How do I know if I need and RO or and RODI

[ajm-vfr]

Hi All;

I have all my pluming done, and now I'm thinking about the water for my tank. The first fill is just going to be tap water. I'll age it to get the chlorine out. I tested the water for phosphate and found none.

My last tank was just tap water, but that was many years ago, different house, but same water supplier. Never had a problem I could relate to water. most of the problems with that tank was cheap equipment, and to be honest, lack of information. Other than I couple of books and magazines there where no good sources. No clubs that I knew about, and no internet.

I want to get and RO or an RODI, but I'm not sure if and RO by itself is enough, or will I need and RODI.

Can someone give me some advise, or tell me what to look for to figure out if I require and RODI, or and RO would be good enough.

Thanks

[chadfarmer]

the easiest thing to do is find the tds of you water

[ajm-vfr]

Originally posted by chadfarmer
the easiest thing to do is find the tds of you water

Forgive my ignorance, but what is TDS, and how do I find it?

Thanks

[masson]

tds meter :)

[ajm-vfr]

I just found a thread talking about tds meters

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=613671 (http://)

[ajm-vfr]

ok, I did a bunch of reading last night about tds meters, but I'm still confused. I still don't understand how to determine when you need to use an RO vs an RODI.

[orlenz]

you want your tds to be at or near zero, test your tap water if it is not at or near zero tds, I would invest in a RODI unit, you can find them on ebay, mine was around $140 shippd to my door, I would start fresh with RODI water, I have used tap years ago also, but RODI water is only 25 cents a gallon in my area so i don't scrimp on the water.

[mikebon111]

I like R/O's just because you can install it under your sink and use it for drinking water also.Deionized water is purer but bad for your body. If the unit is going to be used strictly for your aquarium go with the RODI but if you want to use it for drinking go RO. I've used both and have not noticed an significant water quality difference.

[chevell]

Those RO/DI systems are split into two ...one for drinking water and the same line goes in reversed direction back to your DI unit as soon as your valve opens to top off your tank. The reservoir sits under your kitchen sink and that water is under slight pressure because of air pressure in the reservoir. When your auto top off needs water it takes it from there and that pressure pushes it though your di unit and into your tank. That assuming your using a pressurized system and not just an unpressurized holding tank. The DI resin is used to take out silicates and other harmful solids that can spawn the growth of undesired alge's. The water coming out of the DI unit will therefore have a much lower PH value than what comes out of the RO unit because of removed minerals. It seems complicated at first but once you install the system it's very obvious how it works. I'm using the Aqua FX barracuda 4 stage with the solinoid top off system and it's worked perfectly for over three years. I highly recommend that company's product but there are others that use a vacume switch method which may be a bit cheaper.TDS or "total dissolved solids" is a way to measure if the RO membrain is still working as it should and lets you know when to replace or reverse flush your RO membrain. The sediment cartridge and carbon cartridge should be replace every six months otherwise the clorine in your water will destroy your more expensive RO membrain which if reverse flushed occasionally can last for many years.

[masson]

Di is not bad for your body it just tastes horrible.

[ajm-vfr]

So the DI systems that have the drinking water tanks attached fill the tank before the water goes though the DI filter? Then there is an after DI that I can use for the tank?

Sorry for the question, but looking at pictures of these things without actually being able to trace the lines is confusing.

[mikebon111]

masson

Di is not bad for your body it just tastes horrible.

That is incorrect.
DI water is very bad for you. Water is natures solvent, it wants to dissolve almost everything IE calcium, magnesium,iron, many others. Deionizing water strips water of nearly everything so the water wants to dissolve again. Drink it and it will pull minerals out of your body.I work with big DI units that produce water for boilers so I know RO and DI fairly well. I'll dig through some of my General Electric Osmotics books and post more info if your interested

[masson]

Sorry but that is just a myth , there was a thread about it a while ago.

[mikebon111]

Not a myth. Water dissolves ca,mg and many others. Drink DI and it will dissolve minerals in your body. Just because there was a thread about it does not mean it was 100% correct. You can drink DI water but it is not good for you. If there was a thread that said drinking DI water is the same as drinking RO water it was wrong.

[dead beat reef]

T.D.S. total disolved solids used to measure water qualty.
Money well spent for salt water tanks RO/DI. Contact your
local water filter co. through the phone book. They should
test your for free. I did this and they tested my tap water
with their expensive tester. Tap water =265 filtered water
through my refrigerator newer filter ice/water=170 bottled
water from national co. 160. I payed 30 for a hand held pen
type tester and got the same test results. My RO/DI unit
tests at 001 to 003 You do not need clear plastic units as
only a tds meter is the only way to check if filter replacment
is needed. Your local water filter co. should be able to help
you with info. and parts or the internet.