How essential is RO/DI water????

[Derek B]

Well everyone, I have been experiencing some coral recession as of late. Fragging has not seemed to stop it completely......

SO I have narrowed down the problem to a couple possibilities....

1. My 20K 250 watt XM's are 10 months old (and have low PAR to start with), which could be causing the color shift in some of my corals as well, so I will be replacing those AND adding a 400 watt 10K XM (very slowly that is). Any thoughts on old bulbs being the cause of the receeding tissue????

2. I use softened water straight from the tap as top off water and to mix new water. We have a state of the art softner, so I never though twice using the softened water on my reef. Do I need an RO/DI unit??? Those with experience here please post your thoughts.

[kaiser]

If You don't use a RO/DI for Your water You need to add something like Prime or some other chlorine remover. The thing of it is even with a state of the art softener I does not remove chlorine or chloramine which is now used in the drinking water. The only way to remove those from the water is by RO filtration. The additives have a way to bind the chlorine in such a fashion that it doesn't harm anything. I myself do not use a RO/DI I just add Prime to my water when I top off or do waterchanges.

[Tim Marvin]

I've read or heard some place that soft water is extremely bad for reef creatures. You should probably use an RO/DI unit before it goes through the water softener.

[Tim Marvin]

I just did a search on RC and Randy Holmes-Farley said you will be fine if you add it after the softener. You will have to replace the DI cartridge more often though..... Interesting, I've always thought different for some reason....

[Instar]

Water softeners double the TDS in the water and bring it to around 700 or more on this aquifer water. You want 0 or near that as that junk will stay in the reef. Lights getting old are a gradual thing and may shift colors, but, you probably won't notice it because its so gradual. I've never heard of or experienced RTN from lights aging a bit. You have no control over either the strength of the city water treatments, or frequency of their charging, and of the materials in the softener. They may be safe for humans and laundry, but not for reefs. You also have no control over the people who charge the softener tanks and the degree that they clean the cleansers and soaps off their materials and lines when they clean things. I tried community water and killed all my rotifer cultures and all my algae cultures in one top off. The reason, as it turns out, is that there are residuals that are way too large amount of Copper and Lead as well as small amounts of Barium, Fluoride, Gross Beta Emitters, and Chlorodibromomethane that I have on the report of water samples. You need a good RO/DI unit if you intend to be serious about this. Many people brag about using tap water and then cry the blues later down the road because everything is dying. That is not a coincidence.

[Derek B]

So, Assuming I order an RO/DI unit, which I am going to do this week ....
which brand is the best? How much does it cost to maintain one?

AND, most importantly, how do I transition into the new RO water.. a few big water changes over the course of a couple months??

[DeletedAccount]

Have you done a good round of water testing? I was having some slow but steady problems with my acros. Everything else seemed good. Once I got some good test kits I retested my water and my pH and alkalinity were both way out of line. Once I got those fixed the slow deteriation stopped.

Air, Water, Ice has some great units. They have some "REEF" units, and I got the home/reef unit. Easy to put together, easy to use, easy to change filters. Buy an extra set of filters when you order the unit. Most places offer you discounted prices for the replacements then.

[dan]

chlorodibromomethane!!! that word is so long, i know i don't want that in my tank!!!! :-D Derek B, you do need a ro/di. you have to much money invested in the tank. might as well have the best water quality.

[wkopplin]

I have a SpectraPure and it is a good unit. I had an AquaFX and it was junk.

[Instar]

Be sure to check the manufacturer ratings and get a membrane that is made for city water as opposed to well or aquifer water. All units are not the same and one size does not fit all.

[Instar]

As for your water changes and transitions, do 10% per month. If you are having troubles, 10% per week for a few weeks to 2 months should straighten it out. If you have poisioned your tank horribly, then 10% per day for 10 days. Not more than 10% per day if the frequency is going to be high. Some people do huge water changes, but, if the calcium, alkalinity, salinity and pH are not the same as the new water, you are going to shock some things and kill them with huge water changes.

[Derek B]

Well, I ordered a 6 stage RO/DI unit from Aquasafe after some research on RC. Check this out ... I got a TDS meter, 2 years worth of sediment, carbon and DI replacement cartridges with it for only $155 ... $190 shipped.

I feel sorry fo all of those who spend fortunes for the name brand stuff. Glad I researched it first, because I was painfully close to buying a Kent or Spectrapure unit from Premium Aquatics for well over $200. What a mistake that would have been.

Thanks everyone for all the input. I knew all along I needed an RO/DI, but believed what many said that softened water was ok. I knew it wasn't, but used it as an excuse to justify not spending the money. I am pretty sure it is what is causing my problems. If not, I don't know what I will do :?