do you need a RO/DI??

Nope. Ro/di is the cheapest way to reduce reasonable quantities of water containing pollutants to simple H and 0 for your tank.
You can get ro water at a machine kiosk, but you are betting their filter has been changed often enough.
 
Re: do you need a RO/DI??

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11687302#post11687302 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dalejr31815
do you need that or can you use other methods but getting the same result

Where do you live and what are you going to put in your tank? Corals?
 
No. Chlorine isn't your problem. It's the nitrate, phosphate, copper, iron, arsenic and other interesting things that may be in your city water supply. Promise you: if there were a cheaper, faster way to do this I wouldn't take 12 hours every 2 weeks running ro/di water. ;) It's a pita, but you have to do it, or all that stuff goes into your tank---and while water evaporates, the crud never does. It just gets higher and deeper until even snails won't live in your water.
 
i live in Brunswick, GA... i'm going to put the tank in the livingroom where my FW tanks used to be. no corals just a fish only saltwater tank
 
the reason why i'm asking is because i looked up this SeaChem Prime for FW and SW and it said "It removes chlorine, chloramine and ammonia from tap water, and detoxifies nitrite and nitrate." would that be good
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11687388#post11687388 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dalejr31815
i live in Brunswick, GA... i'm going to put the tank in the livingroom where my FW tanks used to be. no corals just a fish only saltwater tank

With a fish only tank you may be OK, but I would still contact your local waterworks dept. and see what all they add to the treated water. You may get away with just a segment & chlorine filter.

I have know some people here where I live that has been using tap water for years in a fish only tank and had very good luck with it. But I would never try it in a reef tank.
 
well i mean i don't mind using the RO DI but my faucets are kindof wierd so.. i was wondering if i could use something else...
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11687431#post11687431 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dalejr31815
the reason why i'm asking is because i looked up this SeaChem Prime for FW and SW and it said "It removes chlorine, chloramine and ammonia from tap water, and detoxifies nitrite and nitrate." would that be good

I would still run it through a segment & chlorine filter. They are cheep.
 
I'm not too sure. There was a post here a few years ago about how many inches of fish you should not exceed per gal of water, however I don't remember.

Also just to let you know. Damsels are very territorial fish and will chase other fish that try to swim too close to there area's. Just a word of caution.
 
i don't have a problem with that water but the fact of buying 55 gallons worth and then 10-15 gallons every week... i'm not so fond of that idea
 
Owning and maintaining your very own RO/DI unit is the only sure way to get high quality water. Chemical treatments may remove chlorine but thats about it. Chlorine is actually the least of your worries, a simple carbon filter will take care of that and much more. Neither does anything for total dissolved solids (TDS) though which is your problem. Thats the job of the RO membrane.

I guess my question is, why would you want to subject fish to tap water any more than you would want to expose corals to tap water? They can both be sensitive as well as expensive. You will also find just like most of use here can attest to, once you get that firts fish, along comes another, then a nice piece of soft coral like mushrooms or zoanthids. Next it's that brightly colored piece of easy to keep digitata, which leads to a whole tank full or hard corals! Been there and done that for sure.

When buying water, stick with a Water & Ice type store with a live person on staff who can and will test the waters TDS or conductivity for you. Don't rely on machines whcih may or may not get regular maintenance or bottled water that may be remineralized to make it taste good.
 
RO/DI setup sounds like a no brainer. I'm looking to get a 120g reef ready tank. From my initial research looks like I'm well on my way to spending a couple grand to get into this. I've seen ro/di setups for 100 to 200 bucks. Question is why wouldnt you buy one? Check ebay, I saw one for 100 bucks that looked like it would do the job. Nothing elaborate but looked useful.
 
Don't go the e-bay route. As many here can tell you most of them do not perform as well and will end up costing more to make them work right. Don't let outward appearances fool you, they may all look the same but its what is inside that counts.
Expect to spend right at $150-$200 for a system that will work as advertised and which will last with no problems. Read through the e-bay ads and look for all the omissions like filter micron ratings, filter cartridge brand names and model numbers, chlorine adsorption capacity, RO membrane brand names and rejection rates, DI resin manufacturers and blends. When they fail to tell you who supplies it and what size it is that should raise a big RED FLAG in my book. Look at the vendors and sponsors here on RC and you will find all that information and more. Nothing is omitted or falsified and no false claims are made. Its definitely worth the $30 or so difference to get quality filters and components.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11687569#post11687569 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kattsue
the gallon drinking water. says its processed by RO.

I saw it posted before:
distilled water--90% dissolved substances removed
r/o water---95% removed
r/o/di water--100 per cent removed
 
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