RO DI system vs Silicates/PO4

[Razzo]

Merry Christmas everyone.

I am interested in getting an RO system for my fish room. My fish room consists of two big wild caught frontosa tanks (240 & 125) and a few fry tanks. I have wonderfully hard water out of tap which is great for African Rift Lake Cichlids; however, I have high silicate levels in my tap which lead to brown algae/diatom problems. Btw: I have very low nitrates in my tanks (usually close to 5ppm after my weekly water changes). I've tweaked my maintenance procedures for a diatom infested tank which has helped and I have been running PhosGuard in my tanks too which has also helped.

I use a spare 125 gallon tank as my reservoir tank for my water changes. I am currently running a spare FX5 on the RT loaded with PhosGuard to pull down the silicate levels before use in a water change. This works too.

I'd like to switch over to an RO DI system and fill my RT with RO water. I'd love suggestions and any advice on which systems you like best. Side note: I suspect, once I have my RT full of new water for my water changes, I'll need to add some SeaChem Tang Buffer and Lake Salt for trace minerals (I'm ok with that).

Summary: I do a lot of aquatic photography and I detest diatoms. I need to get rid of silicates and I want to start using my spare FX5 to polish water on my 240.

Thanks in advance for your replies.

Cheers,
Russ

 

[Razzo]

Bump

 

[Spiritofthesoul]

I am not sure what brands are popular/available in your country. But over here in SG, I used ZeRO EX 5 by MadzPet and swear by it. All my water that comes out reads 0ppm tds, and the water/waste ratio is acceptable. You can check it out in the link below. I'm pretty sure BulkReefSupply sells good RO/DI unit.

http://www.madpetz.com.sg//index.ph...oducts_id=91&zenid=c6gc3epv8l3mum0n7tbr0e5l82

My advise is find out what brands are available to you and read up on the reviews to see which one is the best bang for buck. While some of them are cheaper, the filter cartridges don't last as long and needs replacing more frequently than expensive but reliable brands, making it more expensive in the long run.

Also check the pressure of your water outlet before investing in an RO/DI unit. Most of them require a minimum 50 PSI to operate optimally. So if you are lacking water pressure, you might need to invest in a booster pump as well.

And you definitely need to remineralize your RO/DI water before adding it into your aquarium. Firstly, the RO/DI unit strips your tapwater clean, meaning even dissolved oxygen is removed. What you are getting out of the RO unit is pure H2O. So you have to store and agitate the water to allow oxygen from the atmosphere to dissolve back into the water. You might get away with this if you are doing small water change, but on a large water change scale, your fish might actually suffocate.

Secondly, no fish/plants/invertebrates is able to live in pure H2O. It messes up with their osmotic system. So you would have to add minerals back to the pure water.

 

[markstrimaran]

I have a similar issue. How has phosguard worked?
I ordered some PhosBan should be here soon.
Their are a lot of phosphate/silicate removers on the market.
I have not figured out all the difference between them yet.

 

[Razzo]

I am not sure what brands are popular/available in your country. But over here in SG, I used ZeRO EX 5 by MadzPet and swear by it. All my water that comes out reads 0ppm tds, and the water/waste ratio is acceptable. You can check it out in the link below. I'm pretty sure BulkReefSupply sells good RO/DI unit.

http://www.madpetz.com.sg//index.ph...oducts_id=91&zenid=c6gc3epv8l3mum0n7tbr0e5l82

My advise is find out what brands are available to you and read up on the reviews to see which one is the best bang for buck. While some of them are cheaper, the filter cartridges don't last as long and needs replacing more frequently than expensive but reliable brands, making it more expensive in the long run.

Also check the pressure of your water outlet before investing in an RO/DI unit. Most of them require a minimum 50 PSI to operate optimally. So if you are lacking water pressure, you might need to invest in a booster pump as well.

And you definitely need to remineralize your RO/DI water before adding it into your aquarium. Firstly, the RO/DI unit strips your tapwater clean, meaning even dissolved oxygen is removed. What you are getting out of the RO unit is pure H2O. So you have to store and agitate the water to allow oxygen from the atmosphere to dissolve back into the water. You might get away with this if you are doing small water change, but on a large water change scale, your fish might actually suffocate.

Secondly, no fish/plants/invertebrates is able to live in pure H2O. It messes up with their osmotic system. So you would have to add minerals back to the pure water.

Good stuff, thank you! I was not aware about the O2 issue. Good to know! The new RO DI water will fill a spare 125 gallon reservoir tank where I will mix back in buffer and trace elements and I have a heavy duty air pump ruining four air stones (I can run up eight air stones) to circulate the new water. I usually let that run a few days before a water change. After the buffer settles out, I could run my submersible pump with a python and do some serious surface water agitation.

I guess, I'll start with smaller water changes at first to gauge the impact of the new water conditions on my fish and start with my non wild stock too.

Thanks again!

Russ

 

[Razzo]

I have a similar issue. How has phosguard worked?
I ordered some PhosBan should be here soon.
Their are a lot of phosphate/silicate removers on the market.
I have not figured out all the difference between them yet.

PhosGuard has been working really well. Combined with some maintenance changes I have seen a dramatic difference. I am almost down to minimal levels (not quite, but almost). Do you have a PO4 and a Silicate test kit? If not, you need to determine what the source of your problem is: is it source water or a waste issue or both? For me, I have very low nitrate levels in my tanks but my tap water is very high. I used SeaChems test kits for these.

SeaChem has several products for PO4 removal and the difference is capacity and price. PhosGuard has the lowest capacity, PhosBond and PhosNet have greater capacity.

From everything I've read and talking with SeaChem on a couple occasions, once you get PO4 levels down, it is easier to keep them there. Here is how I tweaked my maintenance procedures for diatoms:
1. Do not clean boulders in the tank, this will only increase the food for diatoms. Remove boulders to a utility sink and scrub and rinse there. I always brushed my boulders in the tank. Big mistake!
2. Clean glass and let settle for a few hours and then do a good vacuum job.
3. Clean filters out.
4. Then change water.
5. After a few days, clean sponges again.

With PO4 product for removal, you will be able to pull down levels and keep them low. A few plants that grow fast that wil, out compete diatoms and they will be eradicated.

Hope that helps!

Thanks,
Russ

 

[markstrimaran]

Thanks for the info.
I have been running a denitrator that probably has been leaching silicate from the substrate. My tap water is extremely hard.
The brown diatomaceous growth has been getting eaten by the mbuna cichlids as fast as it grows.
I bought some Phosguard. I had it confused. I am planning on putting it in my sumps intake chamber, very turbulent. 600 gph flow.
I think the other phosphate absorbers work best in a fluid reactor.