water quality

cmonti

cmonti

Member
can someone take a look at my townships water report and let me know if a RO/DI unit is a must. I currently have an under mount sink filter.
link to water report
http://www.wtmua.com/MUA%20Forms/2009%20Water%20Quality%20Report%20v1.pdf
link to water filter
http://www.filtersfast.com/Omni-Filter-OCT32-undersink-water-filter-system.asp
I obviously know that a new unit will be a benefit but don't really have the funds to drop on a water unit right now. Currently have mushrooms, star polyp, kenya tree and 2 clowns in a 20g with plenty of flow and T5 lights. converted aquaclear 5o filter into a mini hHOB fuge with cheato, floss & chemi-pure elite. I want a frogspawn!! Nitrates are 10 and have been decreasing with addition of fuge and more frequent water changes. phosphates are .25. everything else is right on..
 
superman

superman

Member
I wouldn't say your town's water is terrible one way or the other, but RO is always going to treat your system better. I definitely know about tight funds, but I would try to figure out a way to do the RO, even if it's buying a few gallons per week from a grocery store or something.
 
superman

superman

Member
Personally, I use RO/DI drinking water from my local grocery store and have for years. When I upgrade to a larger tank, I'll probably go with a dedicated RO unit. In the grand scheme of things 150-200$ isn't that bad of an investment. You can spend that much replacing livestock if water parameters aren't good lol.
 
geoj

geoj

Active Member
I have and you can do distilled water. It costs more in the long run but you can save up for the RO/DI and grab one when you are good to go...
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Use RO or RO/DI (deionized). Do not use distilled. Distilled is water that has all had all of it's minerals removed. Livestock in our aquariums need these minerals and distilled water acts like a sponge by depleting livestock of these precious life giving minerals. Same thing with humans...although safe to drink in small amounts every once in a while it should not be consumed on a regular basis and cause chronic problems for you down the road.
 
gemmy

gemmy

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///forum/thread/383988/water-quality#post_3362017
Use RO or RO/DI (deionized). Do not use distilled. Distilled is water that has all had all of it's minerals removed. Livestock in our aquariums need these minerals and distilled water acts like a sponge by depleting livestock of these precious life giving minerals. Same thing with humans...although safe to drink in small amounts every once in a while it should not be consumed on a regular basis and cause chronic problems for you down the road.
Now, I am confused. Wouldn't the salt mix replenish the minerals that we need in our tanks?
 
superman

superman

Member
For water changes that is true, but if you need to top off water in your tank, you're probably going to want to go with the RO/DI.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Vodka...ewwww. lol
Honesly I don't know if the salt would be enough to replenish in a reef tank. May end up spending more money on test kits and dosing minerals in the long run. I say just stick with ro or ro/di if ya can. They all can be purchased at the store.
 
saltfan

saltfan

Active Member
Can your funding problem buy a $85 RO/DI brand new? Or are the funds that bad? You don't have to go with the top of the line big boys.
 
geoj

geoj

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///forum/thread/383988/water-quality#post_3362017
Use RO or RO/DI (deionized). Do not use distilled. Distilled is water that has all had all of it's minerals removed. Livestock in our aquariums need these minerals and distilled water acts like a sponge by depleting livestock of these precious life giving minerals. Same thing with humans...although safe to drink in small amounts every once in a while it should not be consumed on a regular basis and cause chronic problems for you down the road.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gemmy http:///forum/thread/383988/water-quality#post_3362021
Now, I am confused. Wouldn't the salt mix replenish the minerals that we need in our tanks?
Yep the salt will make up for where you start, you may get a salt that is designed for RO/DI when you use distilled and then it would be the same... Most of us use the best salt mix we can find so don't let any one discourage you. You can run a reef on a budget.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by GeoJ http:///forum/thread/383988/water-quality#post_3362034
Yep the salt will make up for where you start, you may get a salt that is designed for RO/DI when you use distilled and then it would be the same... Most of us use the best salt mix we can find so don't let any one discourage you. You can run a reef on a budget.

I hear you here Geo. The only problem is that you purchase an expensive reef salt that has the extra minerals in it that are supposed to be mixed with water that already has minerals because our reefs deplete these minerals. Then you're basically losing the minerals that you paid the extra money for to get in the salt. So now you have to dose extra to keep up with it. Just seems counter productive to me when you can easily purchase an RO unit for little more money than a good bucket of salt or even purchase jugs of RO at the grocery store.
 
superman

superman

Member
I think you should be able to get the water thing figured out with all this info. where's the pics of the tank!? =)
 
geoj

geoj

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///forum/thread/383988/water-quality#post_3362038
I hear you here Geo. The only problem is that you purchase an expensive reef salt that has the extra minerals in it that are supposed to be mixed with water that already has minerals because our reefs deplete these minerals. Then you're basically losing the minerals that you paid the extra money for to get in the salt. So now you have to dose extra to keep up with it. Just seems counter productive to me when you can easily purchase an RO unit for little more money than a good bucket of salt or even purchase jugs of RO at the grocery store.
lol, I am sorry but you are way off my friend... The better salts start with more minerals then will stay mix in. They design them so they will add the extra to the tank volume this is why a small amount of new mixed water will bring your tank volume back up to perfect numbers. Distilled and RO/DI are almost the same and RO is just not as clean as the other two... ...
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by GeoJ http:///forum/thread/383988/water-quality#post_3362045
lol, I am sorry but you are way off my friend... The better salts start with more minerals then will stay mix in. They design them so they will add the extra to the tank volume this is why a small amount of new mixed water will bring your tank volume back up to perfect numbers. Distilled and RO/DI are almost the same and RO is just not as clean as the other two... ...
Ok, you may be correct (as I think I'm confusing FW with SW systems). So I'll let you off the hook this time lol. (insert bow down smiley here)
 
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