What should i buy to purify my water?

[wickedfrags]

Best thing to do is get an inexpensive RO/DI unit, Aquasafe brand comes to mind (eBay...what I use). No need to purchase the really exspensive RO/DIunits, and honestly RO water is essentially required for a successful saltwater tank (and the RO unit can also serve other purposes around the home, drinking water, ice-maker etc.). Go with an RO/DI unit of some sort, you will not regret it.

Originally Posted by megs_clark

Hi, Im in need of advice again. lol. I noticed im getting some green hair algae on my crushed corol. I want to fix this before it gets out of controll. I have just a little right now. My tanks a few months old, 30 Gallon. I do 10% water change a week but am using tap water which i have prepared 7 days before each change. I only have live rock and a couple clowns, a brittle star, 2 turbo snails and 2 hermit crabs. SO im thinking i need to do something about the tap water. Im looking on JL Aquatics and my question. Should i buy the $50 water purafier (im thinking no) and if i need a more expencive one which brand, Aqua Fx or the Kent Brand. And do i need a R/O or should i just buck up the little extra and get the R/O D/I. Im planing on just ordering online since i live to far away from their so i cant go in and ask for advice. Any help on this would be great!! I check my water regulary with the saltwater master kit my api and my Nitrate Nitrite Amonia and Ph looks fine. I have not checked any thing else yet.

[hillegom]

Originally Posted by wickedfrags.com

best thing to do is get an inexpensive ro/di unit, aquasafe brand comes to mind (ebay...what i use). No need to purchase the really exspensive ro/diunits, and honestly ro water is essentially required for a successful saltwater tank (and the ro unit can also serve other purposes around the home, drinking water, ice-maker etc.). Go with an ro/di unit of some sort, you will not regret it.

+1

[sphelps]

Your needs will depend on the quality of your tap water. Here in Stoon I get a TDS of about 180ppm from the tap so I use a full 6 stage RO/DI to bring this down to the range of 0-4ppm. I've talked a few people down in BC who get a reading as low as 20-30ppm so they can usually just use a dual or triple stage (no ro or di) and get similar results as me.

RO units are very wasteful and I don't believe you should use one unless you need to.

[Aquattro]

As an oposing view, I think everyone should use RO for a reef, it eliminates any questions on quality of source water. If water waste is an issue, there are several options for reclaimation, from laundry use to gardening.

[Ron99]

I would spend a bit more on the Vertex RO/DI unit. It is 100GPD and has a built in booster pump and inline TDS meter. It is electronically controlled and automatically back flushes to clean the filter etc. every 15 minutes. It only produces about 1 to 1.5 gallons of waste for each gallon of RO so it is very efficient. And the price is good if you consider the price of adding a TDS meter, back flush kit and booster pump to a cheaper unit. I am fairly certain this is very similar to the unit I saw at a commercial water purification store where their only added step afterward was to UV sterilize the water after RO/DI.

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

As an oposing view, I think everyone should use RO for a reef, it eliminates any questions on quality of source water. If water waste is an issue, there are several options for reclaimation, from laundry use to gardening.

This is true but often very difficult and impractical to implement. Measuring your tap water TDS is as simple as measuring your tank salinity. All you need is a very inexpensive TDS meter. Better safe than sorry is not an excuse for wasting valuable resources.

[megs_clark]

As soon as i find a tds reader ill post my reading and then mabe i can get a better idea of what i need to buy. Thanks for the opinions so far :O) so many options makes this all confusing sometimes,
I can say to a earlier post i really dont think im over feading. I take the frozen food, a tiny bit, put salt water in it to defreeze it, dump out the water and use a tooth pick to pick the food out and put in the water. The fish pritty much eat it almost before it hits the water, and i watch to see if any sink and it never does. Then i turn on the pumps. I do use a medicine dropper 2 times a week to squirt the brittle star so i guess that might be contamanating the water a little, but i use so little i thought he must be munching it all up right away?

[scherzo]

Here is something interesting but also something that I suspected.

Chilliwack gets its water from an aquifer (ground water). It is much more susceptible to contamination (from what I have heard.. I am not an expert).

Have you checked your source for nitrate or phosphates? (right out of the tap)

You can find more info RE: your water here:

http://www.gov.chilliwack.bc.ca/main/page.cfm?id=1249

I forgot to say.. I have a Lawnmower Blenny that keeps my green algaes in check.

[Zoaelite]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

As an oposing view, I think everyone should use RO for a reef, it eliminates any questions on quality of source water. If water waste is an issue, there are several options for reclaimation, from laundry use to gardening.

Sorry SP, have to go with Brad on this one. For such an expensive hobby its just not worth the risk to introduce phosphates, Chlorine or any dissolved solids. You don't buy a brand new BMW sports car and then fill it with regular gas so why would you put unpurified water into a reef system? Besides, it doesn't "destroy" or make the waste water unusable so there are many applications for RO waste.
Levi

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by zoaElite

Sorry SP, have to go with Brad on this one. For such an expensive hobby its just not worth the risk to introduce phosphates, Chlorine or any dissolved solids. You don't buy a brand new BMW sports car and then fill it with regular gas so why would you put unpurified water into a reef system? Besides, it doesn't "destroy" or make the waste water unusable so there are many applications for RO waste.
Levi

That's kind of a weird comparison wouldn't you say? A sports car may need premium fuel to work properly and maintain it's warranty. Fuel is consistent through out the country, tap water is not. And by your reasoning you should fill every car with premium because cars are expensive and reading the manual is time consuming, best just put the good stuff in there to be safe

All I was saying is it would be smart to measure your TDS to decide on your filtration requirements, if you're only getting around 20ppm like many people in BC you're better off using a simple 3 or 4 stage filter with DI if necessary, RO would be wasteful and unnecessary. But 65 could benefit from an RO unit, you can skip the DI as you won't really benefit from its addition.

Yes this is an expensive hobby so all the more reason to save where you can, not the opposite. Also would you like to explain how you would practically go about reusing the waste water from an RO??