Reef Discussion

[VaultBoy]

I used to use tap water now I wont even use it for my freshwater tank.

Treating tap water by adding more chemicals to it may neutralise chlorine etc. but it doesnt remove anything..

The availability of cheap decent RO systems is great these days (PM me for a quote... :rolleyes ) and you wont ever look back once you get one. I wrote an article in the Wiki on here that gives you a bit of an insight as to why we use them and how they work but in short they will remove enerything except pure water, giving you a blank slate to mix with or top up with.

Basically a reef is a delicately balanced system and adding unknown quantities of unknown and variable chemical compounds through the tap water into a relatively small closed environment where a small amount of evaporation can quickly raise concentrations of the unknown chemicals can lead to nasty outcomes. Best case you will have alittle more algae to deal with (by addign more chemicals?), worst case you will lose $500 - $1000 or more in livestock not to mention the time you spent cycling, quarantining and acclimatising is wasted and needs to be started again... If you can be bothered...

 

[Kavi]

The waste water from the RO unit, can it be used for things like laundry? Is anyone doing it?

 

[VaultBoy]

You can drink it safely. It is clean water and probably tastes better than tap water because the carbon filter removes the chlorine it is just the mineral salts that are concentrated..... It can be used fo water your garden but may be to "hard" to wash your laundry?!? You might have to try it! I wouldnt use it to clean windows or to do your dishes as it will likely leave streaks...

 

[DavidS]

I've washed clothes with my RO/DI waste water before. No major issues that I noticed. I don't do it as often as I should, but I go through a fraction of the RO/DI I used to, so I'm not wasting quite as much as I was :p

 

[slin1977]

i.d rather be safe than sorry too but it was at the bottom of my priority list as far as things to buy lol, soon tho :)

There are many that top up and use tap water without dramas. No need to worry if you dechlorinate with a good product like Seachem Prime.

 

[MTG]

I would never touch tap water again even if I was desperate, I don't want to add the crap that's in treated tap water to my tank!!
Ro is great for drinking water I can't drink tap water now!!

 

[OSCAR85]

on the psi website it says
"separate DI system (simply turn the tap clockwise for RO/DI water and anti-clockwise for RO drinking water)" May be a silly question but why can you only drink the ro and not ro/di water?

i want one that has a spout that comes on kitchen bench into sink...

 

[saint]

i think its because the DI part is a resin and something in the resin is halmful for us to drink but i could be wrong

I have a nano so i dont need to make much so i have a tap connector on my rodi and just go outside and connect it to the tap :)

oh Vic w/subs i was getting around 25 TDS and i just moved to Pascoe Vale and here is 37 TDS, rodi 0TDS :cool:

 

[OSCAR85]

im in st kilda. no idea what it is.
Thinking of getting a rodi but it must be connected under sink and come out of a spout on sink bench. I might call psi filters and ask if the spout wil still allow rodi or just ro

 

[MTG]

im in st kilda. no idea what it is.
Thinking of getting a rodi but it must be connected under sink and come out of a spout on sink bench. I might call psi filters and ask if the spout wil still allow rodi or just ro

you can get the RODI unit that also has a RO bypass tap so you can drink RO water, RODI is not consumable by humans and will make you very sick

 

[OSCAR85]

you can get the RODI unit that also has a RO bypass tap so you can drink RO water, RODI is not consumable by humans and will make you very sick

ok well what about just ro water. is that good enough for reef? or is there noticeable difference with rodi?

 

[MTG]

My filter is only a ro filter I have a 5 stage unit works well

 

[daveH]

I also use my RODI to make beer. Makes a brilliant brew.

 

[independent reef salon]

The arguments against drinking RO / DI water centre around its being 'aggressive'. No, it will not taunt the can of coke in your fridge but may leach minerals from or through anything it comes into contact with. I'm unsure about this theory and suspect you would need to be on a strict diet of RO / DI water to realise a negative effect on your intestinal tract and general health.

There is also the opinion that long term ingestion can lead to mineral deficiencies. Again, this assumes that your only source of mineral uptake is drinking water.

 

[VaultBoy]

My filter is only a ro filter I have a 5 stage unit works well

Are you sure its only RO if its 5 stage? What are the 5 stages?

Should be Sediment filter, carbon filter and RO membrane if its only RO. Thats only 3 stages....

on the psi website it says
"separate DI system (simply turn the tap clockwise for RO/DI water and anti-clockwise for RO drinking water)" May be a silly question but why can you only drink the ro and not ro/di water?

i want one that has a spout that comes on kitchen bench into sink...

@MTG overstated the case a little here.... You can safely drink RODI water in the short term meaning you wont keel over and die from drinking it. There is nothing in the water left behind by the resin. The reason it is "dangerous" to drink is that over time it can leach chemicals from your body (mostly calcium and magnesium) causing mineral deficiencies. RODI water is so pure that it trys to absorb chemical from the surrounding environment to stabilise itself for example if you leave RODI water exposed to air it will absorb CO2 from the atmosphere turning quite acidic. It is also very corrosive and as such you should not allow the RODI Water to come into contact with any metals (except high quality stainless steel) before it enters your tank as it will absorb traces ot the metal and deposit them in your tank. (pardon the simpleton talk... there is a chemist somewhere turning in his grave :rolleyes)

The system I built for myself has 2 outlets one connected to a tap in my sink and the other has a tube about 10M long with a valve on the end and a hook that I can hang it on the side of my sump for top ups. The drinking water is only RO with a mineraliser post filter that adds minerals ( mostly calcium and mag) to the water as it travels through. The second outlet, the long tube, is connected through the DI resin bed.

There should be a significant difference between your RO and RODI water. RO should produce water with a TDS around 10 - 15 and DI should be 0. The DI resin absorbs everything the membrane cant reject.

 

[daveH]

Well explained VaultBoy!

 

[OSCAR85]

sorry if these are silly questions but i have to ask.

This is the unit i am interested in.
http://www.psifilters.com.au/di-reef-systems/433-reverse-osmosis-psi-020b-di-lw.html

Questions 1
there is a option for sink tap spout mount $50. It know you can switch from RO/DI to just RO for drinking but will RO/DI come out of the sink tap spout mount? or just RO water?

Question 2
How long would it take to fill a 10L bucket of water at the sink?

rates belowDe-ionization post filter, with 75 gallon/300 litres per day @50 psi, 110 GPD / 450 LPD @ 100 psi.
Thanks everyone.

 

[OSCAR85]

Are you sure its only RO if its 5 stage? What are the 5 stages?

Should be Sediment filter, carbon filter and RO membrane if its only RO. Thats only 3 stages....



@MTG overstated the case a little here.... You can safely drink RODI water in the short term meaning you wont keel over and die from drinking it. There is nothing in the water left behind by the resin. The reason it is "dangerous" to drink is that over time it can leach chemicals from your body (mostly calcium and magnesium) causing mineral deficiencies. RODI water is so pure that it trys to absorb chemical from the surrounding environment to stabilise itself for example if you leave RODI water exposed to air it will absorb CO2 from the atmosphere turning quite acidic. It is also very corrosive and as such you should not allow the RODI Water to come into contact with any metals (except high quality stainless steel) before it enters your tank as it will absorb traces ot the metal and deposit them in your tank. (pardon the simpleton talk... there is a chemist somewhere turning in his grave :rolleyes)

The system I built for myself has 2 outlets one connected to a tap in my sink and the other has a tube about 10M long with a valve on the end and a hook that I can hang it on the side of my sump for top ups. The drinking water is only RO with a mineraliser post filter that adds minerals ( mostly calcium and mag) to the water as it travels through. The second outlet, the long tube, is connected through the DI resin bed.

There should be a significant difference between your RO and RODI water. RO should produce water with a TDS around 10 - 15 and DI should be 0. The DI resin absorbs everything the membrane cant reject.

but if "over time it can leach chemicals from your body (mostly calcium and magnesium) causing mineral deficiencies"
wouldn't this do the same to corals and or fish?

 

[DavidS]

but if "over time it can leach chemicals from your body (mostly calcium and magnesium) causing mineral deficiencies"
wouldn't this do the same to corals and or fish?

Well, you don't exactly throw your fish into RO/DI (I hope).

You put that into a system full of all kinds of minerals (and tanks do suck up calcium and magnesium) already. RO/DI hits salt water and it has all of that stuff available - minus the stuff that you (hopefully) don't want in your system. Just think of the water as being very pure so it doesn't add anything else to system... which is exactly what you want because there isn't much else in tap water that you really want going into your system.

 

[VaultBoy]

Yeah. What he said...