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zchauvin
10-01-2011, 09:51 PM
My unit from filter guys will be in Monday, is there any way to hook it inline with sink plumbing?

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Altum Nut
10-01-2011, 10:12 PM
It all depends on what unit you have. Some unit can be installed below sink mount where it's out of site.
I have attached a link to give you an idea.
Hope it helps you.
http://www.watervalue.com/img/roschematiclarge.gif

...Ralph

zchauvin
10-02-2011, 12:33 AM
Thanks Ralph, I'm not sure of how my unit is but I'll put the diagram to good use.

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zchauvin
10-03-2011, 07:35 PM
Ok, I got in my ro/di unit and it wants me to drill a hole in the drain for the waste water.. My dads not a big fan lol so how else would I do it? I know I'll need the faucet adapter for sure, a float valve, and some kind of hookup for waste water.. I really don't know where to start so if anyone can show there setups ect... it would be a huge help.

illumnae
10-03-2011, 08:08 PM
I shoved the waste water output line down the washing machine drain pipe. Works well for me

kent1963
10-03-2011, 08:18 PM
First were are you putting it? Is it going under a sink? I just ordered one myself, mine is going in the laundry room and the waste line will go directly into the floor drain.I bought an adapter so I can hook mine up to the washer supply line and not tie up the sink at all.

zchauvin
10-03-2011, 08:54 PM
First were are you putting it? Is it going under a sink? I just ordered one myself, mine is going in the laundry room and the waste line will go directly into the floor drain.I bought an adapter so I can hook mine up to the washer supply line and not tie up the sink at all.

Its going into a spare outside bathroom. I picked up a tee that will go onto cold water feed and then to cold water line while third connection will hook into a 1/4 compression fitting. This will leave the sink and ro unit in use at once. Now I just have to find a top off and/or auto shut off valve. Do I need one or the other or both?

zchauvin
10-03-2011, 09:01 PM
Would one such as this suffice?
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/products/reverse-osmosis-filters-and-systems/ro-di-accessories/auto-shut-off-kit-for-reverse-osmosis-systems.html

lgomezvi
10-04-2011, 01:02 AM
First were are you putting it? Is it going under a sink? I just ordered one myself, mine is going in the laundry room and the waste line will go directly into the floor drain.I bought an adapter so I can hook mine up to the washer supply line and not tie up the sink at all.

im curious. where did you obtain this adapter for the RO unit to hook up to the washer supply line? i've been looking for one. thanks!

zchauvin
10-04-2011, 07:12 AM
im curious. where did you obtain this adapter for the RO unit to hook up to the washer supply line? i've been looking for one. thanks!
Hey gomez, I purchased mine from a local ace hardware and it ran me about 4 bucks. This is what you need.
69558

All you do is slide the inserts into tubing then use the nut and connect to the top 1/4 out and then the other female to cold water valve and lastly the 3/8 out into your line running to faucet. This will work on your cold water line for washing machine as well.

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lgomezvi
10-04-2011, 02:15 PM
ACE! perfect. I'll try it out. thanks once again.

ericatdallas
10-05-2011, 01:08 PM
Good thread, I'm thinking of picking up an RO unit this weekend and connecting it to my setup. Was going to try and figure out all the adapters needed but this did the trick. Thanks :)

zchauvin
10-05-2011, 01:16 PM
Good thread, I'm thinking of picking up an RO unit this weekend and connecting it to my setup. Was going to try and figure out all the adapters needed but this did the trick. Thanks :)

Yep, I hooked it up last night and works like a charm

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kent1963
10-05-2011, 05:53 PM
Hey gomez, I purchased mine from a local ace hardware and it ran me about 4 bucks. This is what you need.
69558

All you do is slide the inserts into tubing then use the nut and connect to the top 1/4 out and then the other female to cold water valve and lastly the 3/8 out into your line running to faucet. This will work on your cold water line for washing machine as well.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk The adapter I bought is for a garden hose size not for the under sink line but other then that pretty-much the same. It threads on to the hose connection for my washer then has a 1/4" valved outlet for the ro line , its like a collar with female threads on top male on bottom (for the washer) and the valved port out the side.

zchauvin
10-06-2011, 07:46 PM
Can anyone show me how you put your float valve in your water storage? Im using a brute can and don't know how you would install the float valve. Thanks

Sean Buehrle
10-06-2011, 08:29 PM
Can anyone show me how you put your float valve in your water storage? Im using a brute can and don't know how you would install the float valve. Thanks

Make sure you use the rubber washer on the outside.

http://tapatalk.com/mu/4badb03d-4780-5597.jpg
http://tapatalk.com/mu/4badb03d-4794-ff0b.jpg
http://tapatalk.com/mu/4badb03d-47ad-6f9a.jpg
http://tapatalk.com/mu/4badb03d-47bf-4408.jpg
http://tapatalk.com/mu/4badb03d-47cf-c149.jpg

zchauvin
10-06-2011, 08:48 PM
Awesome shaun, thanks so much man.

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Sean Buehrle
10-06-2011, 09:56 PM
Awesome shaun, thanks so much man.

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No prob, your welcome.

Does your float valve have a adjustable wing nut on it so the float height can be adjusted ?

If so mine is about 4.5 inches from the top.

Oh and make the hole as small as possible so you really have to work it in there because the wall is so thin that the float will want to move on ya.

zchauvin
10-06-2011, 10:12 PM
No prob, your welcome.

Does your float valve have a adjustable wing nut on it so the float height can be adjusted ?

If so mine is about 4.5 inches from the top.

Oh and make the hole as small as possible so you really have to work it in there because the wall is so thin that the float will want to move on ya.

I'm not sure, it was supposed to be here today and idk what happened. Should tomorrow though. I have to drain tank in am and put what water I do have inside then run it all day and when off work add that water to tank. 75g tank with only 32g storage :( I only want to have a bout 10-15 gallons tap mixed in.

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Sean Buehrle
10-06-2011, 10:20 PM
I'm not sure, it was supposed to be here today and idk what happened. Should tomorrow though. I have to drain tank in am and put what water I do have inside then run it all day and when off work add that water to tank. 75g tank with only 32g storage :( I only want to have a bout 10-15 gallons tap mixed in.

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I seen it in your link provided, it's not adjustable, so your going to have to put it farther up to the top, kinda sucks it doesn't adjust.

Your going to have to nail it first try.

And it looks like your going to want the washer on the inside with that model.

zchauvin
10-07-2011, 01:26 PM
I seen it in your link provided, it's not adjustable, so your going to have to put it farther up to the top, kinda sucks it doesn't adjust.

Your going to have to nail it first try.

And it looks like your going to want the washer on the inside with that model.

I'll see soon as its here.

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DiscusOnly
10-07-2011, 02:09 PM
If the float valve is by Kent Marine, it's slightly adjustable. I have float valve installed in my 44gal brute. I can get you the height from top of where to drill the hole if you want.

Van

zchauvin
10-07-2011, 02:26 PM
If the float valve is by Kent Marine, it's slightly adjustable. I have float valve installed in my 44gal brute. I can get you the height from top of where to drill the hole if you want.

Van

I've got 32g and its from reefsupply or something like that
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DiscusOnly
10-07-2011, 02:33 PM
I've got 32g and its from reefsupply or something like that
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I'll get a picture of mine for you (since I have it out and emptied).

zchauvin
10-07-2011, 03:31 PM
I'll get a picture of mine for you (since I have it out and emptied).

Alright thanks vlam

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zchauvin
10-08-2011, 10:52 AM
Got it all setup and working guys thanks for the help.

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zchauvin
10-09-2011, 06:25 PM
If my Di resin is completely gone should I remove it or not. Will it make a difference

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jimg
10-09-2011, 07:05 PM
take it off.....don't look back!

Sean Buehrle
10-09-2011, 07:20 PM
Yeah you don't need a DI unit.

Think about it, your adding tap back to your ro water to raise the tds.

Only reason you would need a DI Unit would be if you were adding your own additives to raise tds.

Glad ya got it goin.

zchauvin
10-09-2011, 07:44 PM
Ok thanks guys, ill take it off and hope to not get sprayed lol

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zchauvin
10-10-2011, 05:59 PM
Correct me if I'm wrong for being pissed right now but I checked my ph and tds today.... Tds is 30 and ph is back to like 7.8. Did the Di really do that much... I'm not even sure if its worth it now, feels to me like I spent money and did all this for nothing.

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jimg
10-10-2011, 06:56 PM
the tds will be a little higher for the first week or so. yes di will do that but imo it's not worth as much as you will go through.
my tds tap is about 380+- my ro ph is 6.4 yours should be lower than 7.8. what is your out of tap? check kh and gh

zchauvin
10-10-2011, 07:02 PM
I have no kh or gh test kits and my tap is like 8.1. The first day I ran my unit the ph was 6 or lower. Api test kit showed yellow(6 is the lowest) and now dark blue(7.6 being the higher). With that said the water in my storage container is very dark blue. Id suspect 8 at least. I checked my tank when I got home and with 15 gallons of tap and 60g ro my tds is 168. I figured that was cool and then checked ph-8.1. I then did a 32g water change figuring the higher ph was from my tap I had left before I got unit, while the pump was running I checked my storage to see tds and ph since I removed di yesterday and I saw the high ph of ro water.

jimg
10-10-2011, 07:31 PM
I am not sure what may be in your water, but the first thing i would do is get the kh reading. that is very important. your ph can read 8.0 now but if kh is very low it could swing all over. I'm thinking if your tests are all good and everything is working as it should, you may be able to very simply add a discus buffer type product.
Don't feel bad, I got some heckles a few years back and the new ro unit was reading about 60 tds, that's how I found they take a while. Then about a month later I noticed the tds kept getting higher, i went crazy trying to find out what was piped wrong, what I found was the rubber o-ring/gasket on the bottom of one of the filters was crooked and chlorine was getting into the membrane. they sent me a new membrane and filters and everything was fine.
nothing worse than when you expect something to be the fix to a problem and it ends up being more of a problem!
try to get a nutrifin kh/gh test kit.

zchauvin
10-10-2011, 07:35 PM
Yep... I will deff do as you say. My waters buffering capacity must be horrible, I put my brain to work for a few seconds lol. Took my test tube and put it right at the ro water coming out and guess what? Ph of 6 or less, in the tank and storage barrel from earlier high 7-8. My ph spiked from 6 or below to 7-8(or higher) in 24h. My question is how I could buffer the water? Sure they have a neutral regulator to hold a ph steady but what, soon as my storage fills I would have to add it. Theres no way I see of doing it.

jimg
10-10-2011, 07:47 PM
your tap must have a very high kh. get the kit first then we can try to figure out which buffer/additive you might need.
I have been having the same trying to keep the altum water at 5.5. I add maybe 3-4 gallons of tap to about 40 gallons of ro to get a little kh and I keep putting muriatic acid in and it keeps going right back up to 6+. and i hardly have a kh reading at all. I'll figure it, just takes time and something I am short of...patience!

Sean Buehrle
10-10-2011, 08:33 PM
Discus buffer works pretty well to buffer water and drop ph but I would wait on that for now.

Where did you get your ro system ?

I've never had a ro put out more than 10 tds before, and I've had tap at 500 tds.

Something doesn't seem right.

I'm wondering how well your tds meter is working.

Here's another thought about testing ph of ro water that needs to be addressed maybe someone more advanced in water can chime in on-

I read somewhere that you'll always get an incorrect reading testing the ph of ro water, I'll try and find that article.

kent1963
10-10-2011, 08:39 PM
If I remember correctly the filmtec site reports its 100 gpd membranes have a 90% rejection rate while the 50 and 75 are 98%. So if your tds is 400 going in @ 90% your tds will be 40 ? Dos that sound right or am I missing something?

zchauvin
10-10-2011, 08:54 PM
I have the ocean wave 5 stage ro/Di from the filter guys. Any help here would be nice. I will pick up a test kit for kh and gh tomorrow asap

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TURQ64
10-10-2011, 09:49 PM
All parts assembled correctly?..Membrane in the right direction?..Pretty strange, as I run a separate RO from the waste of another RO, and altho' the membrane wear is a bit premature, even it reads the same as the base units running on tap, and the TDS going in is over 800...out, around 23

zchauvin
10-10-2011, 11:29 PM
All parts assembled correctly?..Membrane in the right direction?..Pretty strange, as I run a separate RO from the waste of another RO, and altho' the membrane wear is a bit premature, even it reads the same as the base units running on tap, and the TDS going in is over 800...out, around 23

Yeah Gary, that's what I don't understand. I don't know how anything is setup wrong. It came pre put together and I looked over everything several times. It's all in working order. Tds is at 30 as of now, and ph still marking yellow(6). It's just after it had been inside/aged that it jumped back to dark blue, which I would say is 8.1. This was the ph reading of our water last we checked for pool.

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zchauvin
10-10-2011, 11:35 PM
Edit.. I added some discus buffer about thirty minutes ago and these are my current readings. Tds out of faucet- 381, tds from ro water storage with added discus buffer-131, tds in my tank-111. Ph in ws is 6ish, tank about 7.6, and tap who knows probably around 8(dark blue)

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Sean Buehrle
10-11-2011, 06:43 AM
Today when your out and about buy a bottle of aquafina bottled water and test it's tds, I'll do the same.

Tds of aquafina is supposed to be about 4.

zchauvin
10-11-2011, 07:13 AM
Today when your out and about buy a bottle of aquafina bottled water and test it's tds, I'll do the same.

Tds of aquafina is supposed to be about 4.

Will do, I'm going test the ph and tds of my ws right now to see how much the ph jumped with the buffer I added last night.

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zchauvin
10-11-2011, 07:24 AM
Ok, tds is 101 and ph about 6.1-6.2. Water has the slightest tint of greenish color but not enough to say anything about. So although my tds went up slightly with buffer added it did dilute some what with the rest of ro. Also the ph seems to be holding so far. Its been about 9 hours since added so I will check again when I'm home from work.

Second Hand Pat
10-11-2011, 07:52 AM
Zach, how did you add the buffer? If you have not already add aeration to the water to thoroughly mix everything from the bottom of the container to the top. A power head will serve the same purpose.

TURQ64
10-11-2011, 08:06 AM
I'd be doing more investigating as to why the shift is happening in the tank..RO isn't an additive, so something real is altering the product. Buffers are a hard road to go down raising Discus due to WC frequency...Something's still up.....BB tank, or rocks,gravel, substrate??

zchauvin
10-11-2011, 09:46 AM
I'd be doing more investigating as to why the shift is happening in the tank..RO isn't an additive, so something real is altering the product. Buffers are a hard road to go down raising Discus due to WC frequency...Something's still up.....BB tank, or rocks,gravel, substrate??

Just toy sand, nothing else. I'm at a loss. But the tank isn't the problem, the tds went down because I had a higher ro/tap ratio so that's right, its just that my ph goes from 6-8 after aging...

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Discus Origins
10-11-2011, 10:14 AM
Two things not adding up...post membrane product water should be 5-10ppm with new unit, when it gets up to 25-30ppm that's when the membrane should be changed. Second, ph of product water is usually 7 or just below. Def something wierd going on but prob will help us all when you test the KH, GH of tap and product water.

If you are trying to achieve softer water, you shouldn't use discus buffer...it's phosphate based and adds back the very junk that you were trying to take out in the first place. Your tap is so hard that it should have enough buffering capacity to help stabilize ph. I agree with Francis, ph measurements of RO water is not accurate so I would trust more in whats happening in the tank once post WC.

DiscusOnly
10-11-2011, 10:30 AM
How are you testing your TDS? Did you get an inline TDS meter attached to your RO unit? I agree with Mark about something not being right if you get 25-30ppm on a new RO unit. I use an inline TDS meter on my unit with IN=109ppm/ OUT=6ppm

Van

zchauvin
10-11-2011, 10:54 AM
I'm using a ez-tds tds meter off of eBay. My tap tds is 380 and tds out of ro 0. Then when I tested it again a few days later it said 30- perhaps something leaking from brute can? Ph has always been 6 from unit, then 7.6+ after 24h aging. Tds of tank water is 101 with 60g ro and 15g tap- when I added ro water it had not aged yet thus why the ph spiked in tank as it did in water storage. The only time my tds jumped greatly in water storage is when I added discus buffer-131 then back down to 101 once it finished filling with ro. And for a side note, the first time I got the 30tds reading was once I removed Di canister

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zchauvin
10-11-2011, 06:41 PM
Will a saltwAter kh kit work?

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jimg
10-11-2011, 06:58 PM
tds is high because it is new, been through that a few times.
your tank/barrel ph is probably high due to you tap probably has high kh and you added tap to it.
I said a discus buffer type product, not necessarily meaning discus buffer itself. I don't use buffers any more so I am not up to date on exactly which discus buffer it is but there are some that will lower the ph, raise kh and keep it there. It all depends on the kh which you use
my ro is 6.4ph with 380 tds so there is nothing wrong with your reading there.
does not matter where you get the ro units from, they are all nothing but plastic housings. the filters do nothing other than keep the membrane cleaner and chlorine free so it lasts longer, most all have filmtec,ge membranes. from what I understand the other companies that have their name on them buy them from dow, there is supposedly only a couple of companies that manufacture membranes.
I doubt there is anything wrong with you tds meter or ph test kit.

zchauvin
10-11-2011, 07:00 PM
Well I checked earlier and ph stayed same in water storage with the buffer added but tds is now 110ish. Ro tds coming out is 0- think I was getting tds leak due to my water barrel being full. Just have to get this ph to stop rising from 6- to 7.6 ish. I got a kh test kit but says saltwater... Will it work?

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jimg
10-11-2011, 07:04 PM
not sure if the salt water kit will work

zchauvin
10-11-2011, 07:06 PM
not sure if the salt water kit will work

And I just went to lfs and they gave me it..... ****

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jimg
10-11-2011, 07:06 PM
I hate to rain on you parade but I have never seen tds from ro around 400 with 0 tds! i didn't ruin it for ya did i?

jimg
10-11-2011, 07:07 PM
And I just went to lfs and they gave me it..... ****

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalkyou didn't expect them to let you walk out without buying something!
Check online see if it's the same

zchauvin
10-11-2011, 07:15 PM
I hate to rain on you parade but I have never seen tds from ro around 400 with 0 tds! i didn't ruin it for ya did i?

No, it was 16 not 0 but thanks

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jimg
10-11-2011, 08:14 PM
if it's 16 that means it's working fine now.almost all of mine start out a little high as I mentioned then come down. it will probably stay about there or it may get a little lower if it were a 75gpd I would say it should be about 10 or so. now we work on ph

zchauvin
10-11-2011, 08:37 PM
good... and yes this stupid ph swing... where to start?

TURQ64
10-11-2011, 08:58 PM
I'm of a mindset that if your TDS is where you want it to be, then blow off whatever the ph stuff says..WC's make anything swing'y hard..

zchauvin
10-11-2011, 09:08 PM
Yeah but shouldn't I be worried about my ph jumping from 6 go almost 8 while in my tank?? I don't want 1500 bucks worth of fish dying because I didn't do something right...

TURQ64
10-11-2011, 09:25 PM
I don't know your regimen, but if you are adding anything, be it tap,reject,buffers,or?, it has a reaction on the ph..Sometime check your water after adding salt for a treatment; the TDS will go thru the roof..Just an example, but..Basically, I use only water for buffering up, and acidic things for going down (non phosphates)...only slight changes from co2 gassoff...

zchauvin
10-11-2011, 09:53 PM
I don't know your regimen, but if you are adding anything, be it tap,reject,buffers,or?, it has a reaction on the ph..Sometime check your water after adding salt for a treatment; the TDS will go thru the roof..Just an example, but..Basically, I use only water for buffering up, and acidic things for going down (non phosphates)...only slight changes from co2 gassoff...

It would be 32g changed 3 time a week. I wouldn't be using any additives. This time was the exception because I am trying to get my ph to top swinging.

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zchauvin
10-12-2011, 09:48 AM
Ok guys, just a update... I still dont kh since the lfs sold me a salt water kit but with adding discus buffer my ro water has held a 6.2 ph for three days now. The tds is right over one hundred with the addition of the buffer. The starting tds coming from my unit is 11 as of the last day once tds creep clears. That being said, would it be better to add a gallon of my tap to the ro to stabilize and possibly not bring tds up 90 ppm or stick with the buffer. Or does it come down to me simply experimenting until I find the right equation... I'm trying to get the best water without blowing money on additives but also want the good quality and chemistry for my fish. I think a ph in the higher 6s and tds of mid to lower 100s should be fine for the wilds until they would start spawning. Once that happens I can use pure ro and do daily water changes and the ph swing won't be a problem. These are my ideas so far, if anyone has input I'm open ears.

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Discus Origins
10-12-2011, 10:03 AM
Really comes down to your personal preference. IMO if you're going to take the time to use RO then go all the way, why all the effort/money and not create natural conditions? Wilds are in conditions of less than 20ppm during flood periods and up to 60ppm during dry season. So target goal should be 60ppm range ideally.

With your tap parameters, I would think a 3:1 RO to tap ratio should get you below 100ppm and you can experiment from that point. Since we don't know RO KH, it could take more RO. But my preference would be to mix your water instead of using buffering chemicals.

zchauvin
10-12-2011, 11:20 AM
Really comes down to your personal preference. IMO if you're going to take the time to use RO then go all the way, why all the effort/money and not create natural conditions? Wilds are in conditions of less than 20ppm during flood periods and up to 60ppm during dry season. So target goal should be 60ppm range ideally.

With your tap parameters, I would think a 3:1 RO to tap ratio should get you below 100ppm and you can experiment from that point. Since we don't know RO KH, it could take more RO. But my preference would be to mix your water instead of using buffering chemicals.

Yeah, I'd like to just mix it but I added 60 gallons ro to my 15 gallons tap and it still made the ph spike and the tds 113. So ill probably have to do like 65-70g ro with 5-10g tap. But if I add more ro I will have even less buffering capacity and ph problems still... Lol I don't have an idea of what to do.

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Second Hand Pat
10-12-2011, 11:55 AM
Zach, can you get a freshwater KH test? That will tell you the buffering capability.

zchauvin
10-12-2011, 12:04 PM
Zach, can you get a freshwater KH test? That will tell you the buffering capability.

I'll try again today, lfs sold me sw yesterday...

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Discus Origins
10-12-2011, 02:19 PM
If you just stick with the same ratio during water changes you're not going to deal with ph fluctuations. It's only going to go down slowly with bio cycle and WCs will keep the ph from dropping too low.

zchauvin
10-12-2011, 03:36 PM
Well its the water in water storage straight from ro that spikes. I'm trying to figure what ratio to mix in order to keep my ph from speaking once aged. My kh has to be way to low.

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jimg
10-12-2011, 05:42 PM
I think your kh is high.

zchauvin
10-12-2011, 06:22 PM
I think your kh is high.

High??? I'm headed to lfs now and will get what they have.... All they have are api test strips... Guess it'll have to do

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zchauvin
10-12-2011, 07:13 PM
Kh in my tank is 40ppm, that's 60g ro and about 15g tap. Need I take it straight ro also right?

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jimg
10-12-2011, 07:36 PM
do straight tap and straight ro

zchauvin
10-12-2011, 07:57 PM
do straight tap and straight ro

Working on that now. I'm draining my water storage as we speak so it will have only new ro, not the one I added the buffer to two says ago.

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zchauvin
10-12-2011, 08:13 PM
Ok... Tap... Gh-60ppm, kh-240ppm, ph-7.6, tds-421

Ro.... Gh-0ppm, kh-30ppm, ph-6.2, tds-0

I let the ro run 5 minutes to get rid of tds creep. Guy from filterguys.biz said tds should be 10-15

The kh could be a little lower as the color was pretty much between the 0 and 40 tabs.
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jimg
10-12-2011, 09:34 PM
i figured it should be about 12 so I was close.
your tap kh in tap is very high that is why ph keeps going way up.
The kh in ro should be undetectable with the first drop.
look up and see which buffer type product will lower and maintain the ph but give you some gh.unless it's a planted tank with high light i wouldn't worry whether it's phosphate based. I just don't remember which buffer it was to tell you.
If you don't want to go that route then just add less tap but the gh imo will be a little too low.
I add tap to ro but my kh is 4 (71)

i don't trust strips I would order the drops
and are you sure the kh is higher than the gh?

zchauvin
10-12-2011, 09:36 PM
i figured it should be about 12 so I was close.
your tap kh in tap is very high that is why ph keeps going way up.
The kh in ro should be undetectable with the first drop.
look up and see which buffer type product will lower and maintain the ph but give you some gh.unless it's a planted tank with high light i wouldn't worry whether it's phosphate based. I just don't remember which buffer it was to tell you.
If you don't want to go that route then just add less tap but the gh imo will be a little too low.
I add tap to ro but my kh is 4 (71)

Id like to not use a buffer if at all possible. What should I do, Just mix till I get it right? I suppose i could go with only about 5 gallons of tap instead of 15ish. I'm not sure of how to mix the water up but I guess thats trial and error. Also what do you mean by gh too low?

Edit: All I could get were the strips, no other way around it.. I checked three places and they all had the strips and the saltwater liquid. Im positive, the gh said 0 and kh marked between 0-40ppm.. more towards the 0 thus why I guestimated around 20-30 ppm of kh

jimg
10-13-2011, 06:02 AM
gh is usually higher than kh.
mix until you get it right.
there is nothing wrong with using buffers, just have to make sure you mix consistently,same as tap

zchauvin
10-13-2011, 07:06 AM
Should I be looking for a certain kh?

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zchauvin
10-13-2011, 07:28 AM
Well let the tests begin... I tried to figure the exact amount or closes possible of tap I had in tank at start and I figure they had ten gallons.... That was too much. This morning my tds in water storage was 24, I'm not sure why but it did go up over night, the kh and gh were a tad higher as well. I added 2 gallons of water and we will see what happens. When I get home today ill drain my entire tank and add the ro mix I have now, then do 32 gallons more ro and 2 gallons more tap which would be about half from first time. Since my kh was 12 this should cut it down to roughly 4-6kh in my tank with the ph at 6.2-6.5. If all goes well, by Friday my tank water should be stabalized with a tds of 44, ph in lower 6s, and good buffering capacity.

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zchauvin
10-13-2011, 07:50 AM
Now that I think of it, I should have just added pure ro to tank and worked the tds, ph, and kh down over time instead of wasting all that water

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jimg
10-13-2011, 09:17 AM
i don't think without acid or a buffer you will get you ph in the low 6's
I wouldn't worry about the ph being that low anyway try to work for neutral.
imo it's good to have a some gh for the fish, too soft is no good either and with too low a kh it's hard to control. try not to figure how many gallons of one to another , just do like you said add the ro and just add enough tap a little at a time wait a few hours then retest until you get what you want. all water is different and reacts different. it takes trial and error to get what we want. your determined, so you'll get it!

zchauvin
10-13-2011, 09:29 AM
i don't think without acid or a buffer you will get you ph in the low 6's
I wouldn't worry about the ph being that low anyway try to work for neutral.
imo it's good to have a some gh for the fish, too soft is no good either and with too low a kh it's hard to control. try not to figure how many gallons of one to another , just do like you said add the ro and just add enough tap a little at a time wait a few hours then retest until you get what you want. all water is different and reacts different. it takes trial and error to get what we want. your determined, so you'll get it!

Thanks Jim, if I hit a stump I know who to ask. Appreciate the help

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TURQ64
10-13-2011, 09:49 AM
I get 6.1 straight from my RO/DI's..all three brands...that said, for some of my tanks, I do use acid (swore off phosphate based stuff long ago), and like my ph around 4.6..but that's another story....

zchauvin
10-13-2011, 09:57 AM
I get 6.1 straight from my RO/DI's..all three brands...that said, for some of my tanks, I do use acid (swore off phosphate based stuff long ago), and like my ph around 4.6..but that's another story....

I'm going to hopefully get it around 6.4-6.5. I'll be doing wc eod so we will see.

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Discus Origins
10-13-2011, 10:02 AM
Your KH should be closer to 0 in RO, carbonates are one of the dissolved solids that the membrane should have removed. As for ph, just let the bio load take it down slowly over time. When you do WC with RO water it should only take on the same ph as existing tank water because it shouldn't have buffering capacity.

zchauvin
10-13-2011, 10:36 AM
Your KH should be closer to 0 in RO, carbonates are one of the dissolved solids that the membrane should have removed. As for ph, just let the bio load take it down slowly over time. When you do WC with RO water it should only take on the same ph as existing tank water because it shouldn't have buffering capacity.

Alright, this morning my kh was about 20 Id say with 2 gallons tap water to 32 gallons ro. The ph was 6.4 and tds 44

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zchauvin
10-14-2011, 07:34 AM
Hey guys I'm still struggling with this. So far the only way I could get my ph to stay down was to use a buffer. Now that I'm trying to just mix it I can't get the ph to stop going back up.... I started with 15g to 60g mix then 10 and then 5...... Got my tds in tank down to 98 so far, one more wc and it should be down to around 60. Only problem is that the buffer brought my tds up to 130 but kept 6.2 ph. So, which is more important, having a low ph or soft water. With ph going up, my tank water has a ph of close to 8 and tds of 60-70. Other way is tds 140 and ph 6.2

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TURQ64
10-14-2011, 07:39 AM
I think you have a good case of 'confusing yourself with the facts'...There are many opinions in the context of what you just posted. Even books written on each facet. I think that soft water and stable TDS is why my fish thrive, but that's my opinion. When I come home from out of town, my fish seem happy. But from the difference in the amts of water I change vs. my wife, the ph differences are scary...fish are usually fine either way, as long as the TDS remains the same, or close...that's my take

FWIW, Jim, Mark, and I all have slightly differing views or approachs on RO, so perhaps there's a case of 'too many cooks'...dunno, matey...

zchauvin
10-14-2011, 07:45 AM
Thanks Gary

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TURQ64
10-14-2011, 08:27 AM
You are welcome. Even now, it's still a case of 'what works for you'...you have the tools; find a spot, and stick to it..Learn how to control it, not the other way around..

Discus Origins
10-14-2011, 10:14 AM
FWIW, Jim, Mark, and I all have slightly differing views or approachs on RO, so perhaps there's a case of 'too many cooks'...dunno, matey...

+1. Zach eventually you will find the right formula. Is there fish in the tank now? If there is no bio load the ph isn't going to drop on it's own. I think once the tank is established the water chemistry is going to change again.

zchauvin
10-14-2011, 10:49 AM
+1. Zach eventually you will find the right formula. Is there fish in the tank now? If there is no bio load the ph isn't going to drop on it's own. I think once the tank is established the water chemistry is going to change again.

No mark, no fish. I have two hydro sponges at lfs to be seeded now and will put 6 cories in there today hopefully and get a small bit of bio going in. Then a few days before fish come in I'll go get those sponge and put them in.

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jimg
10-14-2011, 11:24 AM
Hey guys I'm still struggling with this. So far the only way I could get my ph to stay down was to use a buffer. Now that I'm trying to just mix it I can't get the ph to stop going back up.... I started with 15g to 60g mix then 10 and then 5...... Got my tds in tank down to 98 so far, one more wc and it should be down to around 60. Only problem is that the buffer brought my tds up to 130 but kept 6.2 ph. So, which is more important, having a low ph or soft water. With ph going up, my tank water has a ph of close to 8 and tds of 60-70. Other way is tds 140 and ph 6.2

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalkimo they are both important tds of 130 is fine for wild discus ph over 7.0 ime is too high for wilds. find a medium. to let the ph go from 6.2 to over 7.6 or whatever you were getting is too much of a swing.

zchauvin
10-14-2011, 12:03 PM
imo they are both important tds of 130 is fine for wild discus ph over 7.0 ime is too high for wilds. find a medium. to let the ph go from 6.2 to over 7.6 or whatever you were getting is too much of a swing.

Yeah, that's my main worry.
I don't want the ph doing that after I put it into my tank, that's why I'm trying to find a way to keep it steady before taking out of water storage
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