ro units

[Hart24601]

I'm not dogmatically opposed to the use of DI, but for freshwater it is not practical for me to use it.

The cost may be slight in your case, but for those of us that have an appreciable amount of CO2 in the water the DI resin is tapped out very quickly. With my water, I would be repacking resin every 200 gallons for a standard 10" can... it would cost a lot.

In the case of nitrate, my RO removes >90% of it, so if the source water is, say, 20 ppm the RO product water is about 2 ppm, not an amount to worry much about. A pothos plant would take care of that, a much easier and cheaper method than DI.

I wonder where something like C14H19N4+ would stand in the affinity sequence? Do you think a cation like that would be dumped back as the resin fills with more prevalent cations?

If I burned through DI that fast I wouldn't use it either. I had an older RO system that wasn't particularly efficient so I wanted the DI to pick up the remaining TDS (and it was for a reef tank too) but with a BRS 1:1 water saver I only get 1ppm tds which I worry less about getting into the tank.

I suspect that compound has a low affinity and it would be released as the resin fills and is near capacity. Heck if you have ammonia in the tap water you can smell the DI releasing it when the resin fills up and is displaced. I use a dual DI with a TDS meter between them so I can see exhaustion before it fills up.

[Hart24601]

That's kinda where I was going, when you first mentioned run-off I was thinking a post carbon filter would be more practical, and do a better job, than a DI filter. I am still of the opinion that DI for freshwater is a waste, but for each his own, it won't hurt.

That's cool. Like most things in the hobby there is a cost/benefit analysis we all do. I posted the above to show I have done some research and it's not totally unfounded why I run it. I encourage people to look into it and think about their source water and decide for themselves.

[AK420ORIGAMI]

That's cool. Like most things in the hobby there is a cost/benefit analysis we all do. I posted the above to show I have done some research and it's not totally unfounded why I run it. I encourage people to look into it and think about their source water and decide for themselves.

I am hoping this is not a dead horse thread as I just set up a Bulk Reef 4 stage today and it is filling up my first 5 gallon carboy. I initially thought I would mix the water 50 50 as I hear it often is, then I am thinking if I use RODI water 100 % then add the missing chemistry, I could control the water perimeters more. Is anyone doing this??

tanks
d

[Hart24601]

I still use 100% ro/di water for all my fw tanks not just discus. I just add a bit of baking soda and seachem remineralizer.

[Neptune]

I am hoping this is not a dead horse thread as I just set up a Bulk Reef 4 stage today and it is filling up my first 5 gallon carboy. I initially thought I would mix the water 50 50 as I hear it often is, then I am thinking if I use RODI water 100 % then add the missing chemistry, I could control the water perimeters more. Is anyone doing this??

tanks
d

That is exactly what a lot of people do. You have complete control.

[Jack L]

I am hoping this is not a dead horse thread as I just set up a Bulk Reef 4 stage today and it is filling up my first 5 gallon carboy. I initially thought I would mix the water 50 50 as I hear it often is, then I am thinking if I use RODI water 100 % then add the missing chemistry, I could control the water perimeters more. Is anyone doing this??

tanks
d

i used to do 100% RO then ad backs, but in my never ending tweaking to drive maintenance time and costs down.. i now do 50/50 and that has been working fine

[Neptune]

I do 50/50 as well. Working for me too!

[alron2]

I do 50/50 as well. Working for me too!

Are we talking about in the breeding tanks or general discus tanks?

Just a poor boy trying to learn.

Ron

[Neptune]

Are we talking about in the breeding tanks or general discus tanks?

Just a poor boy trying to learn.

Ron

display tank.

[Neptune]

look on craigslist for units. For some reason they are a dime a dozen around here. You may not come out ahead if you have to replace cartridges, but if you shop around I've found some nearly new units for cheap.