Ok to use reverse osmosis water?

[LeftyReefer]

deionized water at the supermarket is usually what people buy

I've never seen deionized water sold at any supermarket.

distilled, yes. RO, yes. Spring water, yes.

Deionized, NO.

 

[Lanceman]

I've never seen deionized water sold at any supermarket.

distilled, yes. RO, yes. Spring water, yes.

Deionized, NO.

Right, I looked it up. 17$ a gallon lol..from amazon

 

[dedragon]

whoops meant distilled, check tds with handheld tds meter (good to have if u get a new rodi unit as well

 

[Uncle99]

Does anyone actually know why that's so much better than RO water? For big tanks it'd obviously pay off but...anyone use hydrogen peroxide for algae before?

Yes, but it doesn’t just kill the bad algae, it will kill both bad and good and super stressful on corals. Use extreme caution.

RODI is the gold standard of reef keepers.
The goal is to remove everything other than water, then, put back only what we need to support marine life.

RO only is better than tap by far as this process removes 95% of contaminants, but leaves 5% of “anything”. Even small amounts of some things can build up over time.

Distilled can be used short term as its void of any minerals.


I like to know what’s in my water, too much invested for risk.

 

[dedragon]

agreed and i always test my rodi water as well with a simple handheld tds meter, this is the one i use, cheap and works well

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

Most reefers end up installing RO/DI water systems in our homes. Which is RO (reverse osmosis) filter, along with a DI (deionization) filtering stage to produce 0 TDS water.

Those jugs of RO water at the store are just run through the RO stage only, but not a DI stage, so it is probably pretty low in TDS but may not be 0 TDS.

in all likelihood, its fine. but if you plan to stay in the reefing game, a home RODI system is the way to go.

Not sure what you are paying for those, but Walmart has RO machines in the store. Take your own containers and you can fill them up for like 39 cents per gallon.

I did that for years @ the water windmill (same system as Walmart) but I'd always battle diatoms from time to time. Like you said already, it may depend on the source water but it only runs thru a r.o filter and I think they store it inside because it pumps so fast. But a unit in your home that you monitor is the only way to go ..

Imo

$$$reef on$$$

 

[Lanceman]

I just bought a tds meter and am gonna borrow rodi from my uncle for right now. Just found out my hydrometer was way off, so what I thought was .026 was .022.....could this be my cause of droopy and thin hammers?

 

[dedragon]

yes that salinity wud cause everything to be way off, get either a tropic marin hydrometer (glass) or a refractometer and calibration solution

 

[a.t.t.r]

Awesome ty, yeah they are 1$ a jug. As far as the rodi thing I'm not sure if it's worth it if I just have a 20nano...?

The cost adds up fast and after a few trips to do water changes you will be buying an rodi

 

[Tcook]

Awesome ty, yeah they are 1$ a jug. As far as the rodi thing I'm not sure if it's worth it if I just have a 20nano...?

It's definitely worth it. I have a 20 AIO at my office with a 5 gallon ato resevoir. I couldn't imagine filling that and doing water changes with gallon jugs from the store.

 

[ClownSchool]

Well I have a bunch of coral rn. My tanks been up for about 4months now, was stable but now I'm getting diatoms or something and idk why..

All tanks go through what’s called ‘the ugly stage’ around the first 4-6 months. It’s normal.

 

[Lanceman]

yes that salinity wud cause everything to be way off, get either a tropic marin hydrometer (glass) or a refractometer and calibration solution

Ok thanks. I can't believe I caught it. Completely by accident