I know the Gold standard for the club is using a RO/DI, but for those of us who want to start without this $100+ expense, what is the alternative?

Of course there's tap water with purifyers.

There's Store bought water, also a big cost.

Can some of you place your input on each.  The Pro's and cons and I"m sure RO is best, but what can one get away with and if I need to use an alternative, how can I combat issues?

Thanx

David

Request a full report from your municipal water quality department and post the list here.  IMO, it's the trace/heavy metals that would be of interest.  If they are low, you might not have any problems using it as is.  For make-up, using tap water mixed with kalkwasser can be ok as the kalkwasser (high pH) causes many of the metals in the tap water to precipitate out as metal oxides.  Kind of a self purification.  I know Mark Peterson uses tap water in his mini reef without problems, maybe others do too.  Conventional wisdom says to use RO water.

Have you checked local pet stores.  They're cost for RO water is not that outrageous ($0.25/gal).  Some stores may offer it free to regular customers.  I'm pretty sure Aquatica in Orem gives RO water for free to it's customers (there's always someone getting water when I'm in the store).

FWIW, I use laboratory grade DI water (perk of where I work), but if I didn't have access to this I'd buy an RO unit, because I don't like mooching from the fish store and $100 is not that bad when you think about how much make-up water you use.

True Enough, it's just the problem of getting 55 gallons of RO water from a store poses a small problem.

 What's "kalkwasser"?

I might be going out on a limb here, but you're almost certain to have a larger then average diatom bloom (brown algae) when cycling a tank on tap water.  I wouldn't let that scare you away from using it though.  It's very common to use tap water when initially starting a tank for the very reason you state (where am I going to get 100 gallons of RO water?).  One other thing regarding the use of tap water for constant make-up is what long term effects there might be.  Even if there are no short term (less then 1-2 yrs usage) effect the accumulative effect of adding small amounts of heavy metals to your reef over a 4-5 yr period can lead to problems (some people blame "old tank syndrome" on this accumulation of metals...).

Kalkwasser is calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2.  It's mixed with make-up water to help maintain calcium and carbonate levels in your tank.  Do a search on the internet for more detailed explaination and ask here if something doesn't make sense to you.

I have access to RO/DI water at work as well.  I get all I want free.  And guess what.... I use tap water in my tanks.  Maybe it is laziness, I don't know.  I guess after using RO/DI for so long I just decided one day that tap water can't be all that bad. 

I still think RO/DI is much better, I just don't use it.  That reminds me... I guess since I don't use mine anymore I now have a RO unit for sale.  If you are interested let me know.

Thanks

Adam

Hi,

Keither- "what is the alternative?"

Depending on the size of the tank, IMO, there is none. For a small 20g~ish tank, buying RO water might not be a big hassle. But for my 125, nothing beats pure water in my tank, on my command.

"Can some of you place your input on each.  The Pro's and cons"

Tap water purifier:

Con: Had to set it up every time. Frequently came off the faucet. Had to adjust it every time. It was very slow. Only 1 filter that was expensive and needed regular replacement.

Pro: It was in my house.

Buying LFS RO:

Con: The cost sucked. Having to go get it all the time sucked. The LFS running out sucked. Lugging buckets sucked. Spilling a bucket in the car sucked. Storing buckets sucked. My 55 would evaporate about 10 gallons per week plus waterchanges. It was a lot of work.

Pro: No initial cost for a RO unit. (which i believe is only a pro in the short term) No need to install the RO unit. (which isnt that hard) No need to replace filters. (which costs less/gallon than the store water) No need to understand another piece of reef equipment.

Buying grocery store RO:

See above, plus:

Con: Not knowing when/if they change their filters sucked. Have to buy a TDS meter.

Tap water:

Con: IMO, it's a risk. Even if the city says it's good. Even if I test it myself. Things happen to the quality of tap water. Atleast once a year I hear about a part of the valley that cant even drink their water for one reason or another. Do you think the city would bother to tell the public if something happened to water quality that was critical to reef animals? I seriously doubt it. 

I also believe that heavy metal accumulation is a possible cause of "old tank syndrome". Which of course would likely be accelerated by tap water.

Pro: It's REALLY cheap. You don't have to replace filters. You don't have to go somewhere to get it. It probably has more iron that might help macro growth..

If the costs of the RO were significantly greater, maybe I could see it another way. But I'm guessing the filter costs of a 3 stage RO unit for a 55 gallon tank would probably be less than 5 dollars a month (Depending of course on the quality of your water source).

Just ask yourself:

What's your time worth? What's your peace of mind worth? Is it really worth the hassle?

Maybe I'm lazy. Maybe I'm a chicken. But IMO, it's money well spent.

"if I need to use an alternative, how can I combat issues?"

Patience and faith?

:D

Keither,

Actually, I would say that the "gold standard" is truly antiquated. There is money to be made in that product so that's where the most noise comes from.

There are a LOT of us that use tap water or water filtered in some other way. (FYI - Calcium Hydroxide can be used to effectively purify tap water for the initial tank water and for tap water used for make-up and water changes)

In addition to the methods mentioned above, there is very neat a system called Kold-Steril which sieves impurities on a molecular level. This filtration media removes metals and excess nutrients but leaves all the calcium and magnesium that was pre-existing in the tap water. Great for tanks with mostly soft coral and fish! The intial DIY set up is $125 including filtration media. Media replacement costs only $45 every 5000 gallons, much less expensive than RO/DI.

The place to check it out is http://www.poly-bio-marine.com">www.poly-bio-marine.com and here is a 1991 Reef Tour pic of a 180 gal set up that has been using it for three years now with "no worries mate."

The coral and fish are much larger now and the coral have been fragged many times.

Jon,

I can't really tell you about the Kold Sterile.  I have only been running it for a month or so.  I will let you know in a year.

RO units are really no more expensive (maybe less) than the Kold-steril thing...  Just search on eBay for RO filters: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2338366899&category=20684 - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2338366899&category=20684

You can get a 4-5 stage RO unit with holding tank for around $110-$130.  I'll stick to my "antiquated" RO unit for that price...

Mark,

 Where did you pick up the parts to make a kold-steril unit?  And what size housings are you using?  Thanks..... Bob

I haven't jumped into this discussion yet, but here goes. 

I'm really skeptical on PBM.  Their claims don't hold water to me.  We discussed this with a few other people (Julian Sprung and Ron Shimek) and both they and I can not understand how PBM is able to remove certain metals, but not all with that system.  Some argue that PBM filters are not any better than the Britta filter I have sitting on my kitchen counter. 

However.... as Mark makes so very clear..... who cares?  Some of the best tanks around are running off of tap water.  So maybe what it does filter is good enough.  I don't really have any personal opinions on this subject, I just want everyone to know that there is a wide spectrum of opinions out there on how well water purifiers work, and how important that is.

Adam

Mark,

  do you have the 3/4 thread on that unit?  does Pacific Water have a web site?  I am looking to make a system.  I have a RO/DI 100 gal  membrane but am tired of all the waste water.  I want to try out the kold-steril on my 55 FOWLR before I try it on my 125 reef.  The LFS thinks im nuts for wanting to try kold steril.  he says that he used it and had a algea outbreak in his tanks.  He is using ro/di now.  I can get the media at reef splendor they are a local online dealer in NY.   Thanks again for the info.

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