question about water changes for future SW setup

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psariandras

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May 18, 2007
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i am a little confused about water changes.
1)I am curious how much and how often I should change the water if I have a 29g with LR and PS with sump/refugium with dsb. I only want a royal gramma, a small goby and a pistol shrimp.
2)Would 20% weekly water change be sufficent?
3)what is the most cost efficent method of obtaining water for changes? I don't have enough $ to buy a RO/DI unit and I don't understand the difference between using RO/DI or distilled water.
 

lotuskid

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Feb 2, 2007
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10 - 15% a week should be fine.

Try asking at your LFS, most sell RO water pretty cheap. Not sure about the difference but i think RO water is about 95% pure water with all the harmful stuff stripped out of it. Not sure how pure distilled water is.
 

tanker

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RO water is water that has passed through a filter leaving nothing but water behind.
DI water is pure water from steam.

And 10-15% weekly would be great. IMO more that enough.
 

Reefscape

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3).....I don't understand the difference between using RO/DI or distilled water.
The difference between RO water and Distilled is that RO water is passed through a series of membranes to produce somewhere in the regeion of 95% pure water. Distilled is where water is passed through chambers and copper pipe at temperature and the steam that is generated is condenced and the end product is distilled water. Purity wise, distilled is estimated at about the same as Ro water. However, the downside of distilled water is that all the elements are removed, for example, calcium, so its common for people who use distilled water to always have to buffer the calcium levels in their tank...
 

psariandras

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Is it better to use RO water than to use tap water and then add chemcials used to make it safe for the aquarium? The LFS told me that I could mix some product they sell with tap water then use it in the aquarium-is this true?
 

SigPiPup

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May 1, 2007
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Probably better to use RO water. Especially if the LFS is really pushing you to buy this chemical.

What is it that they are trying to sell to you?
 
Mar 29, 2007
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RO water is water that has passed through a filter leaving nothing but water behind.
DI water is pure water from steam.

And 10-15% weekly would be great. IMO more that enough.
Distilled water is not from streams, thats mineral water. Distilled water is pretty much liquidfied steam.....

My grocery store sells RO water at 49 cents a gallon and thats pretty average. Im saving up for an RO unit and i would suggest you do it to, calculate how much water you need for a year, then calculate the price of all that water, and then understand why i said about saving up for an RO unit.
 

tanker

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I said steam, not streams.
 

psariandras

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They wanted me to buy something like aquasafe made by tetra aqua.(it says "makes tap water safe for all fresh and marine fish-it is a water conditioner). If this stuff works as it says perhaps would be cheaper than buying RO water-not sure though. The local wal mart sells RO water for 1.49 per gallon and .33 per gallon refill. If the chemicals work they may be better,(even if it is slighty more $, b/c I won't have to make as many trips to town).

How much are RO filters?
I saw one tap water filter at the LFS for around $50, I think, and the filter for the unit was 30, that seems kinda steep if the filter has to be replaced often. I think it was an RO filter but I am not sure.
 

clown-lover

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May 26, 2007
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I found one on Ebay that does both the RO and DI for 99.00 but they charged 25.00 on shipping. Love the unit though. I went to ebay because everything else that was exactly the same thing locally was like 300 to 400 bucks.
 
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