r/o unit? or take down my tank

Ok, so im having pretty bad problems with algae and i have just switched from tap water to r/o water from the fish store.. which is 11 dollars for 8gallons! I have a 75 gallon tank with a blue hippo, hatian anenome, star polyps, mated pair of tomato clowns, mangerine goby,firefish, and your normal snails and crabs. Ive been doing R/o water for about a month now. I have seen improvments in water quality since switching. but as we all know the economy is to bad to be purchasing water left and right at those prices...to my question. I am very clueless when it comes to R.O units. ive looked high and low trying to find somone that explains how it works and ive come up with nothing. kind of silly questions but bare with me.
Do you have to run your tap water all the time to create water though the unit?
Can i just run it when i need it?
Ive read that it can take up to an hour to create one gallon of water?
So im guessing it would take all day to be able to do a decent water change? Im just so confused. I dont want to purchase one if its going to crank up my water/electric bill. Im to the point where i am reconsidering reef keeping. Please help me understand this! thankyou

 

You only run it when making water. They can take time to make a gallon. How much depends on the RO untit you get. They normal ones have about a 4 to 1 waste ratio. So 4 gals down the sink for every one gal of RO water. If you live in the desert like me and pay a ton for water that can add up. 11 dollars for 8 gals seems way high. You can buy it from the machines for about .35 cents a gallon most places.

 

If you can afford to get a unit I would strongly suggest it.

RO/DI units work by forcing water through a membrane and then through a resin to remove all contaminants and minerals. You usually waste about 3 gallon for every gallon made. The waste could be used for watering outside or a cichlid tank.

You run water through the unit only when you need it. You should make at least 10 gallons per batch for the unit to be the most efficient. You should also use ro/di for topping off.

Most membranes can make 75 or 100 gallons a day so that is 3 or 4 gallons provided the pressure and temperature are high enough.

 

Your water bill will not go up that much. Get or keep the RO/DI unit and just use phosgard to eliminate the algae. I am sure you know your algae problem is from your tap water. you're choice.

 

hey rodi units are a must..but i just pay 30cents a gallon from winn dixie in their machine outside..i think its called glacier, not only is it rodi filtration but it also does a couple more things than the rodi, dont know if its good for reef keeping, but i dont have bad algae or anything..also another thing may help, since you have nitrates and phosphates if it were my tank i would get some gfo and start running either in a hang on filter or in a sump if you have one...you get the best perfermance of it through a reactor but just running it through will help out until your rodi water replaces the old..remember you have a large tank, so it will take many water changes to replace that dirty(tap) water..

i usually use just clearmax made by fluval, petsmarts sells it for 8$..there are better brands out there but i dont think any brand matters unless its in a reactor..

and yea 11$ for 7 gallons is pretty expensive..my fish store sells mixed saltwater with reef crystals 10 gallons for around 10-11$

so yeah just find a local grocery store that sells the water outside..in baton rouge winn dixie, kroger, albertsons, whole foods and a few of the ACE hardware stores have the vending machines out front..i thought about buying a rodi unit, but they cost around 200$ and i dont have a problem spending 3$ to get 10 gallons and just my own salt..

 

Assuming you are in America, you are being scammed. That is a ridiculous price for water.

I mean, unless maybe, are you in Death Valley?

 

well it is pre mixed. but like saints said 75 gallons is alot of water to replace for buying water weekly. i do not put chemicals in my tank for my algae its about to run its course after 6 months of battling...i also do have a 20 gallon sump

 

hopefully she is paying that much for it already mixed with salt..which is expensive but not crazy...if you are paying that price for just rodi water, then yea your getting ripped off..

 

hmmm...i would HIGHLY suggest a spectrapure ro/di(usually have a 90 gallon per day unit for 150ish) and a Bulkreefsupply.com GFO reactor(around 50$). if money is an issue get the GFO reactor and buy water from a vending machine at a local grocery store(try to make sure its been tested recently, trust is another reason i bought my own ro/di). in the long run you are better off buying your own rodi but you can save for that or get it as a present for your next Bday!

 

I would try Craigslist I got mine off of there for $50 bucks and it works great or even the home depot sell them for $95 bucks and it should be fine. as faer as the alge goes have you concidered any diffrent alternitve other than the water being the problem and do you have the right livestock to clean the alge? Pictures would be nice to have to and maby an alge scrubber to help. Dont give up yet we are more than willing to help.