Changing water

[FishySituation]

Hey Everyone, I'm still very new and still learning a whole lot and I might have just realized I have a deal breaker on my hands.

Im trying to get my 10 gal tank going on a budget. Start up costs dont bother me so much as potential maintaining costs. I dont know why I didnt think of it before but how does everyone replace their saltwater in a cost effective way weekly?

For initial setup i just bought saltwater from the store but thats $1.50 a gallon. Doing 2 -5 gallons a week adds up after awhile, especially travel time too and from the store.

I could i could just use tap water and get the salinity up to where it needs to be but researching that makes it sound like muuuch more steps and costs to get it purified enough to use in the first place.

Anyone mind giving me some insight and hopefully talk me down from the edge a bit haha

 

[SPR1968]

Most people would make their own saltwater with a RODI system and mix the salt up themselves, then you can also guarantee the quality. I wouldn't recommend using tap water or your asking for trouble with the system from the outset.

But of course, you have to buy one, so you would need to way up the pros and cons with your size tank and the long term running costs, fuel to fetch it etc.

If your in for the long run, I would suggest the investment is worth it from the start.

 

[spfahnestock]

Tap water is generally thought to be a bad idea due to pollutants in the water.

One thing I have learned in this hobby is it never seems to be cheap.

You stated start up cost don't bother you so I would recommend buying an RO/DI Unit to make your water at home and buy your salt to mix it at home also. Over time and tank upgrades the RO/DI will pay for itself.

 

[pikachux3]

buy rodi water and salt mix

check out this bulkreefsupply video for salt cost comparison

also prob a good idea to watch BRS 52 weeks

 

[FishySituation]

Alright, the rodi is much cheaper than i thought it would be so that would work. But now im running into space constraints in my apartment hah.

I may have ran into this half cocked... I'll need to do some soul searching and see if I can figure something out.

Thanks!

 

[pikachux3]

Alright, the rodi is much cheaper than i thought it would be so that would work. But now im running into space constraints in my apartment hah.

I may have ran into this half cocked... I'll need to do some soul searching and see if I can figure something out.

Thanks!

You'll just need a 5g bucket to mix, won't take up too much space