Why use RO/DI in Reef Tanks? EP: 1 Aquarium Reverse Osmosis

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/products/reverse-osmosis-filters-and-systems Today on BRSTV we are going to start a new series on aquarium reverse osmosis deionization systems for aquariums. RO/DI has pretty much become a staple of the saltwater aquarium hobby. In this series we will go over why reefers use RO/DI water in their reef tanks, how to install your system, proper maintenance, filter changes, common troubleshooting techniques, system upgrades , water savers, booster pumps and many other topics.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Reverse Osmosis
• Aquarium
• salt
• water
• saltwater
• brstv
• reef
• tank
• reverse
• osmosis
• deionization
• RO/DI
• vertex
• kent
• aquafx
• spectrapure

[applebookable]

Is there any way to tell if your water is 100% safe for a reef tank?

[BulkReefSupplyCom]

@applebookable There is really no way to know that type of thing for 100% sure. We can spend a lot of time and effort trying to find out but for most reefers it is just easier to filter your water yourself with and RO/DI system. High quality water really is the beginning and end of reef keeping,.

[evman333]

When I got my unit they plugged the tds meter in backwards. Took me forever to figure out what was wrong. Very frustrating.

[BulkReefSupplyCom]

@evman333 I am very sorry to hear that. No one wants to waste time figuring stuff like that out. While I have not heard of this issue before I will bring it up to the production team because once is one time too many. Thanks for the heads up.

[jpwhite00892]

I prefer just using a deionization filter alone because you don't have waste water and you don't need to run it at a high pressure or specific tempature.

[BulkReefSupplyCom]

@jpwhite00892 This can work well. Just as a heads up for anyone who reads this, keep in mind that DI resin only removes things with a electrical charge. For instance phosphate has a weak electrical charge and hard to remove with most mixed bed resins. Phosphate also isn’t going to register on a TDS meter. For most people DI only will also cost a lot more over the long run. I am not sure of the production of Resin is a greener process than waste water.

[Dougie085]

What about using the ZeroWater containers? They have 5 stage filters and come with a TDS meter and after filtration read 0 TDS or at the most fluctuates just slightly between 1 and 0? I live in an apartment so I'm not sure how realistic it is for me to put in an RS/DI system.

[BulkReefSupplyCom]

@applebookable Possible but unless you know what is in your ground water it is impossible to say. For instance if you live next to a farm area you could have a lot of broken down fertilizers and pesticides in your water. A water softener is made to remove hardness components like calcium, iron and magnesium.

[applebookable]

what about if you don't have city water and your water goes through a water softener could you use it in your tank?

[JAYBMWM3]

great info