Do you use RO water?

[Jeremy S]

125gJoe, how many stages do you have on your RO filter? Do you have any other tanks that you use your RO water on?

Aquarius0015, as long as your water isn’t below 7.0 it shouldn’t be a problem. We have copper pipes in our house and our pH was around 6.5 so we had to get a whole house buffer system that raises the pH of the water to about 7.1 before it enters the pipes in the house. The buffer system works by putting the flow of the water through a 5 ft tall cylinder that is filled with calcite and corosex. Calcite has calcium carbonate in it and corosex is magnesium oxide which neutralizes the free carbon dioxide in the water. Before we got this buffer system we had such high copper levels that I had to dilute the tap water with bottled water.

 

[tricksterpup]

Originally posted by 125gJoe
Link: Aqua FX

Joe, thanks for the link, I am going to have to look into this. I saw the 4 stage system with a 40 gallon holding tank. I am sure this would be of use when I start my reef tank and SW tank these coming up months.
Again, love those pics of your tank. Your fish are incredible.. wonder what they would taste like broiled with butter sauce.


jim

 

[Jeremy S]

Originally posted by tricksterpup
I am sure this would be of use when I start my reef tank and SW tank these coming up months.
jim

Hi tricksterpup, have you gone to www.reefcentral.com? It has some great SW Forums.

 

[Aquarius0015]

Thanks Jeremy S, maybe copper is not the problem. When I got my tap water tested at the LFS he said the pH was about 7.4. However, I read somewhere on this forum that tap water should be aged before being tested (I think) and this water was only about 2 hours old and also at room temperature, so maybe the reading was not as accurate as it could be.

I did not have the hardness tested, but I have noticed a whitish residue near the water line on my tank. It comes off pretty easily so I never really thought about it before. I suppose this means I have hard water. Another thing to have tested I guess.

 

[fishdude]

i dont use R/O water because a freind told me that the all the wast water had so much junk in it you couldnt realy use it for anything else, so you would lose alot of water

 

[Jeremy S]

Aquarius0015, I’ve never let my tap water age before and I get a perfectly accurate reading so your pH reading should be fine.

 

[125gJoe]

Originally posted by Jeremy S
125gJoe, how many stages do you have on your RO filter? Do you have any other tanks that you use your RO water on? ...

Mine is the 4 Stage Barracuda model at 50gpd.. We also use a mix of tap and R/O water in the 10 gallon Guppy tank. The saltwater MiniBow needs R/O water with salt (of course..)

Link: Barracuda Model

 

[125gJoe]

Originally posted by tricksterpup
..... I saw the 4 stage system with a 40 gallon holding tank. I am sure this would be of use when I start my reef tank and SW tank these coming up months.
Again, love those pics of your tank. jim

Thanks - not sure about the 'eating' part..
Too bad you can't stop by Aqua FX and see their company. They might also give you a discount in person...

 

[125gJoe]

Originally posted by fishdude
i dont use R/O water because a freind told me that the all the wast water had so much junk in it you couldnt realy use it for anything else, so you would lose alot of water

Yes, like I mentioned you do "lose water". But that's if you let it go down the drain. You can still water the hedges and lawn with it. Add some ferts while at it...
R/O water is not at all needed for most people. It depends a lot on what comes out of your tap, and what you are trying to keep.

 

[Jeremy S]

125gJoe, I have a couple more questions for you. About how much water do you make a week and how often do you have to replace your RO membrane and your DI Cartridge?