I traded in my FW fish for salt (literally), but now I need water. My LFS is too far away to lug back 55gal, unless I want to buy 10 more 5gal containers.
I learned how RO/DI (reverse osmosis and deionization) works from Wet Web Media, all except for the most important details.
How can I tell if I need RO/DI filtration? My tap water reads about 10ppm each of nitrates and phosphates. What other tests should I do? Do I need a TDS meter? My local water quality report (municipal well water at zip 31768) is surprisingly uninformative...they don't even mention phosphates, nor do they indicate whether they use chlorine vs. chloramines. My Jungle QuickDip in the tap water reads about 300ppm total hardness, 100ppm total alkalinity, and 6.5pH.
Where should I buy an RO/DI unit? Some of the DI units look like tiny add-ons, while others are full-sized. Do I need a separate sediment filter, or can the carbon filter serve the same purpose? Do I need 2 carbon filters? Do any of you have recommendations?
Airwaterice.com 5-stage Typhoon $150
Melevsreef.com 5-stage $170
Aquatictech.com 4-stage 4-stage $161
Drsfostersmith.com 4-stage $165
Thefilterguys.biz 5-stage $135
P.S. My goal is a FOWLR tank...no interest in corals.
I learned how RO/DI (reverse osmosis and deionization) works from Wet Web Media, all except for the most important details.
How can I tell if I need RO/DI filtration? My tap water reads about 10ppm each of nitrates and phosphates. What other tests should I do? Do I need a TDS meter? My local water quality report (municipal well water at zip 31768) is surprisingly uninformative...they don't even mention phosphates, nor do they indicate whether they use chlorine vs. chloramines. My Jungle QuickDip in the tap water reads about 300ppm total hardness, 100ppm total alkalinity, and 6.5pH.
Where should I buy an RO/DI unit? Some of the DI units look like tiny add-ons, while others are full-sized. Do I need a separate sediment filter, or can the carbon filter serve the same purpose? Do I need 2 carbon filters? Do any of you have recommendations?
Airwaterice.com 5-stage Typhoon $150
Melevsreef.com 5-stage $170
Aquatictech.com 4-stage 4-stage $161
Drsfostersmith.com 4-stage $165
Thefilterguys.biz 5-stage $135
P.S. My goal is a FOWLR tank...no interest in corals.
Last edited: