Benefits of RO/DI

[lily]

So when I started my tank, I had a friend with a 75 gallon reef tank, and he had his own RO/DI water maker and he gave me RO/DI water for free . When he moved, he sold all his stuff (and I stupidly passed up on the RO/DI unit) and I started using tap water (with a water purifier of course). I don't know how I was being so stupid and not noticing it before, but It seems that when I started to use tap, I started to get an outbreak of cyanobacteria and diatoms. It seems to me now that it is quite possible that these two are directly related, right?? If so, where do you get your RO/DI water?

[Phixion]

I have my own system. You can get them for as cheap as $110 from airwaterice.com SpectraPure has an excellent sale right now and has a system for as low as $149. That's the best bang for buck as it included an important pressure meter as well as a dual inline TDS monitor.

 

Tap is bad because even when purified through a Brita or even that Tap water filter thing that Marine Depot sells, you're not clearing out ALL of the bad stuff like phosphates and nitrates, both of which surely contributed to your diatom and cyano outbreak. Never chance tap water, no matter how low the TDS is. Your best bet right now is either distilled water, or a Culligan machine at Wal-Mart or the supermarket if you can locate one. Be sure to FIRST find out how often the filters are changed (should be monthly) and how well it's maintained. of course all this is just temporary till you get your own RO/DI system. Good luck Lily!!

[rbrusletto]

Yup, as phixion said, definitely directly related.

 

 

Depending on the worthyness of your local wal-mart - the filtered water dispensed there is actually pretty good( my local walmart's numbers were very low, competitive with RO/DI), you might be able to buy your water there, if you're running a smaller tank and only require a couple gallons a week.

 

It came down to breaking out how much water I needed a week, and determining when a RO/DI unit was worthwhile to me, for the price, and considering filter/membrane replacements down the road. Once I got to needing ~25 gallons a week, not including top off water(i.e. solely water for water changes), it was pretty obvious RO/DI setup was the way to go... I did find that(iirc, and water prices a year or two ago), that unless I had a 75G system, the RO/DI setup wouldn't pay itself off in a year.

 

Got on a tangent there, but always useful information for anybody thinking about getting an RO/DI system.

 

Benefits: My setup, using float valves, I never have to fill any of my four tanks(My BC14 is plumbed into my 75G Sump, 20L is plumbed into 55G frag tank), RO/DI lines run straight to the sump, and top off whenever the water level goes lower than the float valve is set for. That being said you need to make sure you have a pressure solenoid on the RO/DI unit, so that when there is too much pressure on the clean side of the RO/DI unit, it stops the unfiltered water going INTO the RO/DI unit. I also have a 14G RO/DI water reservoir made out of a rubbermaid bin, added a float valve, and a bulkhead w/ 1" ball valve, so that I have RO/DI water for water changes whenever I need.

[coleman4545]

i get my water from the local safeway and it works great but like said above work out how much it cost you and see if its worth it to get a ro/di system, for me a 30second drive down the street and less then a dollar for all the water i need, it made no sence for me to get one considering it would take about 3 years to pay off that initial 150$