[jlh4674]

Hello everyone,

I have been running freshwater tanks for about 3 years now with great success and have now finally decided to try saltwater. One major question I have is why RO/DI especially for a fish only aquarium, or for that matter why RO/DI at all? I see many additives that claim to make tapwater ok.

I undersztand RO/DI is a necessity after reading many threads in this forum, I just dont understand what headaches tap would do me or the fish in the long run. If anyone can please explaun and shut me up once and for all, please do!

Jenna

[Reefland]

Hi jlh4674, Welcome to Reefland!

Some tap water is ok, it really depends on the amount of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) that is contains. Most water from the tap is better suited to be ran through DI or better yet, RO/DI to remove these impurities. The problem these impurities most often cause if a build up that allows growth us nusiance algae.

As an example, our tap water has a TDS of about 200 however after running it through our unit we get 0-10 depending on the age of our RO/DI cartridges. Using the most pure water is a good idea to eliminate the excess impurities, especially wince we're challenged enough in eliminating others such as Nitrate.

[kevinpo]

Hi Jenna,
Welcome to Reefland

Water is quite different depending on the location. Here in the Spokane area I have measured the TDS (total dissolved solids) in the water to range from 67ppm - 385ppm. Since we don't know what these particles are it's not recommended to put them in your tank. The purpose of most water conditioners is to remove chlorine and chloramines that have been added to the water by the water company.

In most cases you can fill your tank with tap water and use a water conditioner and everything will be fine. Over the next 18-24 months however as you add replacement water for evaporation you will concentrate the TDS in your tank. The amount of TDS in the beginning water plus the amount of evaporation you experience is highly dependent on where you live and how your tank is set up. For example if you live in the South where it is humid, you have glass covers on your tank, and very low TDS, you would experience very low evaporation (maybe a cup or 2 a day) verses someone with high TDS, open top tank and sump, who lives the Southwest where it is very dry. On the same size tank they might evaporate 2 gallons a day. Over a year they would add 700+ gallons of tap water.

Since only the pure water evaporates and all the solids are left in the tank the concentrations can become toxic or cause algae blooms. Things like lead, iron, zinc, phosphates, nitrates, silicates, calcium, etc. are commonly found in tap water. There are drinking water standards that water companies have to maintain and monitor (private wells do not) but these are for humans not fish tanks. Also what levels might be fine from the tap could be 100's or even 1000's of times higher by the end of a couple of years. We just don't know. For the price of the test kits or the cost to have a lab analyze your water you can just get a RO/DI unit (about $200). You can also tap off the RO membrane and have clean water for you to drink

So the answer to your question is you could be one of the lucky few who have fantastic water and could do OK for 5 or more years. There are fish that survive in polluted parts of the ocean too. IMO it is our responsibility to provide the best environment we can for animals in our care. Most saltwater fish have lifespans from 15-50 years and are able to identify their owners and food containers from about 6' from the tank.

Regards,
Kevin

[middlemark]

Hi Jenna, glad to have you here!

It's hard to add much to that excellent advice.

I've only run my reefs with RO or RO/DI, so really I can't comment that much about what things would be like without.

I do know that tap might add any number of things that increase nutrient levels or fuel algae. And have found that controlling algae/nutrients is one of the major things I'm constantly paying attention to. Given that, I'd recommend going for the `best water' you can get - as it just might save you headaches down the road.

Compared to the price of a skimmer, lighting [heck, even bulb replacement!] or a year's salt-mix bill ... IMO a RO or RO/DI is fairly cheap in the whole realm of things.

Do consider what uses you can find for the wastewater. Garden-watering, laundry ... you do generate a fair bit of wastewater with RO and if you can use that water - makes the question even easier to solve IMO.

Good luck, hope to see you around here

[jlh4674]

Hey everyone,

Thanks a bunch, everything said made a ton of sense, and after doing a lot more research on this forum I found out that many inverts and corals need pristine water conditions. I want to make my journey into saltwater an enjoyable and successful one so I checked out your sponsors and found a great deal at premium aquatics for a RO/DI, so I will taking your guys advice. I was wondering, can you also drink from both RO and DI?

[jlh4674]

Im sorry, I almost forgot.

I am also looking onto a UV sterilizer, with this kill my beneficial bacteria also? Is this also a necessity?

Thank you

[Reefland]

Definitely not needed, good quarintine practices are better.

[kevinpo]

It is not recommended to drink DI water. You can drink RO water. You can place a T in the line that goes between the RO membrane and the DI cartridge. The tubing used on the unit is the same as that used on icemakers and can be purchased at your local hardware store. You will also need to purchase a 6 gal (or so) water holding tank so you don't have to wait 5 min. for a glass of water You will also need a check valve in the line that runs to the small holding tank. If you have a refrigerator that has an icemaker and water dispenser you can plumb directly from the holding tank to it.

HTH,
Kevin

[The R/C Man]

Just a quick mention about drinking DI water. Since the water is almost completely pure your body's cells will absorb it like a sponge. According to my biology professor the cells will eventually swell to the piont of rupture. This is bad bad bad! So make sure you don't drink it.....

Keep doing research and your new tank set up should go almost trouble free. Good Luck!

[Samper]

My dad who is a doctor says he doesn't believe this is completely true RC man. In massive doses yes your cells could rupture however there would be warning signs long before this would happen. Your body would swell and you would feel almost as if you were drunk.... I'm talking gallons consumed here. I think Rocky would back me up here since he and his family drink it all the time. There is nothing in the water but this doesn't mean you can't drink it. If you drank only DI water and never ate anything then this could be very bad for your body in massive doses however any normal person that has a normal diet will still receive what he/she needs. If your body is healthy it will balance and compensate for anything it is lacking through other sources such as food. You couldn't drink as much DI water as you could regular tap water but on any water there is a limit to the amount you can consume.
He went on to mention Osmo...something and pka measurements....I didn't really catch all that but he made sense.

[The R/C Man]

Wow dude! I just don't want people to drink something that can be potentialy be bad for for them. The best way to do that is give them a worst case senario..... It will stick in their minds better that way....

Good info though......

[Samper]

It was a subject I was interested in anyway because I was sick of buying bottled water all the time.

[WHOSYOURDADDY]

This is what I found out the hard way - if your in the US and using tap water source it is ok for freashwater but when it comes to more complex satwater and even more so if you want to enjoy inverts is that RO/DI is the onlky way to go.

Public water systems today add too many chemicals that are completely incompatible - for years I wondered why I was losing inverts then came the answer I invested in a good 5 stage RO/DI system and have not lost any fish or inverts since. To me proff is in the pudding - defenitely invest in a good quality RO system from what I understand DI is optional

[WHOSYOURDADDY]

Originally Posted by Samper

My dad who is a doctor says he doesn't believe this is completely true RC man. In massive doses yes your cells could rupture however there would be warning signs long before this would happen. Your body would swell and you would feel almost as if you were drunk.... I'm talking gallons consumed here. I think Rocky would back me up here since he and his family drink it all the time. There is nothing in the water but this doesn't mean you can't drink it. If you drank only DI water and never ate anything then this could be very bad for your body in massive doses however any normal person that has a normal diet will still receive what he/she needs. If your body is healthy it will balance and compensate for anything it is lacking through other sources such as food. You couldn't drink as much DI water as you could regular tap water but on any water there is a limit to the amount you can consume.
He went on to mention Osmo...something and pka measurements....I didn't really catch all that but he made sense.

I installed a RO/DI system into my refrig for Ice making and water despensing - after a year no one in the family has noticed any side effects matter of fact they say they feel better.

[az95833]

Ive used RO/DI water on a recent water change and had a huge algae outbreak.
PH dropped,KH fell,as well as my CALCIUM.I'm going back to tap . I worked at a lfs for a couple years and all we used was tap and had some of the nicest reef tanks i've ever seen,including ones online.Not to say RO/DI is bad i'm just putting my 2 cent's.
Maybe we have good water here in Sacramento,Ca.

[The R/C Man]

You have to remember the whole and long term picture. Any excess contaminents that you add into your closed ecosystem will eventially build up over time and could possibly cause a crash. There are traces of copper, zink and arsenic (to name a few) in tap water. The idea is to eliminate potential problems before they occur. RO/DI is just one good example of this.......

[The R/C Man]

Oh, "they" say that the water quality in our little glass boxes despite our excellent filtration systems pals in comparison to natural sea water..... Just something to ponder over.....

[az95833]

Originally Posted by The R/C Man

You have to remember the whole and long term picture. Any excess contaminents that you add into your closed ecosystem will eventially build up over time and could possibly cause a crash. There are traces of copper, zink and arsenic (to name a few) in tap water. The idea is to eliminate potential problems before they occur. RO/DI is just one good example of this.......

So do you think I should give it another try and test ?

[The R/C Man]

What kind of salt are you using?

[az95833]

Originally Posted by The R/C Man

What kind of salt are you using?

reef crystals