APPROPRIATE NON-RO/DI WATER FOR TANK TOP-UP

[JerseyFireShrimp]

A lot of people use auto top off systems I just don't have the need for one. The fish I had is considered a dragonet but a lot of times they are labeled as a scooter, I don't recommend getting one to begin with cause they are sometimes difficult when it comes to keeping them fed. I started dosing trace elements and vitamins because I noticed my SPS colors were graying out due to a bit of carbon overuse but they are getting better since I've started. The lobster stays in his cave 90% of the day since he is nocturnal but they are reef safe as long as they stay well fed. The tank may be a little small for him right now since he is about 4 inches long but I plan to upgrade to a 55 gallon long tank in about 6-8 months. They are not known to eat corals which is a + and he seems to be careful about walking around my frags. They are scavengers but have tendancy to start hunting inverts and small fish due to lack of easy to find food so I'm making sure to drop some meaty food in front of his cave every day to avoid this.

Oh, so your cheating with the lobster. This is just his loft apartment in the city while he waits to move into a house in the country. I see. It would be great if you could get some video of him. I'd really like to see it. How long have you had him?

Once again, I'm sorry about your loss.

[CronicReefer]

Oh, so your cheating with the lobster. This is just his loft apartment in the city while he waits to move into a house in the country. I see. It would be great if you could get some video of him. I'd really like to see it. How long have you had him?

Once again, I'm sorry about your loss.

I could try and get some video but he spends 90% of his time in the cave during the day so this may take a while. There is a picture of him in my tank topic. I've only had him for two days now but he's eating well and keeping to himself.

[farkwar]

Re: Head spinning.

 

You can make water. If you make it, you need a place to store it.

 

Or buy water, delivered. Store in bought containers.

 

Even if you're quad from waist down, either of those are possible. With help. I was just offering plausible and possible solutions to getting that water to your tank.

 

 

 

Not many hobbyists buy boxed liquid salt water, so my examples really miss that factor. You factor that how you want. Seems expensive to me. When youre going to be buying distilled or making RODI(which you have to do for top off), you have the best water for mixing with salt. Kent Marine salt is $45 delivered from Drs F&S, if you buy something else for $5; for 200 gallons worth of very good salt mix.

 

My water tank is 50 gallons. Its RODI. I can drop one bag of Kents in, know that its pretty close to my tank salinity and temp. Mix, heat, and serve pretty quickly.

[farkwar]

Before I built my changing station.

 

My RODI filter was under bathroom sink.

Black tube stuck down drain.

Red tube to faucet diverter.

Blue tube into 5 gallon jug, in the sink, in case I overflowed.

 

Nothing fancy, definitely not a wife approved solution. I solved that problem years ago.

[Tamberav]

I have two tanks around 40 gallons. They go through about 1 gallon per day in evap and I change 4 gallons every 7 days. So for 1 tank, I would need at least 12 gallons per week.

 

Once you start getting into bigger tanks, I just don't see how it is practical to have someone else reliably bring you 12 jugs a week for the tanks life.

 

Plus emergencies do happen and you may find yourself needing to do a 50% WC STAT at some point.

 

I guess I am also confused as you say you are disabled but wouldn't 1g or 5g jugs be more difficult to deal with? There is zero lifting in a well set up RODI unit.

[JerseyFireShrimp]

I'm confused - on one hand you're talking about limiting expense, but on the other buying a premixed branded saltwater rather than mixing in-house. You're talking about physical access concerns and limitations, but somehow expecting on manipulating 5 gallon bottles (or 5 one gallon bottles) out of & in to a tank on a weekly basis. Do you have someone performing a "helping hands service" or am I simply dense and missing something? (either are an equal possibility).

 

Don't get me wrong - you're doing the right things in the right order, though - this hobby is MUCH more rewarding and manageable if basic questions are asked BEFORE starting. I do NOT mean to discourage you... far from it!

 

Farkwar's right - if lugging around jugs of water isn't practical/possible for you AND you're insistent on having this hobby, clever plumbing ahead of time is a game-changer. A few hoses or formed runs of rigid tubing and a spare pump + artfully concealed 1-5 gallon bucket can eliminate most heavy lifting.

 

Other ideas come to mind: (although you state you don't want one, for the size tank you're planning it pretty much becomes a must-have piece of hardware) a RODI set up in a laundry room/under a sink + a couple hours of a plumber's time to run a tap line from the output to somewhere near the tank. At $3-5 a week it's going to pay for itself (and filter changes) withing the first year or two, even if you only use it for top off.

 

EDIT: and just to answer your stated question - you COULD try something like a ZeroWater filter pitcher for your top-off needs, depending on the quality of the tap water in your region (i.e. no chloramine use, sub 75ppm TDS). I ran my tank completely off one for the first couple of years - it worked fine until I had a bloom of dinoflagelates/calothrix/SOMETHING and switched to distilled as part of the shotgun cure. I still use it for top-off from time to time when I don't have any distilled handy.

 

Oh, and welcome to Nano-Reef!

Hi. Thanks for the welcome. My exact situation is rather complicated and, frankly, I don't want to go into all of it right now. Cost is certainly a major consideration for me, but the logistics of being able to maintain a tank properly are my main priority.

I can manipulate 1-gallon jugs of water and will probably go that way for the tank top-offs. i live with my 87-year-old father. He's a bit feeble and half-blind from wet macular degeneration, but he can provide me with some physical help. I also have a neighbor who has offered to help me with stuff in the past, and may be willing to assist me with water changes.

I don't know if I would be able to set a RO/DI system up, even if I wanted to, due to where my tank would be positioned and where the nearest plumbing and sink is.

I appreciate your input and desire to help. I'm doing extensive research into every aspect of this endeavor, and want to have a solid, practical plan before I start. That's doubly important for me because of my physical limitations.

Ultimately, I'd like to find someone who is knowledgeable in this hobby and is willing to talk to me on the phone sometimes. It's less cumbersome than writing posts and waiting for answers.

Thanks again. Jeff

[JerseyFireShrimp]

Re: Head spinning.

 

You can make water. If you make it, you need a place to store it.

 

Or buy water, delivered. Store in bought containers.

 

Even if you're quad from waist down, either of those are possible. With help. I was just offering plausible and possible solutions to getting that water to your tank.

 

 

 

Not many hobbyists buy boxed liquid salt water, so my examples really miss that factor. You factor that how you want. Seems expensive to me. When youre going to be buying distilled or making RODI(which you have to do for top off), you have the best water for mixing with salt. Kent Marine salt is $45 delivered from Drs F&S, if you buy something else for $5; for 200 gallons worth of very good salt mix.

 

My water tank is 50 gallons. Its RODI. I can drop one bag of Kents in, know that its pretty close to my tank salinity and temp. Mix, heat, and serve pretty quickly.

Thanks. Head spinning a bit less now. I'll probably go with the gallon jugs of distilled water for the top-offs. The reason the Nutri-SeaWater is attractive to me is that it eliminates the buckets, hoses, marine salt, and mixing I'd have to do for water changes. That's big for me, despite the extra cost of buying it. I have a neighbor who would probably be willing to help me do the water changes, and my dad-even though he's 87 and has macular degeneration, is still capable of local driving and can go to our super market to get me the distilled water.

[JerseyFireShrimp]

I have two tanks around 40 gallons. They go through about 1 gallon per day in evap and I change 4 gallons every 7 days. So for 1 tank, I would need at least 12 gallons per week.

 

Once you start getting into bigger tanks, I just don't see how it is practical to have someone else reliably bring you 12 jugs a week for the tanks life.

 

Plus emergencies do happen and you may find yourself needing to do a 50% WC STAT at some point.

 

I guess I am also confused as you say you are disabled but wouldn't 1g or 5g jugs be more difficult to deal with? There is zero lifting in a well set up RODI unit.

I live with my 87-year-old father. He has macular degeneration, but is still able to drive locally. He can get me the gallon jugs of distilled water at our local super market. In addition, I have a neighbor that would probably be willing to help me with water changes. I'm going to have to do the least number of water changes I can get away with and still maintain proper water parameters. I won't be doing more than one water change every two weeks, hopefully. I know that many people do that without water quality problems. I'll have to configure my tank and its water to accept that. My tank won't be larger than 29 gallons. Thanks.

[JerseyFireShrimp]

Re: Head spinning.

 

You can make water. If you make it, you need a place to store it.

 

Or buy water, delivered. Store in bought containers.

 

Even if you're quad from waist down, either of those are possible. With help. I was just offering plausible and possible solutions to getting that water to your tank.

 

 

 

Not many hobbyists buy boxed liquid salt water, so my examples really miss that factor. You factor that how you want. Seems expensive to me. When youre going to be buying distilled or making RODI(which you have to do for top off), you have the best water for mixing with salt. Kent Marine salt is $45 delivered from Drs F&S, if you buy something else for $5; for 200 gallons worth of very good salt mix.

 

My water tank is 50 gallons. Its RODI. I can drop one bag of Kents in, know that its pretty close to my tank salinity and temp. Mix, heat, and serve pretty quickly.

I really like "Drs. F & S", and their "LiveAquaria,com" site. I'll probably get all of my livestock from them, since I have to get all of it on-line.

When you have a chance, could you please go through setting-up a water-change station again, step-by-step, for me? I'm still confused about exactly how that would work. Remember that I have no experience at all in this stuff yet. When you say that you have a 50 gal water tank. do you mean that you mix your seawater in that and then pump it into your display tank for your water change? I'm sorry if I'm being dense. Thanks.

 

 

[farkwar]

http://s1078.photobucket.com/user/RichardSperry/media/20140425_170124.jpg.html'>

 

RODI water goes in tank.

 

I have MJ900 in tank with 1/2" hose.

 

I pump water into 5 gallon jugs and mix change water and ATO water.