ro-di filter necissary?

I put tap water in my tank will no problem with the livestock, only with brown algae. by the why whats a good way to get rid of brown algae?
would running my skimmer help? but anyway ro-di's are expensive is it a necessity if just starting?

thanks

 

I used tap water for the first 6 months with my tank. It really depends on what's in your water. If it's high in phosphates and nitrates, you'll have an algea issue. Other metals and stuff in the water ain't always great on life in the tank either. It's a worthwhile investment though. I buy from Russ at Buckeye Field Supply, Ltd.

 

click on the search engine here and type ro/di and see what you get

 

Yes RO/DI is a necessity from the very beginning if you want a long term successful reef system. Many things in tap water are cumulative meaning no amount of water changes will ever remove it all, once its in the rocks its there for good, or bad as the case may be.
Prior to 1990 I used tap water and had limited success, in 1990 I bought my first RO system and things improved and in 1994 I went to RO/DI and never looked back. Much more stable and hardly ever any nuisance algae problems if at all, and those can usually be traced to a piece of coral or rock I added that carried the pest, not the water.

 

This is one place where you don't want to go green, so on that note buy yourself an RO unit. You will love yourself as well as your live stock.

 

I found an easy way to justify a RO/DI purchase is to use it for RO drinking water too. We save hundreds of $$ a year by refilling our drinking water bottles and reusing them over and over. Not only does it save money but landfill space too. Also the RO makes nice clear ice cubes in the refrigerator icemaker and tastes great coming out of the water dispenser. The wife never questioned it and she now uses much more than I do. She fills a drinking bottle 1/2 or 3/4 full with RO and freezes it, takes it out and tops it off, sticks it in a coozy insulator and has cold water for hours! Best purchase we ever made bar none.

 

+1. It's not necessary, depending on the quality of your tap (which often fluctuates, btw). You should get freshwater tests and check periodically if your tap is too dirty.

I used tap for the first 10 months with no ill effects from it. I recently moved over to RO/DI. Yes it's nice, but I see no noticeable improvement at all... I unquestionably recommend RO/DI over tap. It is consistently clean and safe.

Again, it depends on the quality of your tap and remembering to dechlorinate it.

 

it is not necessary but recommended

I bought a 7 stg 100 gpd unit for 155.00 with a tds meter New. Pm me I will get you the web site. as they are not a sponsor to the site.

 

As Peredhil mentioned, RO/DI provides consistency, tap water changes constantly. A storm rolls through, treatment changes and with it changes in pH, chemical additions etc. A main breaks down the block and you have the possibility of a bcak flow incident. Too much uncertainty which you have no control over and no forewarning. I am a treatment plant supervisor by profession and while I will unquestionably drink it, I will not put it in my reef systems.

When looking for a reef quality RO/DI system do not fall into the "stages" trap. This is a sales ploy dreamed up by the ebay vendors to make their drinking water quality systems sound like the best thing since sliced bread! For a good RO you need 3 stages and an RO/DI 4, thats it and anything else is an add on, often not needed and sometimes detrimental. You want a good quality low micron prefilter, 1 micron or less, a single 0.6 micron carbon block , the RO membrane itself and a full sized vertical 20 oz refilable DI, thats it. The ebay systems often use multiple low quality carbons and count them as ":stages". They may also use small low capacity poorly designed horizontal hollow tubes, often even two, and call the "dual DI" and "stages" when a single vertical 20 oz will filter circles around it on its worst day.

Do not buy a100 GPD system if they do not tell you the brand and model of membrane it contains. The Dow Filmtec 75 GPD is the standard of the industry but the 100 GPD Dow Filmtec is the worst possible choice since it is only 90% efficient and not even approved for drinking water use in the USA. It is labeled at "Pool and Spa Use" by the ANSI/NSF testing organization.

If its a 100 GPD GE or Applied membrane then its actually comparable to the 75 GPD Dow, all do 75 GPD at 50 psi, 90 GPD at 60 psi and 100 GPD at 65 psi all at 96-98% efficiency.

Good reef quality units do not have to be expensive, something like the 75 GPD Premium from Buckeye Field Supply, the Optima from PurelyH2O, the Typhoon III from Air Water & Ice all do a great job and can be had for around $160 to $200 including TDS meters, pressure gauges, bypass valves, full size DIs etc.

 

being all that said if the output of your water's tds is zero whats the difference? if it is a ebay unit or not! 200+ dollar unit for the one I have and most all cartiges are interchangeable. I have also a Spectra Pure 25gph a day. which I love. but no longer need. it is a good system! I am not knocking all systems and nor am I a water expert. but I do know tds zero is tds zero. right? or am I missing something here?