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Stez38 
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Joined: February 20 2017
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Posted: February 20 2017 at 12:52pm |
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Hey everyone my name is Paul and am just getting into salt water aquariums and am excited to get my 75 gallon aquarium setup. I am sure I will have plenary of questions and I think this is awesome this forum is here for people like me. So my first question is what is a good ro/di system to buy so I can generate my own clean water at home? I'm not sure I would like going to a pet store all the time to get wate, when I could buy a nice and hopefully affordable ro/di system. Thanks in advance! Paul
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Marcoss
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Posted: February 20 2017 at 1:06pm |
Welcome!
I personally use an RODI unit from Bulk Reef Supply. I have never hard any issues with it. I assume most work the same or close; the key is to measure the output to make sure its perfect.
I see tons and tons of used ones for sale all the time. The only issue is making sure the filters are good or else you are buying an empty shell and will need to replace the filters.
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RedSea Max S400 - 90G Rimless Frag Tanks x2 - 185 Lookdown Bin
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Krazie4Acans
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Posted: February 20 2017 at 1:27pm |
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There is a local company called Air water and ice that makes some great units and of course BRS had tons of options.
Almost as important as the unit you get is what is your house water pressure and what the tds is off the water coming into your house? RO/DI units need a specific pressure to work efficiently. if your home has low pressure then you may need a booster pump to get your filter to work right. So do a little home work before you buy one. You can get a handheld tds meter from Amazon or eBay for a few dollars and it will help you know what you are dealing with.
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My ocean. 90g (yup, won it!), 40g, 28g, & 10g Systems PADI Advanced Open Water Tank Thread:
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Hogie
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Posted: February 20 2017 at 2:07pm |
Hey Paul! Welcome to the club! You'll find that the most common unit people use is http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-4-stage-value-ro-di-system-75gpd-2.html from Bulk Reef Supply. It is the one I started with. It works pretty good for an economical RODI unit. A lot of the local fish stores carry that RODI system (or a similar one) for the same price or sometimes cheaper. It's worth calling around and asking and then you get a good deal and don't have to wait! A couple of tips: I was going through a lot of DI resin when I started with it. I would only get about 100 gallons before I had to change DI resin. I found out the filters it comes with aren't the greatest and so when they wore out, I upgraded filters which made a big difference. I also added a second DI Resin chamber so I wouldn't have to change it as often. Also, I learned that every time you start the water, turn the valve and run the water to the drain line before you start the water and let it flush off the filters for 3 to 4 minutes. That saved the DI resin a ton for me because when the water was first turned on , it was going into the DI resin at around 200 ppm from the left over crud on the membranes. After about 3 minutes, it had dropped to around 25 ppm which is when I returned the valve to start running it through the resin.
Edited by Hogie - February 20 2017 at 2:08pm
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: February 20 2017 at 6:57pm |
You would probably be surprised at how many people use tap water for their reef aquariums. There are so many organisms that grow in salt water that adding ultra pure water is really overkill because the supposed impurities in tap water are actually food for those organisms. Think of how the ocean is topped off by dirty river water! See the pic below of the 300 gal tank of a long time hobbyist friend of mine, using tap water.
Still, from time to time a problem might arise in the city tap water. In order to avoid any problem that might come from a temporary issue with the city culinary water, the use of a simple 3 stage RO unit is entirely sufficient. Sensitive coral such as Acropora also do wonderful with RO purified water. I actually have a complete new RO unit available. I'm selling it for $60. (This wasn't planned, I just need to get it gone so it will be one less thing to move this weekend.)
Last but not least, knowledge is power. If you haven't already found it, the Reefkeeping Tips linked below in my signature line is a condensed compilation of 25 years experience of local hobbyists. The information there is, in some ways, better than a How-To-Book. 
Aloha, Mark 
Adam Blundell's beautiful 300 gal reef.
Edited by Mark Peterson - February 20 2017 at 7:16pm
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Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks:www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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Hogie
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Posted: February 20 2017 at 7:35pm |
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Please don't use tap water especially if you're just getting going. The risk from problems is really great and not worth the frustration and pain to try to correct it.
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sabeypets
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Posted: February 20 2017 at 9:54pm |
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Welcome!!! Like stated above a 3 stage RO system will work well, check the local fish stores. I would not recomend using tap water.
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Shaun American Fork  "Would you leave a dead cat in your kitchen till tommorow?" Builderofdreams
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phys
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Posted: February 21 2017 at 2:37am |
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Welcome! You can find an RO system at most of the stores around or BRS has pretty decent setups. I wouldn't use tap water. My corals usually end up getting angry if I even use water with 10ppm TDS.
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: February 21 2017 at 9:37am |
Hmmm? Coral do respond negatively to change but they get over it and bounce back. I believe it is possible that coral can be spoiled with too much clean and too much stability so that when change happens, they aren't able to handle it. This observation was made many years ago by a founding father in this hobby, LeRoy Headlee of www.garf.org. He has since passed away. He was a pioneer in this hobby, with seemingly boundless enthusiasm. He was one of the first to propagate coral. He was a frequent guest speaker at WMAS meetings. On his first engagement (1996) he taught us how to frag Sarcophyton. I miss him.
Aloha, Mark
Edited by Mark Peterson - February 21 2017 at 11:03am
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Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks:www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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jdinchak
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Posted: February 21 2017 at 9:53am |
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Welcome!
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180G Mixed Reef Tank
170G Dart Frog Tank
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Reefer4Ever
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Posted: February 21 2017 at 8:03pm |
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Welcome aboard, you will find varying opinions on every part of saltwater to reef keeping. I would not ever use tap water in any of my tanks, but that's my choice some do and have good success. It's good to have you on the boardsand here, ask lots of questions weed thru the replies and like ×e all have done make your best educated guess and hope for the best. Start a build thread on your tank. I know I love following builds.
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90 gal reef w/refugium
24 gal softie tank
11 gal nano anemone tank
5 gal fresh water
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