water quality
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2quills
Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by spanko http:///forum/thread/383988/water-quality/20#post_3362108
What is the difference in the Distilled vs. the RODI 2Quills that you would go for the RODI instead?
Nothing really spanko. I was just always told not to use distilled water back when I kept cichlids because it depletes electrolytes and minerals in the system. And for whatever reason I guess I figured it was the same for SW. Which, it is but as others mentioned that's what a good salt mix is for. And realisitically there isn't much difference between the two because they both are mineral deficient after the processes that they go through unless you're running an ro unit that has an added re mineralizing cartridge. So the only considereable difference that I see other than distilled being a little bit cleaner/pure is probably the price.
Originally Posted by spanko http:///forum/thread/383988/water-quality/20#post_3362108
What is the difference in the Distilled vs. the RODI 2Quills that you would go for the RODI instead?
Nothing really spanko. I was just always told not to use distilled water back when I kept cichlids because it depletes electrolytes and minerals in the system. And for whatever reason I guess I figured it was the same for SW. Which, it is but as others mentioned that's what a good salt mix is for. And realisitically there isn't much difference between the two because they both are mineral deficient after the processes that they go through unless you're running an ro unit that has an added re mineralizing cartridge. So the only considereable difference that I see other than distilled being a little bit cleaner/pure is probably the price.
2quills
Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gemmy http:///forum/thread/383988/water-quality/20#post_3362284
Now, I get it (no drinks for me today...yet).
Already begun here for me. Can't say much for water quality but beer quality is looking mighty good.
One other thing that I had came across here recently about distilled is that you want to be careful on where it comes from or rather, how it's made and what it's made in. Alot of distilleries use coper containers or coper in their stills. So unless you can verify this isn't the case with the water that you're purchasing then it might be something to watch out for if you use it for any great length of time. Small traces over time will build up in the rock and sand in the tank if this happens to be the case. Could pose problems for you down the road. Keep your eyes peeled folks.
Originally Posted by Gemmy http:///forum/thread/383988/water-quality/20#post_3362284
Now, I get it (no drinks for me today...yet).
Already begun here for me. Can't say much for water quality but beer quality is looking mighty good.
One other thing that I had came across here recently about distilled is that you want to be careful on where it comes from or rather, how it's made and what it's made in. Alot of distilleries use coper containers or coper in their stills. So unless you can verify this isn't the case with the water that you're purchasing then it might be something to watch out for if you use it for any great length of time. Small traces over time will build up in the rock and sand in the tank if this happens to be the case. Could pose problems for you down the road. Keep your eyes peeled folks.
spanko
Active Member
Just some more info on distilled water. I actually contacted Absopure about their water as this is the distilled I use.
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/forum/thread/373644/distilled-water
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/forum/thread/373644/distilled-water
2quills
Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by spanko http:///forum/thread/383988/water-quality/20#post_3362346
Just some more info on distilled water. I actually contacted Absopure about their water as this is the distilled I use.
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/forum/thread/373644/distilled-water
That is some interesting reading. So their distilled did actually test for copper. So my question is...even at such a miniscule amount, would it still be possible for it to build up in the system over long periods of time and eventually see rissing levels of copper in the system itself?
Originally Posted by spanko http:///forum/thread/383988/water-quality/20#post_3362346
Just some more info on distilled water. I actually contacted Absopure about their water as this is the distilled I use.
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/forum/thread/373644/distilled-water
That is some interesting reading. So their distilled did actually test for copper. So my question is...even at such a miniscule amount, would it still be possible for it to build up in the system over long periods of time and eventually see rissing levels of copper in the system itself?
spanko
Active Member
I suppose it could if you did not do regular water changes. 0.004 mgL. (milligrams per liter)
Natural seawater 0.03 mgL So .03.004=750
Help me here.
Does this mean you would have to let 750 liters of water evaporate from your 1 liter aquarium and only top off with the distilled and never do a water change to have it accumulate to 0.03 mgL?
Now in my aquarium I have roughly 21 gallons of water. At 3.7854 liters per gallon that is roughly 79.5 liters of water total.
So does that mean 79.5X750=59625 liters (15,751 gallons) of distilled water would have to be added to my tank as top off with no water changes to accumulate 0.03 mgL of copper?
That all seems pretty crazy right there but I think the process is correct. Somebody please if I am wrong here show me where.
Twas fun thinking through it though.
Natural seawater 0.03 mgL So .03.004=750
Help me here.
Does this mean you would have to let 750 liters of water evaporate from your 1 liter aquarium and only top off with the distilled and never do a water change to have it accumulate to 0.03 mgL?
Now in my aquarium I have roughly 21 gallons of water. At 3.7854 liters per gallon that is roughly 79.5 liters of water total.
So does that mean 79.5X750=59625 liters (15,751 gallons) of distilled water would have to be added to my tank as top off with no water changes to accumulate 0.03 mgL of copper?
That all seems pretty crazy right there but I think the process is correct. Somebody please if I am wrong here show me where.
Twas fun thinking through it though.
gemmy
Active Member
Now, I may be crazy in my line of thinking, but doesn't a lot of the water that we use come in contact with copper? I would find it hard to believe that any method of water purification would remove all traces of copper. Then, most test kits that the home hobbyists use are unable to detect the minute levels of copper that is in the water (now back to my Corona
).
2quills
Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by spanko http:///forum/thread/383988/water-quality/20#post_3362356
I suppose it could if you did not do regular water changes. 0.004 mgL. (milligrams per liter)
Natural seawater 0.03 mgL So .03.004=750
Help me here.
Does this mean you would have to let 750 liters of water evaporate from your 1 liter aquarium and only top off with the distilled and never do a water change to have it accumulate to 0.03 mgL?
Now in my aquarium I have roughly 21 gallons of water. At 3.7854 liters per gallon that is roughly 79.5 liters of water total.
So does that mean 79.5X750=59625 liters (15,751 gallons) of distilled water would have to be added to my tank as top off with no water changes to accumulate 0.03 mgL of copper?
That all seems pretty crazy right there but I think the process is correct. Somebody please if I am wrong here show me where.
Twas fun thinking through it though.
Henry, if I wasn't drinking beer atm I would probably take the time to double check your math so I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt that it is correct.
Ofcorse we know that running carbon will help neutralize much of it as well. So in my minds blind eye I would lean toward the idea that the amount of copper found in your particular water source and assuming it's accurate (if we dare). Then it's really pretty much just an afterthought as long as we keep an eye on the copper level in the tank every so often.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gemmy http:///forum/thread/383988/water-quality/20#post_3362366
Now, I may be crazy in my line of thinking, but doesn't a lot of the water that we use come in contact with copper? I would find it hard to believe that any method of water purification would remove all traces of copper. Then, most test kits that the home hobbyists use are unable to detect the minute levels of copper that is in the water (now back to my Corona
).
I would say that most of the kits that the average hobbiest pays for are probably not the most sensitive of things.
And yes, Gemmy. Copper pipes are what is in the majority of homes for water supply.
Originally Posted by spanko http:///forum/thread/383988/water-quality/20#post_3362356
I suppose it could if you did not do regular water changes. 0.004 mgL. (milligrams per liter)
Natural seawater 0.03 mgL So .03.004=750
Help me here.
Does this mean you would have to let 750 liters of water evaporate from your 1 liter aquarium and only top off with the distilled and never do a water change to have it accumulate to 0.03 mgL?
Now in my aquarium I have roughly 21 gallons of water. At 3.7854 liters per gallon that is roughly 79.5 liters of water total.
So does that mean 79.5X750=59625 liters (15,751 gallons) of distilled water would have to be added to my tank as top off with no water changes to accumulate 0.03 mgL of copper?
That all seems pretty crazy right there but I think the process is correct. Somebody please if I am wrong here show me where.
Twas fun thinking through it though.
Henry, if I wasn't drinking beer atm I would probably take the time to double check your math so I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt that it is correct.
Ofcorse we know that running carbon will help neutralize much of it as well. So in my minds blind eye I would lean toward the idea that the amount of copper found in your particular water source and assuming it's accurate (if we dare). Then it's really pretty much just an afterthought as long as we keep an eye on the copper level in the tank every so often.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gemmy http:///forum/thread/383988/water-quality/20#post_3362366
Now, I may be crazy in my line of thinking, but doesn't a lot of the water that we use come in contact with copper? I would find it hard to believe that any method of water purification would remove all traces of copper. Then, most test kits that the home hobbyists use are unable to detect the minute levels of copper that is in the water (now back to my Corona
I would say that most of the kits that the average hobbiest pays for are probably not the most sensitive of things.
And yes, Gemmy. Copper pipes are what is in the majority of homes for water supply.
2quills
Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by spanko http:///forum/thread/383988/water-quality/20#post_3362356
I suppose it could if you did not do regular water changes. 0.004 mgL. (milligrams per liter)
Natural seawater 0.03 mgL So .03.004=750
Help me here.
Does this mean you would have to let 750 liters of water evaporate from your 1 liter aquarium and only top off with the distilled and never do a water change to have it accumulate to 0.03 mgL?
Now in my aquarium I have roughly 21 gallons of water. At 3.7854 liters per gallon that is roughly 79.5 liters of water total.
So does that mean 79.5X750=59625 liters (15,751 gallons) of distilled water would have to be added to my tank as top off with no water changes to accumulate 0.03 mgL of copper?
That all seems pretty crazy right there but I think the process is correct. Somebody please if I am wrong here show me where.
Twas fun thinking through it though.
If natural seater is 0.03 mg/L
And your water is 0.004 mg/L
Then each time you added a liter you would be adding 0.004 mg that wasn't there before. And since copper doesn't evaporate and lets just think for a moment that we didn't run any carbon in our system. If you were adding 0.004 mg then. Then by my math it should only take 7.5 liters before you reached 0.03 Assuming that none of it was being removed from the system by some other means.
Originally Posted by spanko http:///forum/thread/383988/water-quality/20#post_3362356
I suppose it could if you did not do regular water changes. 0.004 mgL. (milligrams per liter)
Natural seawater 0.03 mgL So .03.004=750
Help me here.
Does this mean you would have to let 750 liters of water evaporate from your 1 liter aquarium and only top off with the distilled and never do a water change to have it accumulate to 0.03 mgL?
Now in my aquarium I have roughly 21 gallons of water. At 3.7854 liters per gallon that is roughly 79.5 liters of water total.
So does that mean 79.5X750=59625 liters (15,751 gallons) of distilled water would have to be added to my tank as top off with no water changes to accumulate 0.03 mgL of copper?
That all seems pretty crazy right there but I think the process is correct. Somebody please if I am wrong here show me where.
Twas fun thinking through it though.
If natural seater is 0.03 mg/L
And your water is 0.004 mg/L
Then each time you added a liter you would be adding 0.004 mg that wasn't there before. And since copper doesn't evaporate and lets just think for a moment that we didn't run any carbon in our system. If you were adding 0.004 mg then. Then by my math it should only take 7.5 liters before you reached 0.03 Assuming that none of it was being removed from the system by some other means.
spanko
Active Member
Right on 2Quills. that takes the addition of distilled water to about 40 gallons to my tank as top-off with no water changes or filtering. That 40 gallon figure changes as the volume of water in a tank changes.
For example in 40 gallons of water volume you would have to add 80 gallons of distilled top off water with no water changes of filtering.
Makes more sense now.
For example in 40 gallons of water volume you would have to add 80 gallons of distilled top off water with no water changes of filtering.
Makes more sense now.
spanko
Active Member
Then of course there is always the question of how much copper is added by the salt mixes we use. Here is a good article on that subject.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/11/aafeature1
Again I think that the concern about copper may be one that is best looked at when copper is used as a medication. That plus the fact that we cannot test for copper down low enough with home testing equipment to even recognize when our copper levels may be too high.
Good discussion though.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/11/aafeature1
Again I think that the concern about copper may be one that is best looked at when copper is used as a medication. That plus the fact that we cannot test for copper down low enough with home testing equipment to even recognize when our copper levels may be too high.
Good discussion though.
2quills
Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by spanko http:///forum/thread/383988/water-quality/20#post_3362469
Then of course there is always the question of how much copper is added by the salt mixes we use. Here is a good article on that subject.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/11/aafeature1
Again I think that the concern about copper may be one that is best looked at when copper is used as a medication. That plus the fact that we cannot test for copper down low enough with home testing equipment to even recognize when our copper levels may be too high.
Good discussion though.
That was an interesting read. I'll have to go through it again.
To be honest with you I've never used copper meds and I don't even own a copper test kit so I don't know how accurate or sensetive they are to be able to see when they're at an unacceptable level.
My whole thinking was based on the idea that metals such as this can settle into the rock and substrate. And this is why any rock that was ever used in a hospital tank where copper was used should never be put back into a display tank. I don't know how true this is or how you can even test for such a thing. But many people in this hobby believe this to be the case. So I'm wondering how much of it actually builds up. Because not everyone runs carbon. So I'm under the impression that just because you put 0.004 mg/l in doesn't necissarily mean that you would be pulling 0.004 mg/l out when you do a water change. So there may be folks out there who slowly but steadily have copper building up in there system on it's way to dangerous levels.
Am I over thinking this or am I just crazy to think that this should even be a concern?
I know you do the vodka dosing which is a source of carbon. So perhaps that's helping you out in your case? I'm not sure.
Originally Posted by spanko http:///forum/thread/383988/water-quality/20#post_3362469
Then of course there is always the question of how much copper is added by the salt mixes we use. Here is a good article on that subject.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/11/aafeature1
Again I think that the concern about copper may be one that is best looked at when copper is used as a medication. That plus the fact that we cannot test for copper down low enough with home testing equipment to even recognize when our copper levels may be too high.
Good discussion though.
That was an interesting read. I'll have to go through it again.
To be honest with you I've never used copper meds and I don't even own a copper test kit so I don't know how accurate or sensetive they are to be able to see when they're at an unacceptable level.
My whole thinking was based on the idea that metals such as this can settle into the rock and substrate. And this is why any rock that was ever used in a hospital tank where copper was used should never be put back into a display tank. I don't know how true this is or how you can even test for such a thing. But many people in this hobby believe this to be the case. So I'm wondering how much of it actually builds up. Because not everyone runs carbon. So I'm under the impression that just because you put 0.004 mg/l in doesn't necissarily mean that you would be pulling 0.004 mg/l out when you do a water change. So there may be folks out there who slowly but steadily have copper building up in there system on it's way to dangerous levels.
Am I over thinking this or am I just crazy to think that this should even be a concern?
I know you do the vodka dosing which is a source of carbon. So perhaps that's helping you out in your case? I'm not sure.