where do I get RO water

mikehaha

mikehaha

Member
Ive heard Walmart and some other big chains carry RO water, but I asked 5 clerks if they had it, and no one knew what I was talking about. Where can I get it? Did I just ask the wrong people? What is the cheapest way to get this water? If I did get a filtration system where is it housed? Also, I live in the country and have well water. Is this bad for aquariums? Lots of questions, I know. I just don't know if I can afford to buy this water all the time. HELP!
 
fishhead81

fishhead81

Member
so many questions, i just have my lil story of what I did. A friend of mine did this to his 38g tank and it's worked beautifully for his fish. go back to wal-mart and buy as many "drinking water" 1 gallon jugs as you need($.52 a gallon here) very cheap and then buy your own salt and whah-lah. As long as you have a salinity tester add small amounts of salt at a time and you should be golden. I'm thinking of adding something to my tank tomorrow....it cycled in less than 4 days. :) Good luck.
 
puffer32

puffer32

Active Member
Onlysuper walmarts carry the ro water that you can buy for .33 a gal. i use 5 gal bottles, but want to get an ro unit soon.
 
daytonaree

daytonaree

Member
Its not a good idea to use unfilter water from wallmart. You need to get it from an ro machine in the front of the stroe if they have one. If not you can get it from culligan or the water store in 5 gallon containers and usually they let you take the containers free as long as you get them back the next day. Or you can buy an R.O. sysytem on the world famous website with auctions you can't say it on here for 100.00 for the whole system. It works well on well water after its filtered it helps if your well is 200 feet or more deep depending on where you live also if you buy a ro unit make sure it has a D.I. filter to remove the iron that causes high phosphates and silicates which cause alot of bad ALGAE you don't what that. If you have more questions just ask. If you live by the ocean you can use ocean water as long as you get it from waist high water don't get foam and make sure you have a big enough protein skimmer tht very key.
 
mikehaha

mikehaha

Member
Thanks for the help! My Walmart is a Super Store. I will go in this morning. Where do those RO units go. Back of the tank? By water heater? And what RO unit would you suggest?
 
daytonaree

daytonaree

Member
you can buy an R.O. sysytem on the world famous website with auctions you can't say it on here for 100.00 for the whole system with the tank and facet. It may be easier to email me at Daytonanascarnut@cfl.rr.com under your sink is where they go.
 
xjayx

xjayx

Member
The RO machine at my walmart is in the back of the store next to their bottled drinking water.
If you ask them where the RO unit is, they might not know what that is but if you ask them where the water machine to refill gallon jugs is they might be able to help you...
I know a couple other grocery stores have drinking water machines out side of their stores.
I get my RO watter from an Albertsons for 30 cents a gallon.
If you're to far from one of those stores you could always order your own RO unit and in the long run, save your self a whole lot of money.
Look through the auction sites for a good unit. As long as it's an RO/DI, you should be fine and they usually have them for cheap.
Anyway,
RO units don't go in your tank, they get connected to your tap and when you run watter through them it filters the water.
Some can give you up to 50 to 100 gal a day of filtered water.
You just take that and mix in the salt and what not.
 
mikehaha

mikehaha

Member
Took your advice-went to Walmart, bought a couple of 7 gal jugs, and filled them up for $.33/gal (about $4 total for 14 gal). I made sure the water machine had a reverse osmosis filter. Anyway used the water to cure my live rock I just received in the mail. Thanks again.
 
jayc

jayc

Active Member
Is it real ro water or is it like drinking water. If it is I'm going to get me some. I'm getting ready to setup a 55gal and that would be cheaper than .48 a gallon at my LFS.
 
treystang

treystang

Member
Originally Posted by AtlFish
Im new to this and do not understand all the abriviations yet. what is RO water?
reverse osmosis
 
magoobear5

magoobear5

New Member
does the use of RO water really make a differance??? and how come Ive not heard of this before... I use tap water in my tank right now.. IS that really bad??
:notsure:
 
mike h.

mike h.

Member
I've had my 55g tank for one year. What i have been doing is keeping a 10g tank with the same gravity and temp as the 55g. i do 20% water change once a week, with the water from the 10g.
The water in 10g. has been running with a filter all week.. is this O.K.? NItrate 40, Nitite 0, ammonia 0.... :confused:
 
mikehaha

mikehaha

Member
I think the RO water at Walmart is just tap water that goes through a series of filters, just as an RO unit would if you installed one in your own home. I've heard several people talking about using this water. They said just to make sure it comes out of the machine.
 
daytonaree

daytonaree

Member
Originally Posted by magoobear5
does the use of RO water really make a differance??? and how come Ive not heard of this before... I use tap water in my tank right now.. IS that really bad??
:notsure:

Yes It really makes a differance. 90% of reef keepers use it. If your on well water you my get away with it but if your on city water you will more than likely have trouble because it has clorine like bleach that can hurt the fish and corals if not filtered out. Also the machine at wallmart does not have a D.I. filter on it which may lead to high phosphate levels in some cases causing bad algae problems down the road. we live close enough to the ocean now we are going to use ocean water. No more mixing
but we will still need R.O. for top offs.
 
philgmiami

philgmiami

Member
walmart super center here in tampa florida sells it for 25 cents a gallon
..they also have right next to the r/o machine these cool 5 gallon water jugs with a on and off valve for $6.. so when i first bought the jug and 5 gallons of water it cost me about $7.25.... no since i own the jug, it cost me $1.25 to fill up the 5 gallon jug.. thats 25 cents a gallon....my lfs here sell r/o freshwater for 79 cents a gallon...i goto wall-mart cause its only 25 cents a gallon and its open 24hrs a day, 7 days a week
... goooooooooooo wal-mart!!! :cheer: :cheer: :cheer:
 
jayc

jayc

Active Member
I went to walmart today and got my water. I didnt know they sold it there but I'm glad I know now because its alot cheaper than at my LFS.
 
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