Reverse osmosis for freshwater?

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WinterAlloy

Gambusia
MFK Member
Jul 9, 2012
254
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North GA, USA
Let me preface this entire thread with some questions. I'm completely new to this idea. First what is the purpose of r/o? What does Di stand for and what is its use?

Now, why even ask these questions.....I have a problem with my tap water. My water company seems to always be doing something different with chemistries. I have called the plant manager.... no response. I have called the laboratory.... no response. I think that the amounts of chlorine, chloramines, fluoride, and/or phosphates has increased. I don't know if they use fluorosilicic acid, sodium fluorosilicate, or sodium fluoride. Nobody ever answers or returns calls. I do know that at the plant, a negative pressurized vessel ruptured, introducing contaminates to the line. At which point in the process this occurred, I don't know.

So, I do a water change. Within 24hrs, 30% to 50% of livestock dies or is near death. In approximately 36hrs, the water is clouded. By 72hrs, the water is green. It's so green, you can't even see the inhabitants. I use a phosphate filter and the water clears up. But fish continue to die sporadically. They show absolutely no signs of illnesses other than death. I've had to remove all live plants because they are dying. I have to do small water changes to reduce the decay, but in small volume to keep from introducing more toxins. I am very hesitant to change my Cuban cichlids' water for fear our losing more.

Any information on the above systems, alternate systems, alternate water sources or your own experiences would be more than appreciated.

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WinterAlloy said:
Let me preface this entire thread with some questions. I'm completely new to this idea. First what is the purpose of r/o? What does Di stand for and what is its use?
Click to expand...

Reverse osmosis purifies water using a semi-permeable membrane and water pressure. The 'DI' in RODI is 'de-ionized' which is a further purification stage using resins.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_osmosis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purified_water#Deionization

WinterAlloy said:
Now, why even ask these questions.....I have a problem with my tap water. My water company seems to always be doing something different with chemistries. I have called the plant manager.... no response. I have called the laboratory.... no response. I think that the amounts of chlorine, chloramines, fluoride, and/or phosphates has increased. I don't know if they use fluorosilicic acid, sodium fluorosilicate, or sodium fluoride. Nobody ever answers or returns calls. I do know that at the plant, a negative pressurized vessel ruptured, introducing contaminates to the line. At which point in the process this occurred, I don't know.

So, I do a water change. Within 24hrs, 30% to 50% of livestock dies or is near death. In approximately 36hrs, the water is clouded. By 72hrs, the water is green. It's so green, you can't even see the inhabitants. I use a phosphate filter and the water clears up. But fish continue to die sporadically. They show absolutely no signs of illnesses other than death. I've had to remove all live plants because they are dying. I have to do small water changes to reduce the decay, but in small volume to keep from introducing more toxins. I am very hesitant to change my Cuban cichlids' water for fear our losing more.

Any information on the above systems, alternate systems, alternate water sources or your own experiences would be more than appreciated.

Sent from my C771 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
Click to expand...

You would definitely benefit from an RO system alone due to the more consistent, and apparently much higher quality, water. Adding a DI stage or two would remove any and all trace elements so you wouldn't have to worry day-to-day when changing water.

That all being said, RODI water will need to be adjusted to the proper parameters for your fish. With a saltwater aquarium, you use a salt mix; in a freshwater aquarium, there may not be a single product that accomplishes this. This is where my experience ends as I am a saltwater guy so hopefully we can have some more knowledgeable folks chime in with how they use RODI in their freshwater tanks. It may be as simple as a pH and alkalinity buffer to add back the water hardness, especially for cichlids.
 
I buy reverse osmosis for my saltwater reef and I also sometimes use it in my freshwater tanks, I think my fish like it lol
 
JK Monster Fish said:
I buy reverse osmosis for my saltwater reef and I also sometimes use it in my freshwater tanks, I think my fish like it lol
Click to expand...

I believe it lacks a number of minerals/nutrients that FW fish need in the water to survive, as is implied in the post above.
 
Since you did mention the salt aspect, my Cubans, along with my Mayans, will soon be transitioning to low salinity brackish ~1.005 SG. Then to ~1.010. These are the current plans.... for now.
 
Did you take readings for ammonia, nitrite and ph once you saw the deaths in the tank? Of course, it's possible it was something else in the water, but RO is an expensive process and the losses might have nothing to do with the source.

Having said that, RO/DI will remove trace elements that will need to be replaced.
 
I did leave out the water parameters. Everything on the standard test kits were fine. I even took to my LDS to make sure of my kit's and user's accuracy lol.

As far as the loss of trace minerals.l, could an additive without phosphates be used to replenish the removed vitamins and minerals?

To add a little more detail to the post, a friend of mine who keeps saltwater tanks met me for lunch today to discuss problems in his tank. He has the same problems I have right now. Both of us keep approximate timelines of tank events. And our dates of occurrence coincide. He and his family are on the same main water feeds as we are. His problems were cloudy water with algae, a Ph shift, and dropping fish. I use the term dropping because both his and my fish would be swimming then just drop to the bottom likes a weight. They may or may not show signs of stress only a few hours before exhausting.

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Im using r/o unit with di unit to remove all traces in freshwater.. It cost about 100$ (aquili brand).. Tap water has ph 7,6 ; kh 15 and gh 18..when i put this water through r/o i get ph 6,2 ; kh and gh are both 0.. For remineralisation there are plenty of products and you can adjust the right parameters with them..
the only bad thing is that you make 3 times more waste water then ro water (you can still use that waste water for lets say watering the garden or smt like that)

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Woah. I didn't realize that. But what is the "waste" water. Are the tap toxins in the waste water?

Would using carbon plus a phosphate absorber at water change be a better choice?

What is a reactor? I have even seen a few for phosphate.

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