RODI

[StPatrick89]

Is RODI water more so for the coral or the fish? It seems the coral are far more sensitive. Freshwater aquarist to my knowledge do not use RODI units. I know it’s obvious they’re fresh water please spare me the sarcasm, but the quality of the water, wouldn’t it be the same? Are freshwater fish not affected by the metals, or chemicals used by plants that make our water drinkable? Shouldn’t they be using RODI units or again is it mainly for “reefing?”

 

[NowGlazeIT]

I believe there is more benefit to using RO water for freshwater fish. The thing is rodi absorbs elements(like those in our salt mix) unlike normal tap because the water is looking to bind to anything, being that’s it’s so clean. It’s why we drink RO and not the DI.
And yes the reason we use it in a reef is for the coral, not so much the fish but the same principles can apply. The principal of it being that unwanted contaminates are not making there way to the tank. (Even tho the fish can tolerate them) In freshwater they use chemical conditioners to neutralize those contaminates. As far as I know we don’t have those “catch all” conditioners for saltwater.

 

[Queen City Corals]

While some people have been successful running fish only systems, and even some reef tanks have been run without RO-DI water my personal experience is that (depending on how your city treats your water) you will run into issues with things like algae. Larger and more sensitive fish can suffer even more and may die mysteriously. Tap water can also be very high in deadly metals and other harmful nutrients that don't effect freshwater but have a very large impact on saltwater fish and corals. At the end of the day many people have tried it, some have been successful but the $60-$200 is absolutely worth it to avoid the headaches involved with just using treated tap water. I ran my first tank with treated tap water, and as soon as I switched to RO-DI water there was a complete 180 and everything started doing much better.

 

[Aboynamedsous2]

Is RODI water more so for the coral or the fish? It seems the coral are far more sensitive. Freshwater aquarist to my knowledge do not use RODI units. I know it’s obvious they’re fresh water please spare me the sarcasm, but the quality of the water, wouldn’t it be the same? Are freshwater fish not affected by the metals, or chemicals used by plants that make our water drinkable? Shouldn’t they be using RODI units or again is it mainly for “reefing?”

It’s Mainly for reefing but can be used in freshwater tanks depending on the livestock. Freshwater don’t tolerate chlorine but can handle metals in the water that’s why they offer water conditioner for freshwater setups it’s a lot cheaper then RODI. Also RODI is meant for coral and inverts, I made a noob mistake with my first set up and used dechlorinated water but the worker at my lfs says it’s fine for fish only set ups because they tolerate metal.

 

[StPatrick89]

It’s Mainly for reefing but can be used in freshwater tanks depending on the livestock. Freshwater don’t tolerate chlorine but can handle metals in the water that’s why they offer water conditioner for freshwater setups it’s a lot cheaper then RODI. Also RODI is meant for coral and inverts, I made a noob mistake with my first set up and used dechlorinated water but the worker at my lfs says it’s fine for fish only set ups because they tolerate metal.

Well here’s the thing, I started back in March with a 75G, I now have that and a 40GB. I was helped by someone in the freshwater community to set everything up. Also, most videos on YouTube are freshwater based. I was new and didn’t know. When it comes to setting up tanks, maintenance, changing water, and the other things freshwater channels come up first. So that’s what I’ve been doing. I started with a HOB, used seahem prime and stability to start both tanks, used tap water. NEVER have had an issue.

The more I got into the hobby I’m seeing I’ve done it all wrong. I have a canister filter, no sump, no protein skimmer, but again I have no issues. I just bought a soft coral for the 40G and a coworker gave me his ROBuddie unit, which got me to thinking about really if all this RODI is about. Before the RODI, I could drain the tank, mix the water and throw the seachem prime in, in less than 30mins. But with this RODI situation it takes 2 1/2hrs to even make a 5G bucket.

of course I could buy a booster pump, but it just sounds like more and more money to be shelled out. When I’m getting and others have been successful. I see you reef guys have computers and these $1M lights, and $100k return pumps lol but I ain’t into all that.

 

[Aboynamedsous2]

Well here’s the thing, I started back in March with a 75G, I now have that and a 40GB. I was helped by someone in the freshwater community to set everything up. Also, most videos on YouTube are freshwater based. I was new and didn’t know. When it comes to setting up tanks, maintenance, changing water, and the other things freshwater channels come up first. So that’s what I’ve been doing. I started with a HOB, used seahem prime and stability to start both tanks, used tap water. NEVER have had an issue.

The more I got into the hobby I’m seeing I’ve done it all wrong. I have a canister filter, no sump, no protein skimmer, but again I have no issues. I just bought a soft coral for the 40G and a coworker gave me his ROBuddie unit, which got me to thinking about really if all this RODI is about. Before the RODI, I could drain the tank, mix the water and throw the seachem prime in, in less than 30mins. But with this RODI situation it takes 2 1/2hrs to even make a 5G bucket.

of course I could buy a booster pump, but it just sounds like more and more money to be shelled out. When I’m getting and others have been successful. I see you reef guys have computers and these $1M lights, and $100k return pumps lol but I ain’t into all that.

I just buy my RO water because it’s easier lol.

 

[StPatrick89]

I just buy my RO water because it’s easier lol.

Lol right

 

[Gtinnel]

When I setup my tank I tried to go cheap on just about everything I could, but I look at an Rodi as something that is necessary if you plan on keeping corals. You probably could run a FOWLR tank on tap water, but for a reef tank it's not worth the risk with corals. The problem is that you don't know what you're adding to the tank from the tap water. It's not worth the risk to kill thousands of dollars in corals to avoid spending a few hundred dollars on a rodi filter.

As for it taking too long to make the water the best thing to do is to make up several buckets of water at one time, instead of making a single bucket when you need it. Of course that assumes you have space to store it. Or even better build a cheap mixing station so you always have water on hand.

 

[GeoSquid]

Just recently I was pretty busy and lagging on changing my RO filters and have been blowing through the DI Resin quickly because of it. I've bee using the water anyway and I noticed I've been getting more algae and cyano. Hasn't affected corals of fish though.

 

[StPatrick89]

When I setup my tank I tried to go cheap on just about everything I could, but I look at an Rodi as something that is necessary if you plan on keeping corals. You probably could run a FOWLR tank on tap water, but for a reef tank it's not worth the risk with corals. The problem is that you don't know what you're adding to the tank from the tap water. It's not worth the risk to kill thousands of dollars in corals to avoid spending a few hundred dollars on a rodi filter.

As for it taking too long to make the water the best thing to do is to make up several buckets of water at one time, instead of making a single bucket when you need it. Of course that assumes you have space to store it. Or even better build a cheap mixing station so you always have water on hand.

And there it is! It’s the expensive coral that y’all are really protecting. I read and read all these forums and they’re all based in full blooded reefing. Which explains why everybody assumes I have a reef tank (im FOWLR btw)… but the name of the site is reef2reef lol duh. Y’all are very knowledgeable though. There’s just no where else to go for fowlr. We just on a tiny island lol

 

[StPatrick89]

Just recently I was pretty busy and lagging on changing my RO filters and have been blowing through the DI Resin quickly because of it. I've bee using the water anyway and I noticed I've been getting more algae and cyano. Hasn't affected corals of fish though.

Interesting, now would this cyano be brown and gathers on the rocks?

 

[LeftyReefer]

I just buy my RO water because it’s easier lol.

I always thought that too.... until I finally got a RO/DI last week.
Now I'd never go back to lugging water jugs from the LFS again.

 

[Aboynamedsous2]

I always thought that too.... until I finally got a RO/DI last week.
Now I'd never go back to lugging water jugs from the LFS again.

To much of an investment for my 30 gallon lol.

 

[Gtinnel]

I just buy my RO water because it’s easier lol.

I can't image driving somewhere and carrying water around is easier than using a rodi filter. I actually have my rodi setup to be controlled by a micro controller and solenoid valves. I literally don't have to do anything to use my rodi. My mixing station and ATO fill up automatically. Often I don't even know when it runs.
Carrying water can't be easier than me literally having to do nothing. All I have to do is watch for it to run occasionally so I can see if I need to change my filters/membrane/DI.

 

[StPatrick89]

I can't image driving somewhere and carrying water around is easier than using a rodi filter. I actually have my rodi setup to be controlled by a micro controller and solenoid valves. I literally don't have to do anything to use my rodi. My mixing station and ATO fill up automatically. Often I don't even know when it runs.
Carrying water can't be easier than me literally having to do nothing. All I have to do is watch for it to run occasionally so I can see if I need to change my filters/membrane/DI.

I think it depends on your level of expertise in the area… solenoids, micro controller sounds in excess to me. Somebody’s gotta put it in. Ijs

 

[shadow1013]

My RODI mixing station doesn't have anything fancy. Old school float value that will shut off the RODI when it is full.

 

[StPatrick89]

My RODI mixing station doesn't have anything fancy. Old school float value that will shut off the RODI when it is full.

Wish I had room for a station

 

[GeoSquid]

Interesting, now would this cyano be brown and gathers on the rocks?

its purple/maroon and is thick but it blows off with a turkey baster.

 

[Aboynamedsous2]

I can't image driving somewhere and carrying water around is easier than using a rodi filter. I actually have my rodi setup to be controlled by a micro controller and solenoid valves. I literally don't have to do anything to use my rodi. My mixing station and ATO fill up automatically. Often I don't even know when it runs.
Carrying water can't be easier than me literally having to do nothing. All I have to do is watch for it to run occasionally so I can see if I need to change my filters/membrane/DI.

It’s 50 cents a gallon and I don’t have room for a filtering system so it just works best for me but I thought about investing in one.

 

[shadow1013]

It is a 20 gallon brute trash can that I cut a bulk head in the front to have it plumbed to drop water into another brute trash can on a wheeled dolly to mix my salt in and roll to the tank.

Wish I had room for a station