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RO/DI for brackish?
Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 11:52 pm
by socalsprinter
Hello is RO/DI safe to use at lower end brackish(around 1.05)? I have the unit for my saltwater tank and would love to drop tap to help with algae but i'm not sure if I need to add anymore minerals besides whats in the salt to the water.
Re: RO/DI for brackish?
Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 12:16 am
by J-P
you can experiment. But that is an expensive experiment. Maybe try 25% RO/DI and 25% tap and see how that goes.
Re: RO/DI for brackish?
Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 1:56 am
by Pufferpunk
You'd have to remineralize it.
Re: RO/DI for brackish?
Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 8:29 am
by socalsprinter
Was afraid of that would something like Seachem's Equilibrium work? I'd rather not mix tap and ro if I can avoid it(I hate algae!). I checked the ph and it is ok at around 7.8 but my kh is low at only 3.
Re: RO/DI for brackish?
Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 8:32 am
by Pufferpunk
That looks like the right stuff.
Re: RO/DI for brackish?
Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 9:04 am
by RTR
The KH needs to be higher than that for stability of the tank.
Are you using an aragonite substrate? That would help stability.
Re: RO/DI for brackish?
Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 11:13 am
by socalsprinter
RTR wrote:The KH needs to be higher than that for stability of the tank.
Are you using an aragonite substrate? That would help stability.
I am not just some gravel. The KH in my figure 8s current tank is 8 using tapwater so i'm assuming the ro/di is what is lowering it. Would argonite keep me from having to buffer with equilibrium?
Re: RO/DI for brackish?
Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 12:51 pm
by Pufferpunk
That product isn't for buffering, it's for replenishing the minerals removed from your water filtration system. 8 is perfect!
Re: RO/DI for brackish?
Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 8:44 am
by socalsprinter
I went ahead and replaced the rocks with aragonite and am letting the storm settle. It is about done so I can add the decor back. I picked up the equilibrium and dosed it so hopefully this will stabilize the system and I can move my figure 8 over this weekend.
Re: RO/DI for brackish?
Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 6:25 am
by RTR
Why do RO and then add everything back? Is your tap water that bad?
For F-8s, I use my tap water. For full SW FOWLR++, I would be likely to use RODI.
Re: RO/DI for brackish?
Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 8:49 am
by socalsprinter
My tap is at about 200 TDS so its not horrible but not great either and has always given me algae issues. Given that brackish has no real CUC(least nothing that the puffer wont eat!) other then me with a scrubber seems like it would be best to be able to control what is in my water. I already had the RO/DI unit so why not use it? I may take the DI out though and just use RO water in the brackish.
After switching to the sand my KH has risen to 6-7ish and my ph is around 7.8.