[Samper]

I'm just curious.........I keep a small carbon filter running on my 20 pretty much all the time. I change the carbon twice a month and the filter usually isn't too nasty. What I'm seeing lately is a little hair algae......not a lot but enough to make me wonder if I should just run the carbon for a week or so with fresh carbon then take it out, change the carbon and put it back in once a month for a week. I am running my pos skimmer full time and have about 45lbs of LR in a 20g do I need this extra filtration provided by the carbon? No Ro Di yet cause my budget this month wouldnt allow for me to buy it .

[Reefland]

Samper,

The Carbon isn't going to do anything to help reduce nutrients, only going to help with water clarity. If your running carbon, your better changing small portions of it weekly rather than the entire batch monthly.

As far as the hair algae appearing, you may be seeing it due to the increased light intensity or an increase in nutrients. Teh additional light you added may be helping the present nutrients to feed the algae or an increase in nutrients alone. Hate to say it but you've gotta find the source; tap water is a good starting point.

[Samper]

I get paid Wednesday and that's on my list. I really love this hobby but I need to find some guys locally who can help me out with equipment. Had I known what I was getting into I would have just planed for the next couple of years my setup and spent that time putting it together. Now I'm a reef junkie and there are no amount of classes that can fix the craving. I'm just gonna have to find a better way to get what I need.

[Reefland]

You can find Ro/DI units relatively cheap these days. They all do the same function, it's a matter of customer service when choosing a brand. Personally I have an AquaFX 4 stage unit that does a great job but I have read that others purchased nice units from e-bay for a more reasonable price.

Another option available is a simple Tap Water Purifier available from most any large pet store chain. They are inexpensive and effective however the resin has to be changed fairly often. It might be a worthwhile investment for you and your 20 gallon system.

[Samper]

I spoke with russ from buckeyefieldsupply for about 2 hours one night about Ro/Di. I really appreciated him taking the time to do that for me and like you said customer service is a must so I'm gonna order from him. Here is the setup I'm gonna go with.



Premium Series 75 gpd RO/DI System
> #161 $149.00 USD
> Hanna TDS1 meter
> #75 $27.00 USD
> 1/4 inch OD tubing, white
> #80 $0.45 USD
> 1/4 inch OD tubing, black
> #165 $0.45 USD
> 1/4 inch OD tubing, red
> #166 $0.45 USD
> DMFit check valve
> #112 $6.50 USD
> Automatic shutoff valve
> #117 $9.75 USD
> Self piercing needle valve, c-clamp
> #141 $8.00 USD
>
> Amount $201.60 USD

[Sueet]

Hmm.. Don't get me wrong here, you can order wherever you want, and yeah it's good of the guy to spend the time, but ... If you can get the same thing for half the price at one lfs, but the other lfs tells you how to use it blah blah, are you gonna buy it at the one that tells you? They are selling you something, so whatever is said should be taken into consideration with that fact in mind.

I just know that I spent less than $150, shipping included AND with spare other filter stuff, for a 100gpd unit WITH a storage tank, and also with some extra hookup items cuz I wasn't sure what all I needed.

Ok, I'm done butting in now... Hope I didn't offend you.

[Samper]

No you didn't offend me at all. If someone can show me a unit with the same features and someone selling it who can give me the customer service that I'm sure to need at some point then I'll gladly spend the money on them.