Switching to RO/DI

Please be gentle on me with this topic. I know I know tap water isn't a question with reef tanks and my last reef tank I used tap water for 2 years with no issues before selling the tank. I knew it was just a matter of time before it caught up with me. The fact is I used tap water when setting up my new tank and 2 months in I've came to my senses and ordered an RO kit. Can I slowly start using RO water during water changes and get the tank on 100% RO or is this a situation where I must start over 100%? Again I know I know and it was a mistake any input is appreciated. Thank you

 

Naww you should not have to start over unless your phosphates and nitrates were outrages and you'll have problems with phosphates leeching from the rock work. So just to be safe test the tap water levels to get an idea. Trying just changing out the water first before thinking about starting all over again. It's pretty common for a two month old tank to have algae issues regardless.

 

Will do. I'm not having any issues whatsoever right now but I want to get into sps more and if I have issues in the future I want to know that the tap water is not the issue. Thank you for the information I really appreciate it. Looks like I'll be taking it very slow with live stock and making the switch to RO. I'll keep an eye on my perameters constantly.

 

After testing the tap water it shows nitrates to be 0 ppm. Sounds like I might be ok? Going to start doing water changes with RO. Is it a large possibility the rock will leach nitrates over the course of the next year causing issues?

 

I would worry more about phosphates. If the tap water is showing 0 in both i wouldn't think you would have to worry about leaching.

 

Ok. I'm out of phosphate tests. I'll check that tomorrow. Thank you for the quick responses. I got to excited to get my new tank up

 

We've all been there

 

Hahaha yeah I bet. I just hope I'm starting soon enough to not have a huge problem but I'll keep monitoring phosphates. Thats the beauty and the scary thing about the hobby to me. There is so much information to learn!! I just read for hours about phosphates and now I'm terrified I didn't read much with my last tank and just took advice from lfs and nothing ever gave me issues even using tap water. Now I feel like my investment was s ticking time bomb!

 

I did the same thing when I set up my 55 a few months ago. I got a RODI unit and over the course of a couple months transitioned over. I think it should be fine - my tap water was about 165 ppm...my RODI output is usually between 0-2. everything is fine. so dont stress too much!

 

Thank you Josh!!!