DIY Remineralization for RO Water

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Hello friends,

In an attempt to experiment with bringing down the costs of the remineralization of RO water and using RO Right, I dug through many websites, forums and blogs to find that not many people have researched this experiment.

I did however find an old thread from 5 years ago that listed a formula compatible to RO Right and Seachem Equilibrium.

Here was the formula:

Powdered compound Grams needed
K2SO4 43.5
CaSO4 34.7
MgSO4 24.7
FeSO4 0.30
MnSO4 0.16
Total weight 103.3

This should give a percentage concentration that will do the job. The author of the thread is in the UK and found that the costs to do this were much higher making 100 grams almost 6 to 1.

Here is the complete thread I found.

http://www.apistogramma.com/forum/index.php?threads/remineralisation-salts-for-ro-water.6147/

The reason for this experiment is simple, since I use 250 grams of RO Right weekly, the costs add up pretty quick. And given no conclusive evidence that Instant Ocean sea salt is the same composition as RO Right I feel compelled to try and make my own solution without harming my fish and altering the water with respect to RO Right that I currently use that is much cheaper with the same results.

[Chad Hughes]

You should be able to make this recipe for less than one US dollar. I use all of these chemicals in planted tanks.

K2SO4 43.5 $0.19
CaSO4 34.7 $0.68
MgSO4 24.7 $0.05
FeSO4 0.30 $0.01
MnSO4 0.16 $0.01


Total weight 103.3 $0.94

[DiscusLoverJeff]

That is good to know Chad. Do you have a source for buying them in bulk possibly?

[Chad Hughes]

I don't have a sole source but most of these items can be found on Ebay. Make sure you purchase solution grade products!

[Larry Bugg]

http://www.aquariumfertilizer.com/

[Jeff O]

That is good to know Chad. Do you have a source for buying them in bulk possibly?

+1 :)

[DiscusLoverJeff]

I don't have a sole source but most of these items can be found on Ebay. Make sure you purchase solution grade products!

Thank you again. I will pickup all these and mix to the quantities in the formula and test it on a single tank.

[Chad Hughes]

GREAT source!

I forgot all about this site.


http://www.aquariumfertilizer.com/

[DiscusLoverJeff]

http://www.aquariumfertilizer.com/

Thanks Larry!

[Larry Bugg]

Yup, before I got into Discus I had a house full of planted tanks. Still have some of the ferts sitting around. Might have to use them.

[DiscusLoverJeff]

You should be able to make this recipe for less than one US dollar. I use all of these chemicals in planted tanks.

K2SO4 43.5 $0.19
CaSO4 34.7 $0.68
MgSO4 24.7 $0.05
FeSO4 0.30 $0.01
MnSO4 0.16 $0.01


Total weight 103.3 $0.94

Chad I was able to find the first 3 ferts but not the last 2. Are they known by another name?

Thanks again everyone!

[Chad Hughes]

Iron Sulphate (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Iron-Sulfate-Water-Soluble-Powder-Ferrous-Sulfate-4-lbs-/170612691158?pt=Fertilizer_Soil_Amendments&hash=item27b94f10d6#ht_1577wt_1165) and Manganese Sulphate (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Manganese-Sulfate-Powder-32-Mn-1-Pound-/270341419492?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3ef19ab1e4#ht_1327wt_1165).

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Hello friends,

I received the ingredients needed to re-create RO Right (Generic).

Powdered compound Grams needed
K2SO4 43.5
CaSO4 34.7
MgSO4 24.7
FeSO4 0.30
MnSO4 0.16
Total weight 103.3

Using a fresh batch of RO/DI water with "0" TDS in my 32 gallon holding barrel, I added a half teaspoon at a time to get the desired 100 TDS (just for experiment). It required, just like RO Right just a bit over 1 full teaspoon.

The only difference that I noticed is it took a bit longer to disolve and get me to 100. Normally I can get there in 15 minutes with RO Right, this took about 30 minutes. I then tested it after 1 hour and it was still at 100 and then again after 2 hours.

I also checked my GH and KH and both were at zero. Same as using RO Right.

So, I will use this water in one of my next water changes today and see if there are any effects on the fish. Stay tuned.

Thanks.

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Just a one month update.

So far all my water parameters are doing great with the new RO mix. There are no visible effects on the fish. No added algae growth, nothing. All is working out perfectly for 1/4 the cost.

Cost for 1kg (1000 grams) of my mix is about $6.00 compared to RO Right at $26.00 (including shipping).

[bornlooser]

Thanks a lot Jeff...appreciate your good intentions and follow up.

[MostlyDiscus]

Hi Jeff, Good work there. Any idea how many gallons 1kg will treat? Would you be willing to sell me/ship on 1kg? Let me know the cost. Thx Ed

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Hi Ed,

I am not sure how much 1kg will treat as I have not measured that yet. I would say over 500 gallons depending on the TDS you want to hold.

As far as selling it, I am not doing that just yet as I want to try another month worth of testing. But I stated, for $31.00 shipped from the website I posted, you can make about 5kg of this mix. I have made 2kg so far and still have more than half of the mix left to make.

It is a good beneficial deal if you have a gram scale (needs to read 0.00) and some patients. Takes me about 15 minutes to make a batch.

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Thought with the recent inquiries I would do a 1 year update (almost a year). Everything is working well with this mix. TDS has been stable without any fluctuating differences. Savings are adding up as this mix has saved me a couple hundred dollars so far.

[timmy82]

Hello friends,

I received the ingredients needed to re-create RO Right (Generic).

Powdered compound Grams needed
K2SO4 43.5
CaSO4 34.7
MgSO4 24.7
FeSO4 0.30
MnSO4 0.16
Total weight 103.3

Using a fresh batch of RO/DI water with "0" TDS in my 32 gallon holding barrel, I added a half teaspoon at a time to get the desired 100 TDS (just for experiment). It required, just like RO Right just a bit over 1 full teaspoon.

The only difference that I noticed is it took a bit longer to disolve and get me to 100. Normally I can get there in 15 minutes with RO Right, this took about 30 minutes. I then tested it after 1 hour and it was still at 100 and then again after 2 hours.

I also checked my GH and KH and both were at zero. Same as using RO Right.

So, I will use this water in one of my next water changes today and see if there are any effects on the fish. Stay tuned.

Thanks.

Good stuff thanks for sharing I am working out what I will need to do when we move in 5 weeks going from town tap water out to rural where only tank rain water is available. It shouldn't be as touchy as R/o but I will need to put some minerals back in especially growing young. I currently run my town water throught tripple 10" filters 1st is 5 mic PP sediment 2nd is 5mic block carbon and 3rd is 1mic block carbon silver impregnated. I was thinking I will still need the PP sediment and maybe just fill the second with crished coral for calcium ect and 3rd filter PP again to keep the particles out.

[musicmarn1]

exactly !!! wow cool , i get mine from


http://greenleafaquariums.com/aquarium-fertilizer.html




You should be able to make this recipe for less than one US dollar. I use all of these chemicals in planted tanks.

K2SO4 43.5 $0.19
CaSO4 34.7 $0.68
MgSO4 24.7 $0.05
FeSO4 0.30 $0.01
MnSO4 0.16 $0.01


Total weight 103.3 $0.94



and Jeff, cool one year ! have you been using just Ro water alone with this mix and your not seeing any difference to using RO right? also your using this to breed or for what reason are you using all RO if i could guarantee i can keep things constant id like to make my own for my wilds since i despise my well water.



DiscusloverJeff:

Thought with the recent inquiries I would do a 1 year update (almost a year). Everything is working well with this mix. TDS has been stable without any fluctuating differences. Savings are adding up as this mix has saved me a couple hundred dollars so far.

[DiscusLoverJeff]

I use this most for breeding and holding TDS at 80. When I will use it to cut in with my tap water (30% RO 70% Tap) to hold TDS between 180/200 for the rest of my fish. With the recent spikes in my tap water, I am trying to keep a balance so nothing spikes like my PH recently did.

[Alight]

I am about to try out your remineralization substitute. Thanks for the great posting and the sources for the chemicals.

I tried to find the formula for RO right, and couldn't find it in the threads you posted, or anywhere else online. It seems it must have some sodium chloride in it. Your formula is spot on for the Seachem Equilibrium formula except for the very minor trace elements they also add. One thing to note, is that the amount of MgSO4 in this formula is for this compound in the hydrated form, as found in epsom salts (MgSO4-7H2O), just in case someone actually finds some anhydrous MgSO4 and tries to use it. For the small amount used for Discus, this probably would make no difference, but who knows. Looks like the iron sulfate could also be purchased at almost any drug store in tablets used as supplements. Epson salts in a find granule form can be purchased at most drug stores cheaply as well. Good to have epsom salts on board anyway in case of discus that bloat.

[rickztahone]

First time I see this post. Great job. I still have a ton of fertz left over from my planted tanks. May actually keep them now.

[eranio]

Hi Jeff,
Thanks for the updates! Great and helpful job you did!

I tried to understood but I'm not sure- what is the quantity (grams) for let say 30 gallon? (I use 75% RO and 30% tap water).

[Alight]

eranio, remineralization is used for RO water in place of the minerals from your tap water. If your GH with your 30% tap water is above 50 ppm, then you shouldn't need any RO right or additions. Jeff must have had a problem with his tap water not contributing enough buffer to counteract some pH changes, so added it also to his tanks that were not being used for breeding.

I did get my chemicals and made up a batch of the mix as per Jeff's original post. I converted the grams to ounces so I could use a cheap postal scale to mix up 1 Kilogram batches at a time.
The numbers are:
15.34 oz KSO4
12.24 oz CaSO4
8.7 oz MGSO4-7H2O (as epsom salts)
0.1 oz FeSO4
0.6 oz MnS04

This makes 1KG of mix.

I used it and found that this mix will increase your GH and KH if used in the same amount as Kent RO right (1/2 tsp for each 10 gallons). If you use that amount with pure RO water, you will get a GH of slightly less than 40, and KH of 2.
I didn't measure conductivity but suspect that Jeff's measurements are exactly what I would get. Note that he only uses 1 tsp for 30 gallons, so he probably does not have enough GH increase to measure.

This will work out very well, and will be much, much cheaper than Kent RO right. It also will contain no additonal sodium. As Jeff indicated, this mix does not change the pH at all. However, my RO water is slightly acid (pH 6.6) so the final of my tank water is 6.4 or so. This is a bit low for the babies I'm raising now, as they eat so much that the pH goes down pretty fast, so I will add a small amount of sodium bicarbonate (probably 1/2 tsp for 50 gallons) to the mix to compensate for this. Kent RO right changed my pH to neutral when I used it, likely because it contained some buffers to make neutral, no matter what they say (probably not much, and if the water wasn't RO water it likely would not have made the water neutral.

[DiscusLoverJeff]

I am glad you guys are trying this mix. I hope you have good results.

My kh/gh was 0 to 1 and after using what I needed, it only slightly brought them up to a safe 3 to 4 ph and 4 gh.

It did not alter my pH either. As my pH from 100% RO was 6.5/6.6 it never went higher or lower. I feel like this is working just fine for me and my fish.

Post your results and water parameters before and after you try it for a couple weeks. Maybe I can put a chart together to monitor other people's results.

[timmy82]

Hi Jeff, this is a great thread you have started here I have been using the mix for around 4 - 6 weeks now and is great. I have also found that yellow diamond are a good gauge to see how your water is mine come up a real strong nice yellow when I have the right amount of minerals in the water and they pale nearly no colour when not enough. I haven't done too much testing on the water but nothing very much changes no PH change and TDS or I use Um might be lucky to move up 10 Um.
Since adding it I have had larger spawns :-) and now successful attachment 3 pairs this week :-). Has taken a while for them to settle in after the big move 1300Km and going from Town supplied water to 100% rain water.

[DiscusLoverJeff]

I am glad this worked for you Timmy and you are having such good results. I wish you continued success.

[tiggert]

Wow! Will add this to my "to do" list. I've had odd results with tap water here in the past, so I'm going to try the RO + this mix to bring some consistency to my tanks....

Thanks for sharing!!!

[Iceman]

It sounds interesting and I think I will try this mix with my RO water if I can get all the chemicals locally. One thing I am curious about is the GH/KH. If this mix still leaves the RO water with GH and KH of zero what are you then doing to raise the GH/KH a little to stabilize the PH? Also if I may ask. I live in a water area that lacks KH (alkalinity) so the water is considered soft although PH straight from tap is about 9 (7,5 after a few hours). I have been using an RO unit to try to lower PH to at least PH6 with some success in the past but I recently bought a new membrane and filters on ebay and the RO unit is now reducing TDS to zero but not lowering the PH at all.

Any advise or suggestions?

Iceman

[zergling]

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.

[Iceman]

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 can´t source them?

Any advise greatly appreciated and keep up the good work!

Iceman

[Alight]

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.

[Irakusa]

So much appreciation for this thread, thanks everyone!

[Topix]

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.

[oliverk]

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!

[Alight]

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.

[Willie]

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.

[limige]

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

[Willie]

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

[Alight]

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

[kingsman]

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

[limige]

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

[Alight]

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

[19ghost79]

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.

[Adam S]

A recipe I got from Ian Fuller a while back was 1 part marine salt, 1 part epsom salt and 2 parts calcium carbonate. I just mix with tap water here, but the above mix is what I'd try if I needed it.

[gavogr]

Hi all, just wondering if anyone is still using anything like this in their water?
Anyone from Australia mixing their own or using anything similar?

Cheers

[Syris71]

I use RO water and reminerilize it. Its used on all my fw planted tanks and non-planted. I do not breed.

I shoot for 4 dKH and 4 dGH

For dKH, I use baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) at 2.5 tsp for my 40g RO storage bin.
And dGH, I use children's plaster of Paris (CaSO4, calcium) and Epsom salt pure (MgSO4, magnesium) at ~1.5 tsp calcium and 1tsp magnesium in RO storage bin

Since all my planted tanks get N,P,K and minor trace elements on a regular basis I do not add any to the RO. Been doing my RO for 8 yrs this way.

[gavogr]

I use RO water and reminerilize it. Its used on all my fw planted tanks and non-planted. I do not breed.

I shoot for 4 dKH and 4 dGH

For dKH, I use baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) at 2.5 tsp for my 40g RO storage bin.
And dGH, I use children's plaster of Paris (CaSO4, calcium) and Epsom salt pure (MgSO4, magnesium) at ~1.5 tsp calcium and 1tsp magnesium in RO storage bin

Since all my planted tanks get N,P,K and minor trace elements on a regular basis I do not add any to the RO. Been doing my RO for 8 yrs this way.

Cheers for the relpy

[FischAutoTechGarten]

I use RO water and reminerilize it. Its used on all my fw planted tanks and non-planted. I do not breed.

I shoot for 4 dKH and 4 dGH

For dKH, I use baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) at 2.5 tsp for my 40g RO storage bin.
And dGH, I use children's plaster of Paris (CaSO4, calcium) and Epsom salt pure (MgSO4, magnesium) at ~1.5 tsp calcium and 1tsp magnesium in RO storage bin

Since all my planted tanks get N,P,K and minor trace elements on a regular basis I do not add any to the RO. Been doing my RO for 8 yrs this way.

I'm going for dH/KH of 3+ myself... so I'd apply your amounts to a 50gallon water change. But I'd like to prepare enough of that for 4 water changes, so 200gallons. Could I mix those amounts in 2L of water and dose as 500mL each water change?

Is it possible for these minerals to stay in suspension in a 2L solution for 3 or 4 weeks?

[FischAutoTechGarten]

<continued as I couldn't edit>

I imagine the answer is no... to pre-dissolving all dry components into a stock solution... Just looking to leave the water in my RO Storage untreated so that I can pull from it on demand for top-offs (I live in the dry desert so water top-offs are daily)... Was looking for a way to treat RO Water during Water changes as it arrived in my 2-section sump (which holds about 35 gallons of water) and circulates to the other 6 tanks in the system.

The alternative is two RO water storage containers... Larger with re-mineralized water (with a heater and airpump) for water changes.. and a smaller untreated for top-offs... I have a second spare Mag5 to transfer the water and can wire up a few more level switches... Just need to have the solenoid that turns off supply to the RO Unit looking at the high level float switches in both storage containers.... Fun stuff.

[Syris71]

Not sure if they would stay in solution without some kind of agitation. The calcium seems the hardest to keep mixed, I run a Mag 5 when mixing it and then leave a old wavemaker powerhead in the storage running 24/7. I still end up with some white crud buildup on the bottom of the barrel. Not sure what it is, could be calcium falling out of solution :confused: After a month of this I end up rinsing/cleaning out the storage bin.

I do use this re-mineralized RO water for topoffs. The largest tank I have is a 55g open top and add about ~2.5g/week before WC. Since I do 50%WC on this tank it 'resets' the GH/KH values, to a point, if topoffs were causing a drift in values. I have tested my tank KH/GH values at the beginning and the end of the week, the values stay fairly consistent. But I live in a high humidity area, whereas you are in a drier environment I'm not sure if your topoffs would have more impact. Might be worth testing if you have a spare tank in the fish room.

[FischAutoTechGarten]

My top-offs are big.... 15+ gallons a week. so for now... My 5 day water changes are supervised so that I can perform the re-minteralization as the 53 gallons arrives....

The top-offs are automatic, so at least I'm not dragging a bucket and putting 3 gallons in my sump nearly every day.

I'm going on a large working trip that will occupy me for 2 1/2 weeks. I'm literally going to do about an 80% water change (two 50 gallon water changes back to back over two days) and then instuct the person looking after my fish to just feed each morning... once a day. I'll cut back on the auto dosing of micro and macro nutrients as well.

I might come back to a few fish that didn't make it... and a jungle of aquatic plants.... maybe some algae, but that's fine. Later part of July I'll tackle this whole water change remineralization thing. I'm thinking I'll do two storage containers... one that is mineralized.... a 58 gallon batch at a time.. with an airstone and fountain pump moving things around... Just before water changes that will occur every 5 days I can just really agitate it with a paddle to get things suspended again as it pumps over to the FIshNook for 25 minutes.

I'll keep a smaller 30 gallon vessel to hold pure RO water for top offs and my quarantine tanks.

I'll have to work my mojo to keep the RO Unit filling both containers and stopping which ever one gets full.... and then turning off the water supply when both are full. I've got a number of additional float switches and solenoid valves laying around and I can just put another RaspberryPi4B and NodeRED solution to manage it (I own all of the stuff, it's just putting in the engineering/programming effort). Actually, it would probably be better to just expand the solution that is already in the fishnook. I have a really good wire chase to run the additional sensors and switched outlets.