RO/DI Water Additives

[princer7]

I just got the Reverse Osmosis / DI up and running but am not sure what needs to be added for water change top-offs. Also, do I need to add anything else besides the salt for water changes?

[caferacermike]

Are you asking about products like RO right? Most of the additives I've seen are marketed towards planted tanks and freshwater cichlid tanks. Our salt mix contains most anything we already need in the water. If your PH won't stabilize you might need more rock work or aragonite sand (helps naturally keep the PH high). There are buffers in the salt mix so an easy and good alternative is to do more frequent water changes, that way you can have buffers ready to go without adding anything "extra" to the water.

I don't add anything to my make up water.

[LoneStar]

I don't add anything to my make up water.

I add a bucket :)

[caferacermike]

I add a bucket :)

I carry it in my hands. I'm a lot more dedicated than most.......

Naw, I actually built my RO system to store water higher than any of my tanks. I have about 80' of vinyl tubing attached to a 3/4" valve at my industrial container. I just move the hose to whatever tank needs water and open the valve. I keep a valve on the end of the tubing as well, that way I can open the reservoir and then control it at the hose. I also have an Ehiem 1262 plumbed in that system so if I need a boost I can flip on a switch that controls that pump. In the future when my tank is moved to it's new location there will be an auto top off directly from the RO/DI unit.

[JeffCo]

You don't need to add anything to the water for your top - off. Just use the clean water that comes out of the unit. For water changes, it depends on what type of salt your using. I use Reef Crystals and I don't have to add anything else to it. But, if your using IO, then you will need to add ALK & Calcium to it.

[apedroza]

Does anyone use a silicate remover?? I was talking to MAtt at aquafarms and he was telling me about some testing he had done on the water and the silicates were very high for this region. He said he started using a silciate spnge/remover and it has helped alot. I will be ordering some from him, because I'm sure its very high in SM.

[cpreefguy]

^^ Interesting Anthony... SM water does taste a bit weird lol

[BuckeyeHydro]

We have a specially formulated DI stage to deal with high silica water.

Russ