mapleredta
Reef addict
Does any one here use well water? I know almost everyone use's a ro/di unit. Im just wanting to know if its possible.
Well water
- Thread starter mapleredta
- Start date
NightShade00013
New member
I used to live in an area with well water and the biggest thing is that water differs from place to place. In one area a well placed 50 ft from the previous one had a different water quality. As well as the age of the well. You need to find out the compsition of the water you are wanting to use. Well water often times have large ammounts of iron as well as disolved solids and many heavy metals. Get a sample in a clean, and if possible sterile container and take it to a local water treatment facility. They can often find out what is in the water you are drinking or you can find kits that you send off which will do the same.
The printout you receive back will let you know what is in your well water, though ro/di will still probably be nessecary.
http://www.etrlabs.com/rcProdmain.asp?id=122 has a lot of test available but can become very pricey and will probably just confirm that a ro/di unit is needed. The biggest advantage to well water would be the fact that next to zero chlorine will be in the water.
The printout you receive back will let you know what is in your well water, though ro/di will still probably be nessecary.
http://www.etrlabs.com/rcProdmain.asp?id=122 has a lot of test available but can become very pricey and will probably just confirm that a ro/di unit is needed. The biggest advantage to well water would be the fact that next to zero chlorine will be in the water.
mapleredta
Reef addict
Thanks everyone. Im fixing to do a water change and right now i dont have the extra cash to drop on a ro/di. And none of the LFS around here are worth getting water from id be scared of doing more damage to the tank.
How much water do you need to change? Distilled water from the supermarket isn't usually much more than a dollar or so a gallon. If you just need to change a couple of gallons for right now, I would trust the distilled water over using unfiltered well water. I'm on well water and we were told when we originally built our house that our water was some of the best in the area the plumber had seen- but even so, a TDS meter shows a reading of 70ppm, and I really don't want to take a chance at what makes up that 70ppms. Some people claim that distilled water can have copper from the distilling coils they use in making distilled water, but I have never known anyone personally who has had a problem with copper from distilled water. In fact, I would worry more about copper from my own plumbing if the water is not filtered.
mapleredta
Reef addict
Thank you, im getting ready to do my first water change. How much do you recommend changing?
NightShade00013
New member
Most of the standards I have read say between 10 to 20 percent of your total system volume. Your current tank info says you have a 46 gallon bowfront. Figure out about how much your sup volume is and add that to your tank volume then figure your ammout of change from there.
Site has a change calculator, shows how much much of the original water would be in the tank after 16 weeks when doing weekly changes.
http://www.reefcentral.com/calc/RODICalc.php
Site has a change calculator, shows how much much of the original water would be in the tank after 16 weeks when doing weekly changes.
http://www.reefcentral.com/calc/RODICalc.php
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