algae

Kellsindell

Couldn't have said it better my self. You can get RO water from your local pet store, but it does get very pricy after a short time and if you're evaping half a gallon to 1g a day then yeah i'd go with an RO unit. Online vendors will have the cheapest prices and that's my recamendation.

McFishin'

Thanks for the responses guys. I didn't realize that much water would evaporate daily! I'm not sure what a RO unit looks like let alone how it works but, it sounds like that's going to be the cheapest way to go about getting water. Sense I need so much water, is the RO unit going to be running all the time? Or is it better to make and store some in a bunch of jugs? What do you guys do?

Kellsindell

the RO units make a certain amount of water a day because they don't go as fast as a faucet because of all the chambers it must go through to get clean. i would recamend making the water the day before you are going to do the water change or top off water, get the water to the correct temp (that means drop a water heater in it if need be) and keep it in the same room your tank is in (helps alk be the same as tank). then the next day do the water change or use the top off as needed.

i don't recamend making saltwater days in adv because everything in it is going to change and you also may have somethings grow in it if you don't have flow ect ect. so just make a bit more then you're going to use. making saltwater is so much easier this way because you don't have to spend several mins spinning turning or misc you do to mix the salt and declorinator or whatever method you use (unless you do your workout that way). just drop a pump in, heater and next day check your SG and alk and do what you need to do.

McFishin'

So, I'll need a pump and heater for this as well, huh. This sounds like a system all in its own! Is this something you buy all packaged together? Could you explain more about the different chambers and where I add the salt in, please?

SKAustin

Yes, RO/DI filtration is also essential to controlling undesirable algae. I'm not sure how I missed that in my initial reply. RO/DI needs to be stored in a food safe container. Most folks use a Rubbermaid Brute trash can. Very few trash cans are food safe, and this is important as RO/DI water is so pure that it will actually draw out impurities in other types of plastic.

McFishin'

So, I process the water through the RO unit and store it in a food safe garbage can. Should I mix the salt in the garbage can? Hypothetically, if I were trying to fill a 55 gallon tank for the first time could I fill it little by little while the RO unit produces the water?

Kellsindell

If there's nothing in the tank than air then you can save yourself a step and just mix it in the tank. that's what i've done in the past. just don't forget about the cycle before you begin to add anything and remember to be patient.

SKAustin

You will want a second Brute container for the mixing of water. I personally use a 40 gallon Brute for the Storage of RO, and a 32 gallon Brute for mixing.

You do not want to introduce salt to your RO supply as you will need plain fresh (no salt) RO for the purposes of topping off the system. You will lose some water each day to evaporation, but the salt content does not evaporate. As the water evaporates, the salinity rises. By adding fresh water to top off, you bring the salinity back to the normal range. If you were to add saltwater to top off, your salinity would continue to rise to levels far beyond healthy within a very short period of time.

Kellsindell

An excellent point Austin.

McFishin'

I forgot that the salt doesn't evaporate with the water, good point! So I'll mix salt in the first batch of water in the tank its self. So how much am I looking to spend on a RO unit?