LFS water listed as DI not RO/DI....is this ok?

[Austin]

Hello homeboys and homegirls.

 

Sooooooo...I buy my water premixed from the LFS w/ Reef Crystals. Been doing this for a couple years and have had no issues with water quality or salinity or whatever.

 

THEN yesterday I test my tank (which I haven't done in whups like a month) and suprise nitrates are hovering between 20-40ppm. All other params are rock n roll: ammonia/nitrites/phosphate, etc ALL at 0.

 

Additionally, my green shrooms are turning brown and my lobo is looking weird and pale. But my euphyllia is growing in EPIC WIN proportions.

 

I started buy my waters from a closer LFS who lists his water as DI -- not RO/DI...does this mean anything, perhaps, that the water is only deionized and not reverse-osmosiseded? If SO, could this be a source of nitrates or other coral unhappiness ingredients?

 

Of course I will ask the LFS next time I'm there but I wanted a quick opinion from all y'all in the meantime.

 

Thanks in advance.

[mmelnick]

usually the DI stage comes after the RO I think (in a RO/DI unit). But 0 TDS water is the goal wither way.

 

There are RO only and DI only systems, so you might want to ask, and ask what TDS that water is. I would personally not trust most LFS's.

[Blue Fin]

In theory, the resins in a deionizer should remove all nitrates from the water that is being pushed through it. Those resins attract, via an opposite charge, the nitrate ions, taking them out of the water. However, if the resins in the DI unit at the LFS are "saturated," or used up, then that unit will produce water with a lot of nitrates left in it (depending, of course, on the amount of nitrates in the original source water). This process of the resins not effectively attracting nitrate ions and becoming useless happens rather quickly. Ask the LFS if they mind if you test their water for nitrates (bring your own test) and ask them about how they know when their resins are due for a recharge or change; their answer will tell you a lot.

 

I'm sure others on here with more experience will be able to help you further.

[AZDesertRat]

Its pretty rare to find deionization without some form of pretreatment, usually reverse osmosis. Unless the raw water is almost pristine DI resins do not last long if they are making any quantity at all.

A TDS meter will tell.

[Austin]

mmm hmmm mmmm hmmm yes I see....all good info here. Thanks all.

 

That's one thing I will do tonite is test the water right out of the container for nitrates...I guess I should do that first before accusing my LFSs of supplying me with dir-tay waters.

 

AZDesertRat - I had heard the same thing you say - it is not common for water to be just DI, i.e. no pretreatment before entering the DI section of the filter thing. RO only is more common methinks?

 

I'll play Sherlock for a bit to see where these mysterious nitrates are coming from. We live in a condo and my fish tank crap is taking up so much space - I fear my special lady will object to me adding my fantasy RO-DI unit which would (combined with TDS meter) ensure optimum water quality. HEY WAIT A MINUTE I MAKE THE RULES NOT HER SPECTRAPURE RODI UNIT HERE I COME.

[Blue Fin]

lolz

[AZDesertRat]

I was able to justify my first RO/DI purchase by adding the drinking water kit and eliminating a zillion plastic water bottles in the trash or recycling can. Savings on bottled water alone more than paid for that unit in a matter of months. I still use RO only for drinking water, ice maker and pet watering and the RO/DI for the aquariums.

[Austin]

Ooh, that's a good idea actually. Probably much more effective than the brita thing which keeps coming off the faucet and sprays water everywhere.

 

Time to browse other posts to find out the best RODI filter. Thanks dudes!

[AZDesertRat]

The best is easily Spectrapure. Here is a current sale ad.

 

http://www.spectrapure.com/email/customer-...eciation.html#1

 

You could get the CSP-DI and add a drinking water kit and have the best of both worlds.

 

Another good choice would be the Reef/Residential from www.buckeyefieldsupply.com .

[Blue Fin]

Austin, I'm curious, did you end up testing the LFS water for nitrates?

[Austin]

Yes I did - water from LFS (both the fresh and salt) was 0 nitrates/nitrites/ammonia/phospates - all params are right on, so I guess I can only blame myself not the LFS.

 

I'm currently running CP elite and filter floss - I had purigen in there but removed it for a while because it just seemed like "too much" filtration...I did a partial WC, replaced filter floss, and next week I may reintroduce the purigen if nitrates don't start coming down.

 

It's weird - I've never had a problem with bad water chemistry in the 2.5 years that my tank has been up - I guess my luck has run out.

[Zeadon]

I was able to justify my first RO/DI purchase by adding the drinking water kit and eliminating a zillion plastic water bottles in the trash or recycling can. Savings on bottled water alone more than paid for that unit in a matter of months. I still use RO only for drinking water, ice maker and pet watering and the RO/DI for the aquariums.

 

i researched on the internet and found that ro water for drinking is not as beneficial for you as it sounds, but just to stress its not BAD for you either, but some of the goodness is taken out. because your body needs some of the minerals and dissolved solids that the ro takes out. so for drinking i decided to go with brita filter, dunno if u have them in the US but its the standard jug filters. they take out alot of the crap but they leave in a good amount in there for your body.

 

i guess it all depends, if ur water supply is really really bad then an ro should still be a good improvement.

 

anyhow its just what i read online and thought id share.

 

Zeadon

[wombat]

Its pretty rare to find deionization without some form of pretreatment, usually reverse osmosis. Unless the raw water is almost pristine DI resins do not last long if they are making any quantity at all.

A TDS meter will tell.

 

Maybe for hobbyists who need a few tens of gallons a week. Most large scale DI units do not use an RO prefilter--it wastes way too much water and is too slow.