to have access to all of this information! Like i said before, i don't exactly trust my LFS.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Use the search button and read other peoples threads before opening up another thread that has already been asked 100 times.
 
fishyfun2

fishyfun2

Member
Regarding the search button, it only works about 20% of the time when i've used it. Sorry if i've been wasting people's time asking some of these basic questions!
 
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