Alternative to RO?? Help!

[RockTheCasbah!]

Is it an absolute necessity to have an RO for your reef water? Are there any easier/lower cost alternatives? Does anyone out there use tap water with chem chlorine/chloramine removers and still have good results? We have good water and a water softener system installed. It was like pulling teeth to get my hubby to install the softener, I know he won't want to put in the RO. Please help!

[dattack]

Well you can always test your water for phosphates, nitrates, etc. and that will help you decide if RO is your only choice. I believe there is a website where you can check the quality of your water and what it really contains. I forgot though.

I haven't personally used tapwater myself other than for my freshwater fishes but I do go to my local supermarket and get the R/O water from the dispensing machine. It comes out to about 25 cents/gallon.

[Skipper]

Howdy, RockTheCasbah! Hip nick!!

Welcome to Reef Central!

A reverse osmosis unit is not absolutely necessary for a successful reef system. For years, I used a couple of Tap Water Purifiers in series, to make all my water. This is an inexpensive way to get some good water. I recently upgraded to a RO/DI unit to make things alot more convenient

[tyoberg]

For a smaller reef (say 70 gal or less), the Tap Water Purifier (I think it's called Tap Water Filter these days) is reasonably cheap.

The cartridges are about $19 each and they'll make 50-200 gallons of excellent quality water depending on how your tapwater is. I got about 50 gallons each.

By running 2 in series, you can get a lot more out of each cartridge.

Aquatic Reef Systems also makes a countertop equivalent product for about the same cost.

A lot of times, the LFS will sell water. And if you have a local public aquarium, they sometimes will as well (the seattle aquarium sells saltwater for a nickel a gallon)

Ty

[Agu]

To Reef Central


Depends on your source water, check it out here, www.waterdata.com or call your local utility and ask for a copy of the latest water tests.

Agu

[tyoberg]

Originally posted by RockTheCasbah!
Does anyone out there use tap water with chem chlorine/chloramine removers and still have good results? We have good water and a water softener system installed. It was like pulling teeth to get my hubby to install the softener, I know he won't want to put in the RO. Please help!

Some people do use water right out of the tap, but I recommend against that. It may work fine for a while (or be a disaster from day one), but your water supplier doesn't go door to door when they adjust things down at the plant. Several people here have done just that--"i've used tap water for 2 years without any algae and all of a sudden, my tank has 6" of hair algae!!! help!!!" Well, something changed alright, and now they got a healthy shot of silicates or phosphates or nitrates into their tank.

You get what you pay for. Good water is worth the price, whether distilled, RO, DI or a combination.

Ty

[Swords]

Tap water purifiers by Aq. Pharmecuticles are nice but Mine only lasted about 15 gallons because my apartment water is salt softened. It was not enough to even do one weekly water change on my 75 gallon! I kept the chamber but I'm not gonna use it again with their media. I just cleaned the used cartridge filed it wih charcoal and seachem phoszorb. I use it for water changes on my FW plant/killifish tanks but will probably just bite the bullet and buy an RO when I get everything else set up for the 75 gal reef. Kent has a nice looking unit that does 25 GPD with two chambers and a DI chamber for around $215 and hell I can use it for all my tanks...

[donut]

In the beginning, i tried everything, tap water purifier, distilled, tap, but nothing has made mine and my tanks life better than my RODI. Add on the drinking water kit, its worth it. It seems like alot of money at first but you will be rewarded in the long run.

[Carlos]

There is KOLD Steril which I think is cheaper, lasts longer, and there is no waste water. Not sure how efficient that is and how good of a filtration system it is but I have seen a few reefers using it.

Carlos