Rodi question

[Kial]

I'll be filling my new 400l tank at some point this week. I'm wondering if I need to do the initial fill with rodi water or do I use that just for the top up and future water changes?

I've never used an rodi before so don't have much of a clue about it apart from stuff I've read on forums.

Thanks

 

[Crabs McJones]

I'll be filling my new 400l tank at some point this week. I'm wondering if I need to do the initial fill with rodi water or do I use that just for the top up and future water changes?

I've never used an rodi before so don't have much of a clue about it apart from stuff I've read on forums.

Thanks

If you have the capability to use ro/di for initial fill up that would be best.

 

[theMeat]

For initial fill up, with cycling having to happen, tap water is fine.

 

[deedubz]

Ro/di or distilled. Less undesirables you add now, the less you'll deal with later

 

[theMeat]

The nutrients that are in tap water are desirable because they will help fuel the cycle. Once cycle is underway use ro and phantom feed

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

The nutrients that are in tap water are desirable because they will help fuel the cycle. Once cycle is underway use ro and phantom feed

The "nutrients" in the tap water will not help the cycle, unless the water contains ammonia. Totally ignoring the fact that most dead or live rock will introduce enough ammonia to start a cycle, you can add fish food or liquid ammonia to introduce "cycle" nutrients if that's your goal.

In contrast, there are lots of undesirable things that have nothing to do with the cycle that are present in tap water (phosphates, silicates, copper, etc). Check out table 5 in Randy's article on RO/DI. In many American cities, copper is present in the water is many times higher than the copper toxicity level to marine animals. In addition, even if your water source doesn't contain toxic levels of copper, the pipes in your house may introduce additional copper.

I would never put anything but RO/DI water in my tank. At 75GPD, that's only 3 or 4 days to fill 400g.

But, to each his own.

 

[Kial]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I will wait on the rodi unit to arrive and figure out how to use it then fill up the whole tank with that. If it does take me a few days to fill it up, is the water ok to sit in the tank without any circulation etc?

 

[deedubz]

Yes. Since you'll be cycling anyway it won't matter. Honestly, it may even help the sand settle faster too since it won't be blown around

 

[Kial]

Awesome. So excited to get it up and running haha! My next load of rock should get here hopefully today so can continue with the aquascape

 

[deedubz]

Awesome man. Definitely keep us updated with your build

 

[Kial]

Will do. I've started another thread on here which is sort of a tank diary of some sort. Just posting the process I'm going through etc. May be interesting to other newbies as I found I read quite a few before I purchased my tank