Water and Salinity

ramtmac · 03/20/2010, 08:19 PM

Is RO/DI water just regular drinking water? Like from Sparkletts or the Glacier stands in grocery stores, etc?

Also, if my salinity is a little low, how should I go about adding more salt? How much more salt should I add per gallon if it's low.
Mine is at 1.016
I dont have fish or coral now. just got started with live rock and live sand and a clean up crew. I will be getting fish and coral in a week or two.

iap · 03/20/2010, 08:22 PM

Drinking water is RO water.
I would add like half a cup of salt and test to see what your sg changed to.
How long has the live rock been in? Have you finished cycling?

ramtmac · 03/20/2010, 08:27 PM

The rock has been in for about 4 days... I just kind of went for the clean up crew.
the rocks are already starting to grow new things on them.. beginning to look colorful in places. I think this means that it is still cycling?

So can I just use RO water with salt or do I need to buy RODI water?

iap · 03/20/2010, 08:36 PM

I'm still new to this as well but you will definitely need a test kit to be sure you have cycled and not add anything new until you are sure.

You can use ro or even tap water but rodi is what you really want to be using. This will eliminate any contaminites and cut down on algea growth.

keto · 03/20/2010, 10:49 PM

Dont use tap water ...

bhammer · 03/20/2010, 10:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ramtmac

Is RO/DI water just regular drinking water? Like from Sparkletts or the Glacier stands in grocery stores, etc?

Also, if my salinity is a little low, how should I go about adding more salt? How much more salt should I add per gallon if it's low.
Mine is at 1.016
I dont have fish or coral now. just got started with live rock and live sand and a clean up crew. I will be getting fish and coral in a week or two.

No, it is not. Those waters are either natural spring waters or RO water that has had minerals added back into the water for flavor. You need to use RO/DI water for the tank or you will be batteling algea issues for ever.

The easiest way to raise your SG is to mix up a couple gallons of RO/DI water and use that for your top off water. Be sure to raise it slow, like maybe by .002 a time.

Octoshark · 03/20/2010, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iap

Drinking water is RO water.

Not all drinking water is RO.

ramtmac · 03/20/2010, 11:02 PM

Where do you get your RO/DI water from?
Im in Houston, TX if anyone knows!

Octoshark · 03/20/2010, 11:06 PM

If you dont have any local grocery stores with a RODI vending machine, and your LFS doesn't sell RODI water either, then you can always get your own unit (if you can afford it of course). A good personal RODI unit will cost $200-400 plus replacement filters/membranes when they need to be replaced.

iap · 03/20/2010, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Octoshark

Not all drinking water is RO.

Ok. RO is drinking water.

saltn07 · 03/20/2010, 11:21 PM

Not all of it, some of it is basically tapwater. If you can afford it get a RODI, it suck if you need water late and everything is closed. Plus you can get a TDS fairly cheap to make sure you are getting clean water.

saltn07 · 03/20/2010, 11:22 PM

bulkreefsupply.com has good unit for cheap...

iap · 03/20/2010, 11:25 PM

Yea I just got a 5 stage plus 75gpd from BRS for 180$. Took about 10min to install. Great investment. Plus I got the drinkin water addon for 60$. Now I have rodi water for the tank plus ro for drinking.

Korrine · 03/21/2010, 07:44 AM

See if anyone in your local reef club has a unit for sale. I bought a second hand one from a lrc member who's mom was getting out of the hobby. Great deal at around half price, I think. I just needed to change the cartridges and that's it.

This may be a good read for you, depending on what you already know.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-05/rhf/index.php

and maybe this

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php

Madratter · 03/21/2010, 10:18 AM

The Glacier water dispensers at stores like safeway say right on them what they are doing. They run it through RO but not DI. If they are well maintained, the TDS can be quite low and the water is usable. If they aren't well maintained then the results can be a disaster just like a poorly maintained RO/DI at home.

If you aren't talking the dispensing machines then steer clear unless it is distilled water or says RO water and you definitely don't want it if they have added salts back in to improve taste.

Having your own DO/DI unit does have the benefit that you know if you are maintaining it properly.

ramtmac · 03/21/2010, 06:12 PM

Thanks for all your help.
Will probably invest in a unit sometime down the line. Getting RO/DI from my LFS until then.

03/20/2010, 08:19 PM	#1
ramtmac Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 407	Water and Salinity Is RO/DI water just regular drinking water? Like from Sparkletts or the Glacier stands in grocery stores, etc? Also, if my salinity is a little low, how should I go about adding more salt? How much more salt should I add per gallon if it's low. Mine is at 1.016 I dont have fish or coral now. just got started with live rock and live sand and a clean up crew. I will be getting fish and coral in a week or two.

03/20/2010, 10:49 PM	#5
keto Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Decatur, IL Posts: 628	Dont use tap water ... __________________ Inconveniencing marine life since 2002 Current Tank Info: 125 gallon Reef thur wall , 500 watts of T5' HQ, Diy 100 Gallon sump, Octox200 skimmer, Mag 18 , Geo 612 Calcium Reactor with AquariumPlants electronic regulator , two Koralia Evolution 1400"s

03/20/2010, 11:06 PM	#9
Octoshark Marine Biology Student Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: California Posts: 1,366	If you dont have any local grocery stores with a RODI vending machine, and your LFS doesn't sell RODI water either, then you can always get your own unit (if you can afford it of course). A good personal RODI unit will cost $200-400 plus replacement filters/membranes when they need to be replaced. __________________ "Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal."

03/21/2010, 07:44 AM	#14
Korrine You could get a ticket!! Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Upper midwest Posts: 4,288 Blog Entries: 1	See if anyone in your local reef club has a unit for sale. I bought a second hand one from a lrc member who's mom was getting out of the hobby. Great deal at around half price, I think. I just needed to change the cartridges and that's it. This may be a good read for you, depending on what you already know. http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-05/rhf/index.php and maybe this http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php __________________ Try to keep in mind that we are all human...mistakes do happen! Be kinder than necessary because every one you meet is fighting some kind of battle. Current Tank Info: 40 breeder - started 9/2011 - platinum perc and sanjay's black photon clownfishes; sps and lps, and soft corals; 250w MH, 20 long sump w Bubble Magus Nac 3.5 skimmer 12g nano cube -serpent star, mini carpet anemones, w 6 sexy shrimp, 150w MH, maxi je

03/20/2010, 08:22 PM	#2
iap BOSS Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 691	Drinking water is RO water. I would add like half a cup of salt and test to see what your sg changed to. How long has the live rock been in? Have you finished cycling?

03/20/2010, 08:27 PM	#3
ramtmac Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 407	The rock has been in for about 4 days... I just kind of went for the clean up crew. the rocks are already starting to grow new things on them.. beginning to look colorful in places. I think this means that it is still cycling? So can I just use RO water with salt or do I need to buy RODI water?

03/20/2010, 08:36 PM	#4
iap BOSS Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 691	I'm still new to this as well but you will definitely need a test kit to be sure you have cycled and not add anything new until you are sure. You can use ro or even tap water but rodi is what you really want to be using. This will eliminate any contaminites and cut down on algea growth.

03/20/2010, 11:02 PM	#8
ramtmac Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 407	Where do you get your RO/DI water from? Im in Houston, TX if anyone knows!

03/20/2010, 11:21 PM	#11
saltn07 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 58	Not all of it, some of it is basically tapwater. If you can afford it get a RODI, it suck if you need water late and everything is closed. Plus you can get a TDS fairly cheap to make sure you are getting clean water.

03/20/2010, 11:22 PM	#12
saltn07 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 58	bulkreefsupply.com has good unit for cheap...

03/20/2010, 11:25 PM	#13
iap BOSS Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 691	Yea I just got a 5 stage plus 75gpd from BRS for 180$. Took about 10min to install. Great investment. Plus I got the drinkin water addon for 60$. Now I have rodi water for the tank plus ro for drinking.

03/21/2010, 10:18 AM	#15
Madratter Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 223	The Glacier water dispensers at stores like safeway say right on them what they are doing. They run it through RO but not DI. If they are well maintained, the TDS can be quite low and the water is usable. If they aren't well maintained then the results can be a disaster just like a poorly maintained RO/DI at home. If you aren't talking the dispensing machines then steer clear unless it is distilled water or says RO water and you definitely don't want it if they have added salts back in to improve taste. Having your own DO/DI unit does have the benefit that you know if you are maintaining it properly.

03/21/2010, 06:12 PM	#16
ramtmac Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 407	Thanks for all your help. Will probably invest in a unit sometime down the line. Getting RO/DI from my LFS until then.