RODI System

[Guest]

Hello all! I will just be straight up and honest here, my saltwater tank uses tap water. now now, no need to yell at me, I know this isnt great, and now relize all the benifits of an RODI system, but I also realize the parts that arent so appealing. I am deffinitly investing in one, but what I really hate is the waste water, I know it has to have some way to get rid of the bad parts, but I am just concerned about how much water I would be wasting with one of these systems.

 

assuming you guys are able to talk me into it, I a still not gonna buy like a 1k system, or even anything close, so here are a couple I was thinking of, what are the pros/cons of these systems in your mind?

 

my first choice:

 

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/4-stage-value-ro-di-system-bulk-reef-supply.html

 

 

My second choice, it is a little buit cheaper but I dont know what I would be sacrificing in quality:

 

https://www.amazon.com/LiquaGen-5-Stage-Reverse-Osmosis-Deionization/dp/B01FNAPGPA/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=rodi+system&qid=1597765745&sr=8-6

[Gourami Swami]

How long has your tank been set up? What kind of animals do you keep, reef or fish-only?

If you keep only fish, you may be OK just sticking with the tap water. You can keep light low enough to not get too much nuisance algae from all the bad stuff in tap water.

If you keep a reef tank, I would say RO water is pretty much a necessity not a luxury. If your tank is new you may have not had a chance to experience the bad things that can come thru the sink. None of the RO units we commonly use in our small reefs are 1k, that I know of. The BRS system is a good one. I would recommend getting the highest GPD that you can. I have a 150gpd and 75gpd systems, and making water with the 75 takes hours and hours.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Gourami Swami said:

How long has your tank been set up? What kind of animals do you keep, reef or fish-only?

If you keep only fish, you may be OK just sticking with the tap water. You can keep light low enough to not get too much nuisance algae from all the bad stuff in tap water.

If you keep a reef tank, I would say RO water is pretty much a necessity not a luxury. If your tank is new you may have not had a chance to experience the bad things that can come thru the sink. None of the RO units we commonly use in our small reefs are 1k, that I know of. The BRS system is a good one. I would recommend getting the highest GPD that you can. I have a 150gpd and 75gpd systems, and making water with the 75 takes hours and hours.

Okay thanks! The tank is new so I definitely haven’t seen any of the affects of tap water, and currently I only have one clownfish, but planning on adding coral soon ish. Glad to hear the brs system should be okay, and I will definitely probably at least go for the 100 gpd system 🙂

[Clown79]

Brs or spectrapure 4 stage rodi are 2 good systems that don't cost 1k.

I got my spectrapure 90gpd 4 stage plus added an extra chamber for less than $300cda.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Clown79 said:

Brs or spectrapure 4 stage rodi are 2 good systems that don't cost 1k.

I got my spectrapure 90gpd 4 stage plus added an extra chamber for less than $300cda.

thanks! will deffinitly check those out 🙂

[Cyndrol]

Have you checked your water parameters? As long as nothing is off its fine using tap water. Still RO water will be better in the long run. Nitrates or Silicates are not such an issue in tap water. The bigger issue is stuff like copper.

Also no RODI system costs 1k. I have seen sets that cost 150 Dollars with filters and all you need. Its a one time investment.

[Clown79]

44 minutes ago, Cyndrol said:

Have you checked your water parameters? As long as nothing is off its fine using tap water. Still RO water will be better in the long run. Nitrates or Silicates are not such an issue in tap water. The bigger issue is stuff like copper.

Also no RODI system costs 1k. I have seen sets that cost 150 Dollars with filters and all you need. Its a one time investment.

Its not just silicates and nitrates thats an issue.

 

Tds levels in the water, copper, chlorine, chloramine, all the multitude of stuff that is now in our water.

 

Tap water quality changes all year long, there is pipe flushing, construction, run off issues, even weather. Just to name a few.

 

 

 

Thats why RODI and distilled is recommended for use as both are pure.

 

Tap- vast majority of us don't have the greatest water quality a few lucky ones do.

 

RO - one step above tap. Good for human consumption

 

Investing in an RODI or distilled when you spend so much money of livestock and the tank system, makes sense. The water quality is 1 of the most important aspects

 

 

 

[Guest]

54 minutes ago, Cyndrol said:

Have you checked your water parameters? As long as nothing is off its fine using tap water. Still RO water will be better in the long run. Nitrates or Silicates are not such an issue in tap water. The bigger issue is stuff like copper.

Also no RODI system costs 1k. I have seen sets that cost 150 Dollars with filters and all you need. Its a one time investment.

I have done tests for the basic things but nothing such as copper. I as just sorta exaggerating about the 1k thing..........

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

Its not just silicates and nitrates thats an issue.

 

Tds levels in the water, copper, chlorine, chloramine, all the multitude of stuff that is now in our water.

 

Tap water quality changes all year long, there is pipe flushing, construction, run off issues, even weather. Just to name a few.

 

 

 

Thats why RODI and distilled is recommended for use as both are pure.

 

Tap- vast majority of us don't have the greatest water quality a few lucky ones do.

 

RO - one step above tap. Good for human consumption

 

Investing in an RODI or distilled when you spend so much money of livestock and the tank system, makes sense. The water quality is 1 of the most important aspects

 

 

 

I haven tested for copper yet, but I do use sea chem prime for my water conditioner which is supposed to get rid of chlorine and chloramine. 
 

this is how the water system works in our city: 

 

snow runoff melts through rivers and such into the resivoir, they pump water from the resivoir into the treatment plant where they do heck knows what and bam water for us, so the original water quality was probably pretty good before the treatment plant part 

[ReefGuy77]

I used to buy RO/DI water from different fish stores in my area, you just need a few 5 gallon buckets. It's a good alternative if you aren't ready to take the plunge into getting your own system. 

 

Eventually I ended up buying the AquaFX Barracuda for about $200. It's very easy to install, it just needs to connect to a garden hose style attachment, so I ended up getting an attachment for a sink in my basement. I have tested the output with a TDS meter and it's been 0. Anyways, here are links to the things I mentioned if you want to check them out.

AquaFX Barracuda

Sink Garden Hose Adapter

[Clown79]

Most places have a filtration system but that doesn't remove everything. If it did, it would be pure water but its not.

 

A municipal testing report tells you alot but it changes. Even levels of chlorine/chloramine used will change from season to season.

 

none of us can determine 100% what is in our tap water.

 

 

That water then runs through numerous pipe lines to houses and businesses. Which then oftens runs through copper pipes as well as plastic ones.

 

So the end result is, if you want pure water with 0 tds, 0 chemicals you have to use distilled or RODI.

 

 

[Guest]

9 hours ago, ReefGuy77 said:

I used to buy RO/DI water from different fish stores in my area, you just need a few 5 gallon buckets. It's a good alternative if you aren't ready to take the plunge into getting your own system. 

 

Eventually I ended up buying the AquaFX Barracuda for about $200. It's very easy to install, it just needs to connect to a garden hose style attachment, so I ended up getting an attachment for a sink in my basement. I have tested the output with a TDS meter and it's been 0. Anyways, here are links to the things I mentioned if you want to check them out.

AquaFX Barracuda

Sink Garden Hose Adapter

Thanks! The water Idea sounds good, I just sorta have to check because 60 gallons of water and then 20 every week would be a lot...... plus 5 a week for the current set up

 

I will explain where al of these acualtions come from once I finish getting rid of the fish currently in my well..... 

[Guest]

8 hours ago, Clown79 said:

Most places have a filtration system but that doesn't remove everything. If it did, it would be pure water but its not.

 

A municipal testing report tells you alot but it changes. Even levels of chlorine/chloramine used will change from season to season.

 

none of us can determine 100% what is in our tap water.

 

 

That water then runs through numerous pipe lines to houses and businesses. Which then oftens runs through copper pipes as well as plastic ones.

 

So the end result is, if you want pure water with 0 tds, 0 chemicals you have to use distilled or RODI.

 

 

Thanks! I think the local pool store does like complete testing every few months so I will check with them and get a certain strength system based on those measurements.

[mcarroll]

On 8/19/2020 at 8:55 AM, FreshwaterFishMan said:

I haven tested for copper yet, but I do use sea chem prime for my water conditioner which is supposed to get rid of chlorine and chloramine. 
 

this is how the water system works in our city: 

 

snow runoff melts through rivers and such into the resivoir, they pump water from the resivoir into the treatment plant where they do heck knows what and bam water for us, so the original water quality was probably pretty good before the treatment plant part 

Some tap water is pretty good (ie extremely low in minerals or TDS) and could be used for your tank without problems.  True.

 

But...

 

The mystery in your case is what they do at the plant, and when they do it.  

 

There are realities of a municipal water supply that weigh on the process.  Chlorine is the minimum of what they will add....and really isn't so much of a problem on it's own.  (I've run freshwater tanks on tap water, and even did water changes without dechlorinating.)  

 

But that mystery...what else will they do?  Phosphates to seal a leaky pipe system?  Switch to chloramines for better economy?  That's just two of the possible mysteries....neither is good for your tank.

 

If you can talk to someone there (where I have lived they have always been surprisingly eager to talk to people about their concerns over their aquariums) they might enlighten you so it would be less of a mystery....just don't count on thinking tap water is still a good idea after you talk to them.  They might have the same advice you got here....too risky.

[DSA65PRO]

You may be able to justify the cost if you put a Storage Tank below your Kitchen Sink, a RO/DI Faucet and a Tap to your Refrigerator Ice Maker. You need to check your Water Pressure, if it’s below 60psi, you will also need a Pump, a Pump Strainer, Pressure Switch, and a loss of supply water, pressure switch. This depends on how your water tastes and smells. You should by the 2-1/2 gallons of water, drink it for Five to a Seven days, and then taste your Tap water. You may be surprised at how bad it is. BTW You can also tap off the Sediment and Charcoal Filter(s) if you don’t want the full RO/DI Water for drinking.