RO water
- Thread starter DoINeedAName?
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T-J
2500 Club Member
For most people, all you need to add is the salt and bring it to the correct temp. If you have an established tank, you can test the fresh made salt water to make sure the alk, calc and mag match your tank. If it doesn't, you can add those things to make sure it matches.
TexanCanuck
Active Member
Hi there ... congrats on your purchase ... an RODI unit is one of the best investments a serious reef keeper can make!
Once you have the RODI unit plumbed correctly, you will need a holding tank or drum to collect the effluent. The size of container you need will depend on the size and frequency of water changes you want to perform.
For example, I have a 150 gallon system and like to do a 10% water change every week. That means, as a minimum, I need to be able to collect and prepare just 15 gallons of water before each water change. However, I find it a lot easier to make a couple weeks of water all at once and then store it until I'm ready to use it (NOTE: make sure you use a good quality salt ... some manufacturer's don't recommend you store water mixed with their salt for more than a few days).
So I have my RODI until bolted to the side of a 55 gallon cone-bottom tank, and I installed both low- and high-level flow switches in the tank to solenoids that shut off the RODI until once the high water level is reached.
Also ... don't forget that in addition to mixing the fresh RODI water with salt, you also need to condition it for temperature!
So inside the storage tank I have a spare power head installed on the tank wall at the bottom of the unit (to create internal flow and help the salt dissolve) as well as a standard submersible heater to heat the water up to the same temperature I keep my display tank (78).
I run the RODI unit with the power head and heater turned off until the tank is full, and then turn on the heater and powerhead. It usually takes a few hours for the tank to come up to temperature, at which time I mix in the salt. The powerhead stirs everything up until fully dissolved ... typically takes about 30 mins.
I then use a hose to drain water from the display to the household drain line (I installed a line for this express purpose, but you could just as easily use a hose and siphon your display tank to a nearby sink, toilet, or window). I then use a pump in the storage tank to move clean, temperature adjusted, newly-mixed salt water to the display to replace what I removed.
The whole procedure takes me about 30 mins once every two weeks to make new water, and about 20 mins once a week to do the water change itself. Here's a picture of my setup:
Once you have the RODI unit plumbed correctly, you will need a holding tank or drum to collect the effluent. The size of container you need will depend on the size and frequency of water changes you want to perform.
For example, I have a 150 gallon system and like to do a 10% water change every week. That means, as a minimum, I need to be able to collect and prepare just 15 gallons of water before each water change. However, I find it a lot easier to make a couple weeks of water all at once and then store it until I'm ready to use it (NOTE: make sure you use a good quality salt ... some manufacturer's don't recommend you store water mixed with their salt for more than a few days).
So I have my RODI until bolted to the side of a 55 gallon cone-bottom tank, and I installed both low- and high-level flow switches in the tank to solenoids that shut off the RODI until once the high water level is reached.
Also ... don't forget that in addition to mixing the fresh RODI water with salt, you also need to condition it for temperature!
So inside the storage tank I have a spare power head installed on the tank wall at the bottom of the unit (to create internal flow and help the salt dissolve) as well as a standard submersible heater to heat the water up to the same temperature I keep my display tank (78).
I run the RODI unit with the power head and heater turned off until the tank is full, and then turn on the heater and powerhead. It usually takes a few hours for the tank to come up to temperature, at which time I mix in the salt. The powerhead stirs everything up until fully dissolved ... typically takes about 30 mins.
I then use a hose to drain water from the display to the household drain line (I installed a line for this express purpose, but you could just as easily use a hose and siphon your display tank to a nearby sink, toilet, or window). I then use a pump in the storage tank to move clean, temperature adjusted, newly-mixed salt water to the display to replace what I removed.
The whole procedure takes me about 30 mins once every two weeks to make new water, and about 20 mins once a week to do the water change itself. Here's a picture of my setup:
TexanCanuck
Active Member
Note that you can use ANY available, clean, food-safe storage container to mix and store your water.
Lots of people I know simply use a 55-gallon Rubbermaid Garbage Can (newly purchased for this purpose, of course).
However, since this is something I do every week and I'm a bit of a freak when it comes to cleanliness, I like to make sure the tank is 100% drained and washed with rest RODI water before I make my next batch ... in which case, investing in a cone-bottom tank is a great idea. Cone-bottom tanks are so-named because the drain port at the bottom of the tank is mounted at the end of a tapering cone so 100% of the water can be drained out of the tank.
So it's a trade-off ... Rubbermaid garbage cans are certainly much cheaper and easier to store when not in use ... but they add more work every couple of weeks when you need to clean them out before making a new batch ... and I'd rather spend my time with my fish than with my equipment, so I splurged.
Here's a great place to buy a tank if you want to go that route ...
www.usplastic.com
Lots of people I know simply use a 55-gallon Rubbermaid Garbage Can (newly purchased for this purpose, of course).
However, since this is something I do every week and I'm a bit of a freak when it comes to cleanliness, I like to make sure the tank is 100% drained and washed with rest RODI water before I make my next batch ... in which case, investing in a cone-bottom tank is a great idea. Cone-bottom tanks are so-named because the drain port at the bottom of the tank is mounted at the end of a tapering cone so 100% of the water can be drained out of the tank.
So it's a trade-off ... Rubbermaid garbage cans are certainly much cheaper and easier to store when not in use ... but they add more work every couple of weeks when you need to clean them out before making a new batch ... and I'd rather spend my time with my fish than with my equipment, so I splurged.
Here's a great place to buy a tank if you want to go that route ...
Cone Bottom Tanks Category | Cone Bottom Tanks | Bulk Storage & Full-Drain Tanks | U.S. Plastic Corp.
U.S. Plastic Corp.® is your source for cone bottom polyethylene tanks used for bulk storage, specialty rinse or mix and fill for a range of industrial applications.
