RO water system fresh water?

[angelojg22]

i have a ro/di aquamaxx system i am planing on using for my water changes on my 180 gallon freshwater tank i herd that it remove good minerals fresh water fish need is it just the di that does that? So if its time to change it and i leave it in the system so it doent di the water or just take out the cartridge would this work or is it the whole process that isn't beneficial also i herd there is ways to add them back like would a 7 ph regulator work?
thanks

 

[Laticauda]

People that I know that use RO units, either reconstitute the water using minerals (baking soda, epsom salt) but this is very difficult since you need a large area to pre-mix the water. Other people mix their RO with tap water, but again, you need a large area to pre-mix it before adding to your tank.

Why are you considering using RO? Is there something wrong with your municipal water source? What type of fish are you planning on keeping (i.e. discus, african cichlids, goldfish)? Most fish do fine in highly buffered municipal waters, as long as the pH and hardness are constant.

 

[cellowithgills]

I'm having the same question. Not to high jack the thread but is it safe to use the waste water from a RO unit for water changes? I want to use 100% of the water that goes through the filters, and I'm not sure if the TDS would effect freshwater fish.

 

[angelojg22]

People that I know that use RO units, either reconstitute the water using minerals (baking soda, epsom salt) but this is very difficult since you need a large area to pre-mix the water. Other people mix their RO with tap water, but again, you need a large area to pre-mix it before adding to your tank.

Why are you considering using RO? Is there something wrong with your municipal water source? What type of fish are you planning on keeping (i.e. discus, african cichlids, goldfish)? Most fish do fine in highly buffered municipal waters, as long as the pH and hardness are constant.

Well I have it filling up a 55gallon drum then I would pump it back into the tank its just easyer I didn't at first think the r/o did that and I was happy thinking I didn't have to add chemicals to remove clorine and all the other things in tap would it be beter to just fill the drum with tap and add prime?

 

[ozzyboo]

RO will strip everything out of the water good and bad,and has been pointed out will need re minralising prior to use.
Have you considered using a HMA as thst will remove cholrine,chloromine,heavy metals and with certain filters can remove phopshate and nitrate.I intend to use one for a drip system on my new tank mainly because of 30+ ppm of nitrate in the water and aloso it will remove the need to de chlorinate.A HMA will not alter the hardness or PH of the water.Without knowing exactly what water issues you are trying to solve it is difficult to advise which is the best option.

 

[cjs4873]

I have one dripping into my tank 24/7 and have never add anything to the water. its been running for nearly 2 years now with no problem at all.

hth

 

[angelojg22]

RO will strip everything out of the water good and bad,and has been pointed out will need re minralising prior to use.
Have you considered using a HMA as thst will remove cholrine,chloromine,heavy metals and with certain filters can remove phopshate and nitrate.I intend to use one for a drip system on my new tank mainly because of 30+ ppm of nitrate in the water and aloso it will remove the need to de chlorinate.A HMA will not alter the hardness or PH of the water.Without knowing exactly what water is you are trying to solve it is difficult to advise which is the best option.

Could I use different filters on the ro system so it dosent strip the water of everything? And I think my tap is fine just has clorine in it I use it with prime for my 55 and never had a problem I just wanted to not use chemicals should I just use tap and prime?

 

[ozzyboo]

It is not the filters that strip everything out of the water it is the RO membrane.
As a general rule the filters depending on how many you have the first willbe a 5 micron sediment filter to remove as many small particles as possible then you will have a carbon block filter that will remove chlorine and heavy metals,which will damage the membrane, some RO's have three filters and the third will probably be another carbon block filter or maybe a DI resin polishing unit or maybe a granulated carbon refillable filter. After the water has been through these then it hits the membrane and that will strip out all the other stuff,also if you have metered water,not sure if you do in the states, the amount of waste water will be around 80-90% which can get expensive.If you just want to avoid using pime get a HMA will remove chlorine and chlormine which prime will sort out the only thing that a HMA may not sort out is if you have ammonia in you water which would suprise me if there was any in there.

 

[angelojg22]

It is not the filters that strip everything out of the water it is the RO membrane.
As a general rule the filters depending on how many you have the first willbe a 5 micron sediment filter to remove as many small particles as possible then you will have a carbon block filter that will remove chlorine and heavy metals,which will damage the membrane, some RO's have three filters and the third will probably be another carbon block filter or maybe a DI resin polishing unit or maybe a granulated carbon refillable filter. After the water has been through these then it hits the membrane and that will strip out all the other stuff,also if you have metered water,not sure if you do in the states, the amount of waste water will be around 80-90% which can get expensive.If you just want to avoid using pime get a HMA will remove chlorine and chlormine which prime will sort out the only thing that a HMA may not sort out is if you have ammonia in you water which would suprise me if there was any in there.

Thanks the info is very helpfull and I'm looking into the HMA one more qestion though if you run the water only through the 3 filters and not the mambrane is that ok?

 

[ozzyboo]

It would depend on the type of filters you have fitted to the RO unit,but yes it is possible.
You should have the first filter as a 1 or 5 micron sediment filter,normally 5 as 1 clogs to quickly, that is pretty much standard on all RO units,hopefully after that should be a carbon block filter which will remove chlorine,chloromine and heavy metals.The third filter could be any of the above mention ones or may even be another carbon block.
It the unit new and have you put any water through it?