10g nano reef help!

Philgiff · May 21, 2020

I have been researching on starting a 10 gallon nano reef tank. I see people using ro/di water for refills/ toping the tank off. Do I need ro/di water for a 10gallon tank or would I be ok using petco’s Pacific Ocean water?

Sosuke · May 21, 2020

You don't top off saltwater while the water evaporates the salt does not. So you need to add fresh RODI water to replace the evaporated water. Tap water doesn't work for this if your wondering

Reef. · May 21, 2020

You could use distilled water tho, for topping off, and salt water for the initial fill.

Pbh-reef · May 21, 2020

Petco salt water will work for water changes. You can use bottled fresh water (drugstore distilled water is a popular choice) for Topping off what evaporates. You can also use bottled water for water changes (obviously you need to add salt for marine aquRiums to it).

petco water will get expensive and annoying to buy, consider getting an rodi unit if you can afford it. A basic 75 gpd unit from brs is a fine choice

alex7miles · May 21, 2020

If you are planning reef then rodi water i would say is a must

Bottled water works but you need to remember saltwater evaporates quicker then fresh so you will need more then you think. Especially because its heated. Find a good place to buy rodi ( lfs ) or get a unit to make your own.

Sparent25 · May 21, 2020

alex7miles said:
If you are planning reef then rodi water i would say is a must

Bottled water works but you need to remember saltwater evaporates quicker then fresh so you will need more then you think. Especially because its heated. Find a good place to buy rodi ( lfs ) or get a unit to make your own.

What about using just RO water?

OrangeCountyReefer · May 21, 2020

Use fresh RODI water to top off. And just a suggestion, I’d get a 20 to 30 gallon instead of a 10. 10 is very small and as soon as you add your first coral you will regret not having a bigger tank. Also the bigger the tank the easier it is to keep the water chemistry stable

alex7miles · May 21, 2020

Sparent25 said:
What about using just RO water?

Better then tap water but if you are spending the money on a filter you may as well get the deionization chamber as well. Better to be safe then sorry

alex7miles · May 21, 2020

OrangeCountyReefer said:
Use fresh RODI water to top off. And just a suggestion, I’d get a 20 to 30 gallon instead of a 10. 10 is very small and as soon as you add your first coral you will regret not having a bigger tank. Also the bigger the tank the easier it is to keep the water chemistry stable

I would agree. Ive always been told to get the biggest tank you can afford. But remember to factor in running costs. It can get expensive

Pbh-reef · May 21, 2020

bottled water is basically RO water, it adds some more chance that issues could come from your source water, vs rodi. Think of it as risk management
as for going bigger than a 10, you'll definitely wish you'd gone bigger, as I do, but I love my 10 gallon and it was the right choice when I made it 2 years ago

OrangeCountyReefer · May 21, 2020

alex7miles said:
I would agree. Ive always been told to get the biggest tank you can afford. But remember to factor in running costs. It can get expensive

Yea exactly. Bigger the better but the cost goes up significantly with the increased tank size