Water Acclimation question

[recoiljpr]

For the past 2 months i've been using regular tap water that i've let sit for 48 hours (plus adding chemicals to get rid of chlorine, chlorimine, etc) in my tank. This weekend we finally took to plunge (not because of the tank only) and purchased a culligan water softner whole house system & and RO/DI unit, they will be installed this weekend.

So here are my questions to yall



Since the water will be both softened & through the RO/DI unit should I still wait the 48 hours before adding it as top off? Or, will it be safe to add it directly?
Do I need to mix the softened RO/DI water with normal tap water for a while to acclimate my tank to the new water? Or can I just start adding it in as I do water changes?
Since the softened water has almost all of the calcium taken out of it, I assume I will need to dose greater amounts to add it back in?

Thanks

[JimD]

I would do a large water change to remove as much tap water as possible and use the ro/di in its place. Depending on what you plan to keep and the Ca content of your salt will depend on what to add...

[Bill S]

1) Right away is just fine

2) No. Yes.

3) Unless you are growing stony corals, you are probably OK. Depends upon your calcium levels, how quickly it is taken up, and how often you do water changes. Never dose anything you don't test for. Ever.

[aquasport24]

Hi ,
WELCOME TO MAAST.
1. Discard the first 5 gallons or so , then use a TDS meter to test the output water. You want it to be around 0 ppm.
2. No, add tab water will defeat the purpose of RO/DI.
3 You need to test the main tank for calcium first (recommend range 380-420 ppm) and then you can match your RO/DI water before add it to the main tank.If you just have a fish only tank then i would not worry too much for calcium.

[aquasport24]

Darn, i typed too slow..:)

[recoiljpr]

1)
3) Unless you are growing stony corals, you are probably OK. Depends upon your calcium levels, how quickly it is taken up, and how often you do water changes. Never dose anything you don't test for. Ever.

Well, there is another sticking point. I have the tests, but unless i'm doing something stupid, my CA levels and KH levels are both very high right now. I don't know what the #'s correlate to off the top of my head, but my KH was 9 drops and my CA was 24 drops (I'm using Aquarium Pharmaceuticals). I test weekly almost all of my parameters. I do know I have something screwy though because the last time I added buffer (SeaChem) at the reccomended dose, I got precipitate badly enough I had to do almost 1/3 of a water change to bring it back to normal. I'm wondering if I either have a bad test kit (they are brand new) or i'm doing something wrong...

[JimD]

Thats because your Ca is already pretty high and you probably added too much buffer. With Alk at 9, (Dkh) and Ca at 480, I wouldnt be adding anything eccept for maybe Kalk with any top off just to maintain those levels. Stop adding buffer and know what your readings mean.... Just add when levels become depleted, something like B-Ionic for a balanced system.

[recoiljpr]

Thats because your Ca is already pretty high and you probably added too much buffer. With Alk at 9, (Dkh) and Ca at 480, I wouldnt be adding anything eccept for maybe Kalk with any top off just to maintain those levels. Stop adding buffer and know what your readings mean.... Just add when levels become depleted, something like B-Ionic for a balanced system.

I'm adding buffer because my PH isn't at 8.3, it's running around 8.1 or so. So I add the buffer in order to bring it up. Also, as per the directions it says to add it every few days as normal tank maintenance. The only reason i've found for precipitate is per the bottle it says "Poor Ionic Balance" but it does not go any further to explain what to test and change to stop the "Poor Ionic Balance".

[Bill S]

(I'm using Aquarium Pharmaceuticals).

UGH! How many times have we seen folks (myself included) chasing chemistry problems caused by bad test kits. Just because it is brand new, does not mean it's really "new". No telling how long it sat on a shelf.

Take your test kit and a water sample into your LFS. Have them test it AND you test it. If they aren't using Salifert or MAYBE Seachem kits, don't bother (I had a bad reagent from a Seachem kit a few years ago). I'm betting that you have a bad kit.

Look, I know that Salifert kits can cost as much as an "all in one" from some of the other. It's just that you can actually TRUST their test kits. Try fleabay for them, at a discount.

[JimD]

A Ph of 8.1 is perfectly acceptable, when are you testing it? Makes a huge difference.

[recoiljpr]

A Ph of 8.1 is perfectly acceptable, when are you testing it? Makes a huge difference.


I test in in the late afternoon, after my lights have been on for more then a few hours. I do know PH drops at night so I'm assuming my 8.1 probably goes south a few points from there at night. I don't have a sump (yet) so I'm not able to run a reverse cycle to balance out the CO2 PH shift. I know buffers are not loved by everyone, but until I figure out a good way to run a sump, it's the best way I know how for now to keep up the PH. This all may change though after this weekend with the softened/ro/di water, I will have to test the base ph of the water first to know where to go from there.