RO water system fresh water?

[Laticauda]

If it were me, I would use the drum to put the water and the Prime into. If you don't have nitrAtes in your water, then leave the water and Prime in the drum with a bubbler/powerhead for about 24 hours. This will help stabilize any pH fluctuations you may experience due to the cold weather making the water capable of housing more gas (CO2.) I love Prime, I buy it by the 2 liter. Recently, I bought Pond Prime, which I believe is 2x more concentrated. I have probably about 300 gallons in my home total, and I do more water changes than most people, and the 2 liter of regular Prime last me about 6 months.

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.

No, do not use RO waste water for your fish. It is so highly concentrated, it will be hard for any fish to live comfortably. All the things you want to take out of your water (minerals, wastes, etc.) will be very concentrated in this water. If you have ammonia in your source water, this is even more toxic. Don't use the waste-water, it is just that "waste" and should be disposed of.

 

[angelojg22]

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?

its not new and i have run water through it i have filled the 55 gallon drum so far
these are the filter that are in it, http://www.marinedepot.com/RO_DI_Re..._Filters-Captive_Purity-RO2113-FIRORP-vi.html
would it be better to use 2 carbon in stead of the di?

 

[Laticauda]

From my understanding, carbon does not remove chlorine/chloramine.

 

[angelojg22]

From my understanding, carbon does not remove chlorine/chloramine.

I don't think its the carbon that does it but the filter called the carbon prefilter does remove the chlorine/chloramine, its proboly something elce in the filter.

 

[ozzyboo]

From my understanding, carbon does not remove chlorine/chloramine.

Carbon block filter will remove chlorine and chlormine,this is one of the filters that are designed for RO/HMA systems
http://www.ro-man.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=24_42&products_id=161

This is the standard carbon block filter not as effective at chlorine removal but still very good.
http://www.ro-man.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=24_42&products_id=39

One of the main reasons that these are required in an RO system is that chlorine will damage the membrane hence its removal via the filters prior to entering the membrane..

 

[Ed209]

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.

You can use the waste water with no problem. It will have ammonia in it though. I've had RO "waste" water running into a system for over a year. My filter takes care of the ammonia no problem, and I keep a fairly delicate species in there.

 

[Laticauda]

You can use the waste water with no problem. It will have ammonia in it though. I've had RO "waste" water running into a system for over a year. My filter takes care of the ammonia no problem, and I keep a fairly delicate species in there.

RO waste water has a lot more than just ammonia in it. It is super concentrated with all the minerals and salts that come out of the RO water. Unless you are keeping Tang Cichlids, this is not a perfect solution.