how to anylize h2o quality report

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2tooocs

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Jan 22, 2003
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I'm in the planning stage for a 150 gal. reef set-up. I plan on utilizing the jaubert/berlin filtration system using a 30 gal. sump w/ asm g3 skimmer. I am trying to decide if a ro/di unit is worth buying or if our local h2o is safe to use. What levels are acceptable for nitrites, total alkalinity, etc.? We live in Tahoe and some of our water comes from the lake(treated w/ chlorine & filtered thru diatameceous earth filter) and some is well h2o treated w/ chlorine only.
 
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Hello and Welcome,

First, it's good to see you are planning first. It will save you much time and money.

What you keep will determine how good your water quality needs to be.

The limit for nitrites is zero for reefs and fish.

Nitrate up to about 50 ppm is ok for some fish. Although they would do better with <20 ppm.

Much of the Alk level will come from mixing up salt water. So if your water has a low Alk, after you make it salt water, it will be in the good range.

The main thing you will want to test for is Phosphate. It is sometimes added to water to keep pipes from scaling and it is one of the major componets of fertilizer. Algae loves phosphate. If you look though these and other boards you will see that people with algae problems don't use RO/DI water. Test yours first, you may not need it.

Good luck and happy researching!
 
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