Re: Pool sand or bare for 11 new discus
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AH HA !!! ok putting together all the knowledge i recieved here, my own research and finally the last piece - a very good plumber just spent two hours here with me drawing out and designing a system, for dirt cheap really, to do what i really NEED.
I finally figured out WHY some people use RO and some people say dont do it. it seemed really quite confusing ! it now all makes sense, i knew some things the plumber knew some things, some things i learned from here and others i heard from the water test etc.
The Ro unit we know makes distilled or dead water, some say that your body literally has to take away Ca and Mg from itself to process it, which is why its then harmful to youngsters growing or elderly etc UNLESS you remineralize it. HOWEVER most universities and studies (see link below) are saying thats not true but im just going to focus on the fact that fish do need a source to grow, of minerals that is,
the recommended way of doing that is raw water added back in to the amount that brings it up to the conductivity for the fish. i do not know how truly effective Discus trace etc is but if we can TAKE mineral supplements then surely so can fish? but i was told the supplement does not stop that stripping process in young fish, or thats what i now put together with the plumbers help.
Does the RO take out the iron or high mineral content? well it will be shot in a very very short time if it does, and yes the DI unit is designed to do that part of it but thats last so its ruining the rest of the unit meanwhile.
so we need minerals in fact nothing in my water will hurt anyone hurrah ! so i CAN use straight tap yes but the iron build up ruins my pumps and hard calcium deposits on the tank, overlaid with brownish iron make people look at my tanks and say ewwwhehe
also , in well water which wasnt tested, can be cysts, bacteria and organic compounds which are going to cause some level of sickness in unboiled water consumption. or could. that could also cause issues for the fish or my pets.
So the plumber said that chlorine oxidizes iron out which i have read before , and then you need to remove the iron precipitate and chlorine. REMOVED totally before drinking or using for pets, but using it will shock bacteria and other nasties and also oxidize iron to a precipitate. which is then filtered out by a string filter a very good one im going to get will still not cost much at all, you can buy cheaper versions in home depot but you want a clear one so you know when to clean. the CL we decided to use will still be in it so we then run it through what 100fuegos (thank you) suggested a really really good carbon filter or GAC , the plumber knew a lot about which forms of carbon are the highest grade and he is getting a unit for still only a couple hundred bucks which will take out the chlorine, i will still prime for fishand we will repeatedly test the water levels and i will have a cl tester to make sure in the beginning there are no swings, etc we set it up right and all is well !
TA DA !! i have a plan and all this for under $1000 with installation, my well water is pretty severe and I do not HAVE to do it but for the dogs and to drink it and to stop it from breaking all my pumps which happens to cost a lot over time.....i am going to do it.
He said i could still put it through the RO after that and remineralize from raw water, i dont need to at that point but i could, because all of this is on a shut off system i can turn on and off as i please, i am in control of what water i want where. For wilds i might take that extra step, but i will measure my resulting EC/TDS and test gh and kh as normal and see where my pH is at too then at that point and go from there.
links telling me about iron and manganese safety and content in my water etc
http://www.bae.ncsu.edu/programs/ext...qwm/he394.html
and links about the RO
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/the-tr...ut-rodi-water/
Originally Posted by Ryan
