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Thread: DIY Remineralization for RO Water

  1. #31
    Registered Member zergling's Avatar
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    Default Re: DIY Remineralization for RO Water

    Just want to chime in and echo Larry and Chad about aquariumfertilizer.com. They are also my go-to place for dry ferts. The owner is one of the founders of our local SFBAAPS club.

    I think this DIY remineralization thread is going to be blessing to this hobby, as it allows folks to go start with RO (and DI?) water and set the mineralization level(?) exactly where they want it. The reef folks have been doing this for who knows how long, and the freshwater shrimp folks have also started doing this a few years ago.

  2. #32
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    Default Re: DIY Remineralization for RO Water

    Thanks Jeff, this all sounds great, I am having a slight difficulty in sourcing these chemicals so I wanted to ask if you know if it is safe to use Calcium Chloride Dihydrate CaCl2 * 2H20 instead of CaS04 and if ok would it be the same quantity? Also if that is not ok, do you then know if there is any difference between Calcium Sulphate (Gypsum) (Dihydrate) CaS04 * 2H20 and the Plaster of Paris which people generally seem to be using? Also how important are the last two (Iron and Manganese). Do you think that it would be safe to skip them if I canīt source them?

    Any advise greatly appreciated and keep up the good work!

    Iceman

  3. #33
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    Default Re: DIY Remineralization for RO Water

    RO won't change your pH much, but will make it very unstable, unless you use the RO right (seachem substitute) to increase your KH. It is very likely that your pH is very rapidly becoming more acidic once you add it to your tank with your fish, as one of the by products of the nitrogen cycle (caused by the ammonia your fish excrete) is acid. If after mixing in the seachem substitute, in your tank is still high after a day, (very unlikely) you can decrease the pH with muriatic acid easily and cheaply obtained from Home Depot.

    You can still get all of the ingredients from greenleafaquariums.com for a good price.

    One batch if you use 1/2 teaspoon per 10 gallons, will give you more than 7000 gallons of treated water.This should give you a KH of around 2-3 which will keep a 50 gallon tank with 8 heavily fed juvi discus in it stable (pH decreasing by less than .6 units) for at least 2 days.

  4. #34
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    Default Re: DIY Remineralization for RO Water

    So much appreciation for this thread, thanks everyone!

  5. #35
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    Default Re: DIY Remineralization for RO Water

    I'm sorry to bring up this old thread, but does anyone know if the website suggested still sells iron sulfate FeSO4? I have looked all over the site and it seems to be the only ingredient in the list i cant find. Unless, it's under a different name. Any help would be great. I have looked around the web, a little, and i have not found straight FeSO4. Is it not made? Thanks for any help. I would also like to say THANK YOU for this thread. I am about to switch over to RO due to poor well water quality.
    Last edited by Topix; 01-12-2015 at 09:04 PM. Reason: added appreciation

  6. #36
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    Default Re: DIY Remineralization for RO Water

    Ok - so most opinions are that treated tap is fine for discus. The main things that treatment does is break down chlorine and chloramine which does produce ammonia. Most chlorine/chloramine treatments address this with I believe a binding factor that converts any bad ammonia into non harmful ammonia. An RO filter will remove most of the ammonia - haven't seen one that does 100%.

    Ok John a contributor said he sometimes runs some or all of his RO reject water back into his tanks - the chlorine and chloramine being broken by the carbon prefilter that I assume you are also running.

    I kept this idea in reserve for a while but have recently been occasionally putting some RO reject back into my system, with no ill affects. I did buy a Seachem Ammonia Alert for my tank (I believe there are other competitors - note most test kits measure total ammonia not just the harmful kind.) Will probably buy a liquid test for harmful ammonia as well.

    Note I am not putting anywhere near all of my RO reject in the tank, most go onto various plants, but I do plan on putting in some on a semi regular basis just to address the concern you express - getting trace elements back into the water in the tank.

    Thinking about it if treated tap is good and the things you are worried about are chlorine chloramine and ammonia this makes sense as long as your carbon breaks the chloramine and chlorine - and any remaining ammonia is the not harmful kind or you otherwise address it.

    My suggestion would be to test your RO reject and if good, use that. You have already paid for the water why not use it if you can? Using the RO reject will give you the trace minerals you are seeking but free of the chlorine chloramine and ammonia.

    Thanks John for the hint!

  7. #37
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    Default Re: DIY Remineralization for RO Water

    OK, I have switched what I use a bit. The formula using all of the sulfates was actually based on Seachem equilibrium which is specifically for planted tanks and contains lots of potassium but very little calcium. I found that when using this mix at higher levels, as for growing out fry, that it contributed to more algae than I liked. So I found Seachem's Replenish formula and am now using something similar to that.

    To make this I use Calcium Chloride from SR aquaristiK that I get from Big Al's http://www.bigalspets.com/search/go?w=calcium+chloride (cheap if you need other stuff or you buy enough to get free shipping). I use K2SO4 from Greenleafaquariums.com, MNSO4 from Greenleaf as well, and Epson salts (from Walmart) as the magnesium. I calculated the approximate amounts (from molecular weights, etc including the hydration from water), and used this to come up with this mixture.

    12.2 ounces calcium chloride
    2.2 ounces Epson salts (Magnesium)
    0.08 ounces potassium sulfate
    .5 ounces aquarium salt
    I also add a pinch of manganese sulfate as a trace element

    This adds overall adds a bit of chloride to the mix and a small amount of sulfate.

    It makes the GH much easier to read than with all the potassium in the equilibrium-like mixture.

    I have found that 1/2 teaspoon of this will raise 40 gallons of RO water about 1 dgGH (about 20 ppm).

    I haven't been adding trace elements like Kent Discus trace, but they probably would not hurt

    I use a postal scale to weigh these. The above amount makes almost 1/2 kilo of the stuff, and will last a long time.
    Last edited by Alight; 05-09-2015 at 02:08 PM.

  8. #38
    Silver Member Willie's Avatar
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    Default Re: DIY Remineralization for RO Water

    I live close to the University of Minnesota and can get lab grade chemicals to remineralize my R/O water. After a few years, I've stopped using these chemicals and recently sold them at the local fish club auction. Now my discus are raised in straight R/O with no additional minerals added. They grow fast and spawn fine without these chemicals.

    Just my 2 cents.

  9. #39
    Registered Member limige's Avatar
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    Default Re: DIY Remineralization for RO Water

    whats your ph been doing?

    I have been using RO right and the ph still drops pretty quick on a daily basis.
    so I purchased the neutralizer and discus buffer, a little bit of each has stabilized my ph and my angel pair finally resumed breeding.

    I have to imagine straight RO is drifting all over the place
    mike

  10. #40
    Silver Member Willie's Avatar
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    Default Re: DIY Remineralization for RO Water

    It's not accurate to describe pH as drifting. The readings do fluctuate, but that's because very soft water has no pH to speak of. You'll find that, by choosing the phosphate based buffers that you did, your pH is drifting within the week. Phosphate based buffers are metabolized by bacteria and are themselves unstable.

    Willie

  11. #41
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    Default Re: DIY Remineralization for RO Water

    The pH is more stable with the replenish like stuff I mentioned above. I have found that 1 teaspoon of this will take 50 gallons of water from less than 1 GH to 2-2.5 GH. This is calcium hardness. RO right must not have very much calcium in it. The calcium is a good buffer. Of course, depending on the KH you go to, your pH will move downward as your fish produce nitrates.

    Al Light

  12. #42
    Registered Member kingsman's Avatar
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    Default Re: DIY Remineralization for RO Water

    Just a quicky how are you mixing chemicals, mixing powders evenly is very difficult.

  13. #43
    Registered Member limige's Avatar
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    Default Re: DIY Remineralization for RO Water

    I have found my buffers are adding too much calcium, eggs don't hatch well. so i'm not going to use them when a pair is about to spawn, otherwise I will use them
    mike

  14. #44
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    Default Re: DIY Remineralization for RO Water

    Kingsman, I mix the powders up in an old RO right container. I put each in one at a time. Then shake the heck out of the batch ( I make up about a pound at a time, so there is the RO container is only about 2/3rds full).

    Mike, your are right, you should not use much for spawning. For breeding, I use only 1/2 teaspoon in 50 gallons of water. This makes the GH around 1. For the fry, I double or triple this amount, which makes the GH 2 or 3 respectively.

    Al

  15. #45
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    Default Re: DIY Remineralization for RO Water

    I know this is an old tread and this is a long shot but I feel like the original recipe is just way too potassium heavy. Looks to me like Alight figured this out and adjusted accordingly. I would love some input from anyone that is making their own mix. I've got to treat 1000 gallons every couple days.

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