Rodi water

[Andy27012]

I am planning on using a Rodi system for my discus as I already have a unit from keeping reeftanks. I understand that it is not needed but I am inquisitive as to why more individuals don't use them? With so much emphasis being placed on clean water it seems like you want to start with as close to pure water as possible. i am interested to hear people's reason for using/not using them. It doesn't seem Ike any more trouble then aging water and you can get a lot of units that make 150 gpd which seems like plenty for your average hobbyists.

[edsye]

People with saltwater tanks use RODI units so they have a "zero" base when they start adding salts and minerals to produce their aquarium water. You will have to add minerals back to your RODI water. for the Discus..something like Kents RO right will work and if you search the forum you'll find other recipes. Generally if your tap water doesn't have a glaring problem it will be fine for growing and raising Discus. RODI units are not free to run. DI resin costs can run up quickly if you do significant water changes daily. Don't skimp on water changes!
Ed

[afriend]

I am planning on using a Rodi system for my discus as I already have a unit from keeping reeftanks. I understand that it is not needed but I am inquisitive as to why more individuals don't use them? With so much emphasis being placed on clean water it seems like you want to start with as close to pure water as possible. i am interested to hear people's reason for using/not using them. It doesn't seem Ike any more trouble then aging water and you can get a lot of units that make 150 gpd which seems like plenty for your average hobbyists.

To answer to your question, it's important to know what "clean" water actually is. If you can drink the water, discus can probably live in it. What happens is that it is no longer clean when fish food and feces are released in it. The food and feces contain organic compounds and they "rot" when left in the tank. One really good way (but not the only way) to remove them is to flush them from the tank with large water exchanges AND good tank maintenance. The RODI system will result in pristine water to begin with (which is probably not necessary) but it will not remain healthy for long unless the organic compounds are removed from the tank water.

RODI water should not be added to the tank without modification of some type to stabilize PH.

Hope this helps.

Paul

[DISCUS STU]

I use reverse osmosis but not DI anymore, it usually brought the ph down too low. Even though my setup is fairly small to medium sized it wouldn't be practical or economical to produce enough RO water for all my needs and water changes. Pure RO needs to be stabilized with a mineral buffer of some type like Kent RO Right or something similar otherwise it will be prone to huge life threatening, for the fish not me, ph crashes.

I use RO mostly for quarantine/hospital and breeding tanks. Usually in a 75% to 25% tap or 50% to 50% combination that has some type of dechlor additive in it.

[Braydon00]

I use RODI as well. Mostly because I have very hard water ~250ppm on the tds meter, as well as a pH of 8.5. I really only got it because I got a hell of a deal for a 50 gpd. I use seachem replenish to raise the ppm to ~100 , then use about 25% dechlorinated tap mix (very important like everyone said to use added minerals) final pH is around 7.2. I love it because I know the water is clean and is much more controllable. I've been using it for over 5 months and have had no problems at all. Make sure if you every start using RODI water that you start slow so the pH doesn't crash and kill fish :).

[blazend]

Good advice there. I went from using tap and aqueaon conditioner to using pure RODI. I started by mixing 50/50 with RODI and slowly made the switch. Fish love pure RODI though. I have raised discus with tap but never saltwater. always used RODI with saltwater fish.

[DonMD]

Unless you are breeding discus, you don't need RO/DI. In fact, a high TDS with more mineral content is beneficial to developing young fish. I use RO to drop my TDS from 265ppm to about 80ppm for my breeding tanks, but use straight street water at TDS 265ppm for all my other discus tanks. I figure the less mucking around with water, the better. Just lots of clean water is best. I don't think 80ppm water is any cleaner than 265ppm water, except perhaps for chlorine. As I use Safe, chlorine isn't an issue.

[Braydon00]

Exactly right Don, nothing wrong with dechlorinated tap. No reason to really use RO unless you're trying to breed or have a saltwater tank. I think the majority of people who use RO use it because they have water parameters they don't like and/or what to make the tank habitat as close to "natural" as possible. At least that's why I use it, I don't like how high my pH is and I keep the ppm around 130-180. I've always heard that for juvenile discus you need water TDS to be over 150 for skeletal development?

[vendingman]

Join DateNov 2014

*Re: Rodi water

I use RODI as well. Mostly because I have very hard water ~250ppm on the tds meter, as well as a pH of 8.5. I really only got it because I got a hell of a deal for a 50 gpd. I use seachem replenish to raise the ppm to ~100 , then use about 25% dechlorinated tap mix (very important like everyone said to use added minerals) final pH is around 7.2. I love it because I know the water is clean and is much more controllable. I've been using it for over 5 months and have had no problems at all. Make sure if you every start using RODI water that you start slow so the pH doesn't crash and kill fish*.


I have these same perimeters and im facing the same dilemma. I am using ro but also have to use di. If not my ph is 8.8 and very high tds still. So ive figured out a formula mix that would only work to keep my ph at 6.4 while keeping tds at 80 to 85. That being the mix of 90 percent rodi, ro right and a slight amount of tap. Water is perfect. But then within 36 hours my ph crashes to below 6.0. Now i fear my tank will crash as it did before. I am trying to breed and im having this problem. Any suggestions how to keep ph stabilized at a certain range while not raising tds? I cant figure it out? And yes i also have a 155 where i use straight tap with your similarly perimeters and all has been fine for years. But this wont work in my breeders. Is there anything i can add to my water? Im going crazy doing 50 percent changes daily in my breeder tanks with the mix i mentioned but its not holding stable, very expensive and time consuming and making me crazy.

[Fishquake]

I use a pH controller to keep my pH pretty much locked at 5.5. I'm producing RO and using RO Right to get a TDS of 50. The controller monitors the pH, I have it set such that if the pH begins to drop below the set value (5.5) it will begin to drip water from a 5 gallon bucket into my sump. The water in the bucket is simply tap water with a tablespoon of baking soda. so far works like a charm.