View Full Version : R/O additives?
cich-o
12-05-2002, 9:56 PM
What do you guys use when mixing water using R/O? I was combining a little tap water to add KH but I would like to use R/O exclusively as I am on a well derived system and the water is just crappy.
SpongeBob
12-05-2002, 11:54 PM
If you are using RO, why introduce tap water? Use your RO for everything. Adding tap adds traces of everything you don't want... and the reason you are using RO in the first place.
quantim0
12-06-2002, 12:32 AM
because you're mixing salt water you're adding all of the minerals into the water that you really need by way of the salt mix. there are some additives that come in powder form. but i really don't think that you're going to need something like that. at work we take the RO then just mix the salt into it and we've never had any problems. hope that helped.
cich-o
12-06-2002, 12:35 AM
So does the salt mix contain everything needed to provide increased pH and alkalinity? I thought from reading a bag of salt that it did, but I was told that ph and buffering capacity had to be supplemented.
It depends. If you mix up RO or RO/DI water with your salt, aerate it for about a day, and get low pH and/or alk readings, you can use products like Kent Marine's 'Superbuffer dKH' or Seachem's 'Reef Buffer'. Both products will increase both pH and alk. Of course, that just two of many products out there...lots of different ways to go about this.
I used the Kent product for a while...until I bought a Salifert test kit and figured out that my old one (Hagen) was giving me false low alk results. After mixing and aerating, my salt water comes out with KH at about 10 and a pH of 8.1
cich-o
12-06-2002, 11:09 PM
Ok guys I am lazy,or maybe I just want expert advice from such experts as yourselves, how about a "here's what you should do" kinda thing. I am using R/O only, not RO/DI. Kent has always been a favorite for me from my African days. Here I am with a 5 gal. jug of R/O, what should I do to it before adding it to my tank? God I am so lazy! Hey I really appreciate your help and paience!
BrianH
12-07-2002, 12:33 AM
Are you looking to treat water for a water change or for top off? The salt mix should work for a water change . I add kent super buffer to my RO/DI for top offs. This raises the pH to 8.3.
Brian
scottdwh
12-07-2002, 12:37 PM
Whats the big difference between RO and RO/DI water. I know one is deionized but what does that mean?
RO = Reverse Osmosis water
RO/DI = Reverse Osmosis/Deionized water
RO filters remove approximately 93-95% of contaminants while the RO/DI filters remove up to 99% of contaminants.