Adding water

How often do you perform water changes? And how much water do you change on your 180gallon? I am new to this so trying to find out as much as I can. What would the suggested amount of water changes be on a 80+30 setup? I have found a 90gpd spectrapure for $165 brand new or a Neptune 5 stage 100gpd for $199. Im going to purchase one of these today to have by the weekend.

 

NO !!! Lol not only because tap water contains trace elements like copper that can seriously damage a reef !! RO/DI or just RO is the only way to go (I use my Brita water filter at the LEAST!! )

BUT MY BIG POINT here is that you mentioned making saltwater and adding 1 gallon every 2 weeks for evaporation. IDK if anyone else said this yet but you wouldn't be adding saltwater for top off. You would be adding fresh water.

Saltwater would be for water changes, and you should using a quality salt like Red Sea Coral Pro

I would suggest topping off at least one a week and water changes 2-3 weeks.

 

My tank has just been filled (not cycling yet), but I plan on doing 10% weekly, just like I did on my 72 bowfront. As long as the filter cleans the water, the GPD doesn't mean much. I mean, sure it's faster, but if you plan ahead it's no big deal. You'll pay more for the higher GPD for sure.

 

Buy the RO/DI directly from Spectrapure for best pricing. There are no other RO vendors that treat and test their RO membranes, use absolute rated sediment filters and capillary tube flow restrictors both or custom blend all their own reef specific DI resins in house so others really don't compare at any cost. You will also want a handheld TDS meter for another $25 as it is the only way to test if the membrane and DI resin are working or in need of replacement. Don't worry about the word "stages", it means little and is a trick the ebay vendors use to make a low end drinking water system with a couple little hollow horizontal tubes with some resin bobbing around in them sound like something great. They aren't even close.

You also don't want a 100GPD RO membrane since its the worst possible choice at only 90% efficiency versus 96-98+% efficiency, it will eat DI resin like crazy. The Dow Filmtec 100 GPD is not even considered an RO membrane, it is classified as a Nano Filter or NF not RO which is not approved for drinking water use much less good for a reef. Good vendors like Spectrapure, BuckeyeFieldSupply or PurelyH2o will try their best to talk you out of the 100. A 15, 25, 50,75 or 90 GPD RO/DI will cost you the same amount, is the same physical size, treats just the same and uses all the same replacement filters except the low GPD system take forever to make a couple gallons of water versus the 75 or 90 at 3 or more gallons per hour.

 

I don’t actually add salt water etc every time I de-chlorinate fresh water then add it etc. but it’s a new setup with no corals or much of anything yet. I have found a 25GPD which should be all I need for 195.00 with a manual flush and meters to determine when I need to swap filters etc. I’ll get this and do 10 % water changes per week as you suggest and top off with fresh water daily as suggested. Glad I started to ask around before doing anything. I can mount the DI/RO unit in my garage as it has a hose faucet. This particular model has a TDS meter on it I believe that shows when the membrane and di resin need to be changed. I guess that is why it is 195 dollars for a 25gpd. @ 25 GPD that is all I should need though. as I will plan ahead and have all I need per week for water changes. A side not I only use the red sea coral pro salt thanks so much guys for helping me out. Ordering this baby tonight.

 

Here is a link to the one I'm considering let me know please
http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?itemId=200903680248&index=7&nav=SEARCH&nid=01133144011

 

This one is $90 more and has two tds meters for in/out levels. 90 gpd. This is the unit I have and it is AMAZING.

MaxCap Manual Flush 90-GPD RO/DI System

 

The MaxCap is the best RO/Di system on the market today. I am on my third iteration, the first was the 90 GPD, the second was a dual membrane 180 GPD and I now own the MaxCap UHE-100.

I would forget the flush kit and the inline TDS meters. Unless you have softened water and low tap water TDS you will be running at the normal 4:1 waste ratio and the flush kit will add no value. The inline TDS meters are not as accurate nor as versatile as a $25 handheld TDS meter. They are not truly temperature compensated so can be off significantly unless your air and water temperatures are exactly the same which is not often plus cannot be used portable. You need the portability to test your ATO storage and other things like bottled or stored water, your buddies water, the kitchen faucet, the LFF etc and they are very accurate.

I would highly recommend the MaxCap 90 GPD regular version though if you have normal water and the flush version ONLY if you have soft water and lower than normal TDS, less than 200 or so. They do not come any better.

It takes a full 24 hours to make 25 GPD under perfect conditions so you spend a lot of time standing around twiddling your thumbs with the 25 where a 90 GPD does it in less than 8 hours. Not worth the aggrivation when you are needing water in a hurry to fix a sick fish, coral or tank. It has no advantages and costs more. Look at Spectrapures current sales flyer and buy directly from them so the resin has not been sitting on a shelf somewhere drying out.
Special Offers

 

Ok sounds good. Can you give me a link to the best option for me at a 200 dollar price range. Can’t really spend more than that or the wife will kill me. lol

 

Or refurb to save money is also good heh
I wil buy it directly though