Questionable LFS and water

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I live in an area where the only LFS is an hour away. To get to any others would be +2 hours. I've been in and out of this store a couple of times, and while it's not the greatest and *some stuff is outrageously priced, I really wanted to give these guys my business whenever possible, so I purchased some live sand during my previous visit--it wasn't even what I wanted (they were out of Fiji pink), so I settled for Bimini. Now what I thought was odd was during this visit the one guy said to give them a call if I need them 'to come out and test my water'--okay whatever. I'm thinking, "are there people that still really rely on 'LFS home service' in the internet age?" Maybe he was just being friendly.

Anyway, I purchased some water today from this LFS, brought it home, waited for the kids to go to bed, and started filling my tank. For some reason I decided to double check the salinity. It was out of range on my hydrometer--both containers! I'm not really sure what to do. Should I try balancing it out with distilled? I understand it's not ideal, but I don't really have a better option. I'm questioning if they even gave me ro/di water or just salted some tap. I'm skeptical of people, what can I say? Regardless, I won't be getting any water from here again. I suppose it's my fault for not having them verify it for me there--is that common practice when buying water from a LFS? They just took my containers back, filled them up, and I was on my way. Here's the kicker, I actually have an ro/di unit and a bucket of Red Sea pro in my garage but won't be able to set the filter up for another week.:facepalm: I have cured live rock coming tomorrow, so I've got to come up with a solution stat. And I won't have time to get back to the LFS and have them 'fix it'.

A little about me: I'm a loong time lurker (ca. 2009). I've spent years dreaming and reading about marine aquariums (I've actually dreamed of having one since I was a little kid), but have never been able to commit due to financial/life reasons. Well, the time has finally come, and I've started to assemble some pretty decent hardware. And now I'm already frustrated (aggravated?), and my tank isn't even full of water yet :facepalm:

tl;dr: LFS has a monopoly, and might be shady (or I might just be over analyzing things. Or they might be a little shady). I bough water that tested outside the range of my hydrometer when I brought it home today. Should I even bother trying to balance out the salinity or just empty out what I started to put in there and mix my own water using distilled (my only other option at this point)? There is only water in the tank, no sand yet, so now is the perfect time to wipe the slate if I need to.
 
Have you used that hydrometer on a concentration of water you know? I ask because, hydrometers are known for giving very poor and inconsistent readings. I'd pick up a refractometer to be sure. ~$25 on Amazon.
 
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yeah I would check the accuracy of your testing device first. I know recently I have a friend who was having all her corals dying and not doing well. It turned out that both of her refractometers were both way off and her water was really at 1.016
 
how to make .000 water with your own tap water using a Zerowater filter. All you need is a 6 cup Zerowater pitcher, 2x5 gallon homedepot buckets, a table that can support 45lbs that you don't mind cutting a hole through, and a tube of aquarium sealant. It's great! I can walk out of my house for an hour and 10 minutes. Come back and never have to worry about it over flowing. Bam, 4 1/2 gallons of zero water. I can get up to 30 gallons easy till I have to change the filter. Which is a sinch. Take the guts of a 6 cup Zerowater pitcher out. Drill a hole through the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket the size a tiny bigger than the threading for the filter holder. Take aquarium sealant cover the bottom of the guts.place the threading part of the filter through the hole. Press it down. Use more sealant. So water will not leak out the bottom. Flip the bucket over. Seal that side for insurance. Screw the filter in. Drill hole in top of table for the filter to sit through. Slide table over to faucet. Slide 2nd 5 gallon under table. Pull hose out.Fill bucket ALMOST to the top. Slide bucket out. Add the required amount of salt and mix with a long plastic spoon that you cook with. I will post some pics. Give me a bit.
 
I drilled holes if you noticed in 4 spaces in the 6 cup guts. Better flow& more water

I drilled holes if you noticed in 4 spaces in the 6 cup guts. Better flow& more water

Beached said:
I live in an area where the only LFS is an hour away. To get to any others would be +2 hours. I've been in and out of this store a couple of times, and while it's not the greatest and *some stuff is outrageously priced, I really wanted to give these guys my business whenever possible, so I purchased some live sand during my previous visit--it wasn't even what I wanted (they were out of Fiji pink), so I settled for Bimini. Now what I thought was odd was during this visit the one guy said to give them a call if I need them 'to come out and test my water'--okay whatever. I'm thinking, "are there people that still really rely on 'LFS home service' in the internet age?" Maybe he was just being friendly.

Anyway, I purchased some water today from this LFS, brought it home, waited for the kids to go to bed, and started filling my tank. For some reason I decided to double check the salinity. It was out of range on my hydrometer--both containers! I'm not really sure what to do. Should I try balancing it out with distilled? I understand it's not ideal, but I don't really have a better option. I'm questioning if they even gave me ro/di water or just salted some tap. I'm skeptical of people, what can I say? Regardless, I won't be getting any water from here again. I suppose it's my fault for not having them verify it for me there--is that common practice when buying water from a LFS? They just took my containers back, filled them up, and I was on my way. Here's the kicker, I actually have an ro/di unit and a bucket of Red Sea pro in my garage but won't be able to set the filter up for another week.:facepalm: I have cured live rock coming tomorrow, so I've got to come up with a solution stat. And I won't have time to get back to the LFS and have them 'fix it'.

A little about me: I'm a loong time lurker (ca. 2009). I've spent years dreaming and reading about marine aquariums (I've actually dreamed of having one since I was a little kid), but have never been able to commit due to financial/life reasons. Well, the time has finally come, and I've started to assemble some pretty decent hardware. And now I'm already frustrated (aggravated?), and my tank isn't even full of water yet :facepalm:

tl;dr: LFS has a monopoly, and might be shady (or I might just be over analyzing things. Or they might be a little shady). I bough water that tested outside the range of my hydrometer when I brought it home today. Should I even bother trying to balance out the salinity or just empty out what I started to put in there and mix my own water using distilled (my only other option at this point)? There is only water in the tank, no sand yet, so now is the perfect time to wipe the slate if I need to.
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I'd make yourself a DIY calibration standard for your hydrometer. It's pretty easy to do, as this article shows you how.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-06/rhf/index.php

Just make sure you use the specific gravity standard since you're using a hydrometer.

If it turns out your water is too salty, I'd say for live rock storage, it would likely be okay to dilute it to the correct salinity with distilled water. Normally you wouldn't want to do this because if water gets too salty, some things will start to precipitate out and it throws off the chemistry. Not normally an issue unless you're going above the normal salinity range.

How large is your tank and how much water do you have that is questionable?
 
40B Knasty said:
how to make .000 water with your own tap water using a Zerowater filter. All you need is a 6 cup Zerowater pitcher, 2x5 gallon homedepot buckets, a table that can support 45lbs that you don't mind cutting a hole through, and a tube of aquarium sealant. It's great! I can walk out of my house for an hour and 10 minutes. Come back and never have to worry about it over flowing. Bam, 4 1/2 gallons of zero water. I can get up to 30 gallons easy till I have to change the filter. Which is a sinch. Take the guts of a 6 cup Zerowater pitcher out. Drill a hole through the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket the size a tiny bigger than the threading for the filter holder. Take aquarium sealant cover the bottom of the guts.place the threading part of the filter through the hole. Press it down. Use more sealant. So water will not leak out the bottom. Flip the bucket over. Seal that side for insurance. Screw the filter in. Drill hole in top of table for the filter to sit through. Slide table over to faucet. Slide 2nd 5 gallon under table. Pull hose out.Fill bucket ALMOST to the top. Slide bucket out. Add the required amount of salt and mix with a long plastic spoon that you cook with. I will post some pics. Give me a bit.
Click to expand...

I would most certainly not be trusting my thousands of dollars worth of livestock to a water pitcher filter that claims to be 0 TDS. I would bet my thousands of dollars worth of livestock that that pitcher of water still has chlorine/chloramines in it.
 
Also note that refractometers also need frequently calibrated. Although the general concencus is that a refractometer is better, many people have good luck using a hydrometer. I only recently switched from a hrdrometer to a refractometer after 3 years of reefing.

You can also try putting your hydrometer in tap or distilled water to see if it reads right at 0. This is not the ideal way to use it, but if you're using it incorrectly, it could read off. There's always a chance small bubbles are on the swing arm, which would give high readings.
 
homer1475 said:
I would most certainly not be trusting my thousands of dollars worth of livestock to a water pitcher filter that claims to be 0 TDS. I would bet my thousands of dollars worth of livestock that that pitcher of water still has chlorine/chloramines in it.
Click to expand...

Not to mention the cost of those filters for just 30 gallons of water each will add up quickly. An RODI unit would pay for itself in filter costs fairly quickly, and is even more convenient.

In an emergency, and without much livestock I may resort to something like this, but really not the best choice for an aquarium. Although the ads I've seen for the zerowater filter are convincing, It doesn't mean it's good for an aquarium.

I hate to knock a creative idea, but this method could cause some issues.
 
Okay.. The thread is for a quick solution. Not a peanut gallery of comments to what I do with my thousand dollars of live stock that I have had over a year that is healthy still and I have never used a chemical in my tank. Your RO/DI takes out impurities with a 5 stage filter right? Do you know it does not make your water 100% pure. Look it up know it alls. So it may cover chlorine or chloramine. Zerowater filters have a 5 stage filtering system. Imagine that! I gave him the two solutions to the chlorine and chloramine and how to have .000 water like your RO/DI system. I rent so I can not going drilling into my plumbing. He can't set his up. Don't give the what money can buy. Yeah we would have it if we could do it. BTW I had a 20 gallon tank. So a bucket filled with 4 1/2 gallons of water was perfect for weekly water changes. He didn't say how much water he had to fill.. Also if you had 100% pure water. You would die and most likely your fish would too. 100% pure water that is only Hydrogen and oxygen would attack your electrolytes. You would die! When you add salt. You water is no longer pure water also.
 
40B Knasty said:
Okay.. The thread is for a quick solution. Not a peanut gallery of comments to what I do with my thousand dollars of live stock that I have had over a year that is healthy still and I have never used a chemical in my tank. Your RO/DI takes out impurities with a 5 stage filter right? Do you know it does not make your water 100% pure. Look it up know it alls. So it may cover chlorine or chloramine. Zerowater filters have a 5 stage filtering system. Imagine that! I gave him the two solutions to the chlorine and chloramine and how to have .000 water like your RO/DI system. I rent so I can not going drilling into my plumbing. He can't set his up. Don't give the what money can buy. Yeah we would have it if we could do it. BTW I had a 20 gallon tank. So a bucket filled with 4 1/2 gallons of water was perfect for weekly water changes. He didn't say how much water he had to fill.. Also if you had 100% pure water. You would die and most likely your fish would too. 100% pure water that is only Hydrogen and oxygen would attack your electrolytes. You would die! When you add salt. You water is no longer pure water also.
Click to expand...

You seem to do a few things and mention them on these forums, that others would not, and respond very poorly to others commenting on that. Really need to check your attitude.
 
Beached said:
I live in an area where the only LFS is an hour away. To get to any others would be +2 hours. I've been in and out of this store a couple of times, and while it's not the greatest and *some stuff is outrageously priced, I really wanted to give these guys my business whenever possible, so I purchased some live sand during my previous visit--it wasn't even what I wanted (they were out of Fiji pink), so I settled for Bimini. Now what I thought was odd was during this visit the one guy said to give them a call if I need them 'to come out and test my water'--okay whatever. I'm thinking, "are there people that still really rely on 'LFS home service' in the internet age?" Maybe he was just being friendly.

Anyway, I purchased some water today from this LFS, brought it home, waited for the kids to go to bed, and started filling my tank. For some reason I decided to double check the salinity. It was out of range on my hydrometer--both containers! I'm not really sure what to do. Should I try balancing it out with distilled? I understand it's not ideal, but I don't really have a better option. I'm questioning if they even gave me ro/di water or just salted some tap. I'm skeptical of people, what can I say? Regardless, I won't be getting any water from here again. I suppose it's my fault for not having them verify it for me there--is that common practice when buying water from a LFS? They just took my containers back, filled them up, and I was on my way. Here's the kicker, I actually have an ro/di unit and a bucket of Red Sea pro in my garage but won't be able to set the filter up for another week.:facepalm: I have cured live rock coming tomorrow, so I've got to come up with a solution stat. And I won't have time to get back to the LFS and have them 'fix it'.

A little about me: I'm a loong time lurker (ca. 2009). I've spent years dreaming and reading about marine aquariums (I've actually dreamed of having one since I was a little kid), but have never been able to commit due to financial/life reasons. Well, the time has finally come, and I've started to assemble some pretty decent hardware. And now I'm already frustrated (aggravated?), and my tank isn't even full of water yet :facepalm:

tl;dr: LFS has a monopoly, and might be shady (or I might just be over analyzing things. Or they might be a little shady). I bough water that tested outside the range of my hydrometer when I brought it home today. Should I even bother trying to balance out the salinity or just empty out what I started to put in there and mix my own water using distilled (my only other option at this point)? There is only water in the tank, no sand yet, so now is the perfect time to wipe the slate if I need to.
Click to expand...

So out of range I assume you mean too high? Hygrometers tend to be inaccurate, but consistent. First need to know how far off the hygrometer is from perfect, then you can know what your salinity is at. I don't see any issue diluting the water to bring the salinity down, just buy a few gallons of distilled from your grocery store.
 
Who's said anything about drinking RO/DI? we all know RO/DI has 0 electrolytes that's why you don't drink it. Your zerowater pitcher if it was truly the same as RO/DI water as you claim it to be, would also "kill you" because as you state, "it has no electrolytes". Your contradicting yourself.

Water coming out of a properly maintained RO/DI unit is 99.9% pure, you add electrolytes and "stuff" back in when you add your salt mix.

Renting has nothing to do with using an RO/DI unit. You do not have to "drill" into anything to run one. They all come with an adapter that can screw into your sink faucet and the waste run into the sink drain while the unit sits on your counter while you make water.


AND I just read the zerowater website. They do not claim to eliminate chlorine or chloramines nor do they claim to make 0 TDS water. What they do claim is that their filter REDUCES said contaminates, not eliminate them like a properly maintained RO/DI unit does.

I hate to keep picking on you, but when your wrong, your wrong.
 
40B, Nobody's trying to attack you. We're just trying to give helpful advice to a fellow hobbiest to try to give the best chances of both short term and long term success with the hobby. I realize for very small tanks it's harder to justify an RODI, especially when you're renting. I did say in an emergency I may try your idea but just pointed out that it's not fool proof.

Yes, RODI doesn't take out 100% of impurities, it's typically loser to 95-98%. Then there's a DI stage after that that takes out the rest. Besides, the RO membrane doesn't take out chlorine or chloramine. Those are taken out by the carbon upstream of the membrane.

I did ask how much water he had to fill, but OP hasn't responded yet. The volume of water would indicate whether the solution would be for a lot of water, or only for a small amount. Either way, the OP seemed to want to be sure that the water was as good as he could reasonably get to start his new tank. IMO zerowater is not that.

You would not die from drinking deionized water, surprisingly enough. I do it all the time and am still alive and kicking. It's not killed my fish after 3 years either, which are thriving by the way. You want to start with pure water with no impurities before you add your salt so that the mix only contains the components of the salt. Impurities from the water source often cause problems in the aquarium, anywhere from algae to dying fish or coral.
 
Check my attitude? I was giving him a solution. A fast one. That 100% works. So when someone says"I can't plumb it into my system." That means he has to plumb it into his system. You guys could have just said find an adapter for your RO/DI system. Then you can use it. I do not have an RO/DI system. So I do not know to much about it but it does not give you 100% pure water. Just like the Zerowaer filter. Am I right or am I right? What I do is what I do. So check your attitude towards the question. Not sit here and say it doesn't work and blah blah about what the majority of people that can do it or have the money to go buy an RO/DI system. .000 is what I get on the same TDS meter you use.. So there is my point and solution to his situation. So how is a person wrong for saying there is .000 if the test show the same as your RO/DI system? BTW.. How do you know it doesn't work? I usually trust a person that has experience. What is yours with one .000! Hahaha
 
40B Knasty said:
I do not have an RO/DI system. So I do not know to much about it but it does not give you 100% pure water. Just like the Zerowaer filter. Am I right or am I right?
Click to expand...

Well, you're not right. Funny how you don't have an RODI, and admit to not knowing much about them, yet you also seem to think you're an expert at the same time. I think the zerowater marketing has gotten to you.

OP, I hope you got some useful info and have success getting your questionable saltwater figured out. Also, hope you stick with reef central as it's got some great resources that can really help someone getting started in the hobby. I'm sorry your thread has turned into arguing over basically a britta filter. Your live rock will hold up to some varying salinity, better than fish or coral would, so as long as you're closeish for now, you should be okay. Again, try the DIY calibration fluid. It's pretty easy to do, and will give you some confidence in your hydrometer.
 
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