Need Help with RO/DI Setup

[Metalnbass@gmail.com]

I tried searching the forums for this topic and really couldn't find what I was looking for. If it exists, forgive me for posting this and please point me in the right direction.

I'm completely ignorant when it comes to RO/DI systems and need a little guidance. My house is supplied by well water and uses a water softener treatment system. From what I've read, I will need an RO system and re-mineralize the water in my aging barrel. So, those who do use RO water, what system can you recommend that works well for you and what do you use to mineralize the water? Also, would it be better to tap into the water line before or after the water softener?

I will also be building an irrigation system to get the water from my aging barrel in the basement to my show tank in the living room. What size water pump do most people use, and what size is too much?

I'm also wondering how small is too small for a quarantine tank for Discus?

Thank you so much for your help!

[Iminit]

Jason you use this water in your tanks now right? Are you adding anything to it now. When you test your source water what are the results. Ph,gh,kh and ammonia,Nitrite and nitrates?
For me the minimum size would be a 30g. But size May demand bigger.

[Metalnbass@gmail.com]

No, I do not. I used my softened water and added fertilizers for the plants, and adjusted depending on how the plants reacted. For example, magnesium deficiencies, iron deficiencies, etc. If you know the signs plants give off it’s easy to adjust and fix the problem.

[Willie]

Why do you think you need R/O? Are your fish doing poorly? I recommend you take samples: tap, after aeration, after adding fertilizers, etc. to a LFS to get an analysis of pH and TDS before spending $$. Unless your fish are doing poorly, there's no reason to focus on R/O.

[Metalnbass@gmail.com]

Because every thread I’ve read with people keeping Discus on well water have a hard time keeping them healthy. Those same threads say it’s better to save the trouble and use RO to start from scratch and mineralize to bring the water to the correct parameters. The fish I’ve been keeping aren’t Discus.

[Metalnbass@gmail.com]

I again kindly ask for someone to answer my questions. I have my reasons why I want to go this route.

[Metalnbass@gmail.com]

Willie, what does LFS stand for? I had a hard time keeping gourami. They would last maybe a month and then after a random water change they would stress out and die. All water testing came back ok, so I can only guess it was something else in the water that I wasn’t able to test that fluctuates every now and then. We require a water treatment system in order for our water to be potable and safe. I can only imagine this is not ideal for Discus and wouldn’t want to chance it.

[Willie]

LFS means local fish store. You need to have a starting point and know what changes you need to make to get to "safe".

[Pardal]

Jason
I think you can do both, well water softener water and RO , let me explain it water softener water is actually good up to a degree you can even get some spawning on it , just not too much fertility though, because of the sodium left behind in the exchange.
Water from the Reverse Osmosis System will be very pure 0 TDS , at least at the begining life of your membrane, a membrane can last up to 2 years depending how hard is your water , and how often you replace the pre filters , Micron filter, Carbon Filters, the typical ratio of water production of an RO is 3 to 1 for a single membrane system. so you will have 3 gallons of waste water for 1 of usable water. so here is when you have to decide if you are going to use only RO adjusted to the requirement of your fish, with the expenses required for it . or you can add a couple of carbon filters at the end of your water softener to reduce sodium and/or whatever is causing you too loose fish, this option will be more economical, in fact many people do not use neither RO, or water softeners at all just plain Carbon filters that get replace as need it.
With that saying I use RO water but mostly for Breeding purposes and to a lesser degree in my Display tank. for growing and most fish I use Tap water aged and airiated it.
I also recomend you get a familiar with all water terminology , like GH, KH, TDS , MicroOhms, PH etc, Get at least a TDS pen you can buy those really cheap in the internet, that way when you give us some values we can have an idea of your water and help better.
Julian.

[Metalnbass@gmail.com]

Willie, like I said, water tested perfect for the fish I had. No ammonia or nitrites, nitrates were low which is what I wanted being a planted tank, gh and kh were exactly where they needed to be. PH is mid 7s. Tetras, plecos, octo cats thriving. It was the gourami, mollies, and cory cats that would randomly stress out after months of being fine. What can a fish store test that I can’t at home?

Pardal, thanks. I’ll look into carbon filters then. From what I’ve read it’s the PH and TDS that matter when it comes to Discus. Correct me if I’m wrong, though.

[pablos]

I would highly recommend to check gh, kh and tds before buying ro system

[Willie]

Willie, like I said, water tested perfect for the fish I had. No ammonia or nitrites, nitrates were low which is what I wanted being a planted tank, gh and kh were exactly where they needed to be. PH is mid 7s...

So I'm trying to figure out what exactly is the problem you're trying to solve with RO/DI? Gouramis and mollies do better in hard water, which is the wrong direction for R/O. I see no problem with your pH and don't know your TDS.

To give you an example, pH comes out of my tap at 8.8. After 24 hours of aeration, it comes down to 7.6 and stays there. My TDS is 125 ppm. Other than aeration, I do nothing with my water except change it. The discus do fine.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B37W1yKunk0&t=25s&ab_channel=MinnesotaAquariumSociety

Rather than play with water chemistry, you'll get much better results from just making large, frequent water changes.

[Metalnbass@gmail.com]

Willie, I think you’re lost on what I’m trying to set up for. I’m trying to set up for Discus, not mollies or gourami. I was just using them as an example because you asked for one. My whole point is my water parameters were perfect for gourami and mollies, but they still stressed out. Meaning, there is something else wrong with the water. Further filtration is needed to make sure it doesn’t happen when I start keeping Discus.

[LizStreithorst]

I'm kind of like Willie. You want to get an RO even though you don't know if you need one. In either case, for Discus I would not use water from the softener. Please do this. Fill a bucket with water that comes straight from your well before it hits the softener. Check the pH. Then put an air stone in it and test the pH again. If there is less than a .4 change in pH you are good to go with straight well water for Discus. I know people who keep Discus who have a pH in the high 9's.

If you're hell bent on buying an RO to to Bulk Reef Supply. I need one only for breeding. All others get aged and heated tap.

[Iminit]

Jason Willie’s not lost he’s just trying to say the soft water may have been the problem for the other fish. What everybody is trying to say is your well water may be fine. Do as Liz said. But I also think since your keeping ottos,tetras and plecos with the water out of the softener. That may also be fine. Yes many people use rodi systems. Lots of them don’t need too! Your water is probably fine.

[Metalnbass@gmail.com]

But it wasn’t soft lol. The GH and KH wasn’t low even after the softener. I feel like no one is reading what I’m putting down lol.

[Metalnbass@gmail.com]

Anyway, just forget I asked. Lol. I’ll figure it out.

[andy77]

Hi Jason,

I am by no means as experienced with discus as many here, but I have used RO in freshwater and reef tanks and I like it. At both locations I have lived the water was relatively hard with a Gh of 15 and TDS of about 150 (If I can remember properly :-). The first experience was with a simple three stage RO it allowed me to breed Stendker's and keep difficult fish and coral in the reef while taking the TDS to 15. Now I have a four stage RO which takes the TDS to 0-3.

I think what the others are saying is that you may be one of the lucky few who have "good" water straight from the well. However, I would divert before the softener unit. Commandment #1: Keep it simple, especially at first. Change only one thing at a time and watch the effects. Your fish or dogs DO talk to you - Thanks for your many excellent posts Pat.

It all depends on what you are looking for. Currently, I use two parts RO one part treated tap. I add water back using gravity/siphon feed through an airline into my 75 as I am afraid of changes and dissolved gasses. Surface action and current have been kind to me. Surface film is my enemy.

Really, my most beautiful discus came in a heavily planted and stocked community tank which was tuned in with CO2 injection at a pH of 6.0. This is when they spawned for me. BUT, I also had big problems with CO2 in a lesser planted tank. So I have no Co2 at the moment. I will move my fish to a tank that is tuned in AFTER they and it are ROCK SOLID.

Thank You So Much to everyone here.
Thank You to John @ Snookn21. :-)
andy

[Metalnbass@gmail.com]

Thanks, Andy. That was helpful. How much extra work does having discus in a planted tank add for you? I’ve been running a planted rank for a few years with CO2 as well.

[sunsetopal]

Hi Jason~
I am a novice in keeping Discus tho Tho started right off using RO/DI. I also use RO as my drinking water. The RO systems advertised for aquarium use are less expensive. My suggestion is to get an RO/DI system that advertises more output per gallon then you will need.

I have fine water pressure and went ahead and got a compatible booster anyways. Yet..my out put is a slow @ 1 gallon/per hr.

That is with an "AQUATICLIFE Aquatic Life RO Buddie Plus DI Four Stage Reverse Osmosis Deionization Unit 50 GPD" that I purchased on amazon. I would of gotten the '100 GPD' if I'd known better.
If it truly would of given me 50 gallons in 24 hrs it would of been great!

The softner in your well water is a 'No NO' ... too much sodium.

But if you experiment with your well water mixed with RO to get the PH you can live with you will still be adding the minerals and cutting down on the amount of RO you need. I do not re-mineralize the water.

I live on an island which essentially draws its water from a well house and the Ph fluctuates between 8.2 - 8.9 with KH of 210ppm and Gh of 115ppm depending on how on top of adding all the minerals/chemicals the well keeper is. He's an old stoner.

Any how I add about 2 gal of tap to about 16 gallons of Ro/DI and this consistently puts my PH at 6.4 and 0-1 KH and 25-35 ppm GH. I am very happy with this!

As well.. my 13 Juvies are all growing really well and fast and quite active in their tanks. I have one that came to me sick but she is slowly healing in the hospital tank.

I think to a large degree everyone has to figure out for themselves what works best for their own scenario.

It was daunting for me as well in the beginning.

Willie put me at ease as he has experienced every aspect of Discus keeping that there is including water issues. And I 'got' what he was saying. .. Always Keep them in clean water is the most important aspect of Discus keeping.

Mine went through a lot of turmoil when I first got them cause I didn't really know what I was doing. But I put first just making sure they had clean water at all time.. then I dealt with all the other myriad of problems as they popped up.. which I hate to admit.. were a lot!

That was when I learned just how hardy these fish are. Cause 8 of my Juvies were 1-2" big.. really young and small!

I started with 10 ..5 weeks ago and have only mysteriously lost one in the first few days I had them. Fine one day..dead the next. And the other one I lost committed hari-kari by jumping out of the tank at nite while I was sleeping and forgot to put the cover on.

I realize it is still too soon to say just how well in the long run these guys will fair but for now they are doing great.

Regina

[Metalnbass@gmail.com]

Thanks, Regina. I'm still figuring my setup out and wanted to learn a little bit about RO systems and their applications. You've given me some things to think about as I plan my setup.