Reverse Osmosis?

Question

Recentley the water company has been playing with our sources of city water. The pipes that feed my home are most definetley old because it is not uncommon to recieve shards of some kind of stone in our tap and toilets.--which i don't trust for myself, never mind the fish. We purchase drinking water from Poland springs .
It seems that every week different chemistry issues arise with the tap water, and i am sick and tired of having to add tons of chemicals into the water. I have come to discover that reverse osmosis may be the answer. Is there a better option? I have also come to learn that there are ones meant for aquariums and then ones meant for human use. Is there a difference?

I currently keep three freshwater tanks...and feed all of my other animals with bottled water.
Over the past year or so i have begun to crave a salt water tank, ro is starting to sound like a good investment
[plus if you can get the water perfect, my buenos aires tetras become absolutley beautiful, you can hardly see the individual scales, just one giant silver flash, it's really breath taking]
yes my neighbors have been experiencing debris in their water also, i believe that it is the reason why the company is playing around with it. Just two weeks ago they cut off our personal water supplies and put in some kind of die. New pipes are probably in the planning

Answer 1

Can I assume this is for a freshwater tank? If so, R/O is far too "clean" to be to only water you use. If you can't trust your tap water, I suggest the least expensive bottled drinking water you can find. But, do be sure it's not bottled locally, or you may be buying the same problem water. Odds are also high that the water from your tap will settle down when winter arrives and demand drops.

MM

Answer 2

Reverse Osmosis/Deionized or RO/DI is the way to go! There are TONS of RO/DI units out there some for people (whole house )some for fish (hang it on the wall or under your sink). The ones on the market for people only don't really have the right micron filters for aquarium use. The aquarium units have very fine filters for getting rid of all kinds of nasty stuff! Basically what you end up with is PURE water! Test it we did and it's pure! RO/DI is the only thing to use for salt water set ups Hands down! You ask anyone with a salt tank they ONLY use RO/DI. And you should see the filters and the gunk on them after just a few weeks of use! GROSS!!
The aquarium units are fine for drinking/cooking/koolaid/coffee water too! It may not be what you want to water your plants because the unit has removed all the stuff a plant needs. But if you have the tap water you say you have that can't be good for anything! Plants or Animal! Your clothes! I had to use a well water that turned EVERYTHING orange.. my clothes, my hair even my fingernails! And don't leave anything in the sink.. black scale that after 10 years still stains my coffee cups. Oh not to mention the coffee pots I should own stock in Mr Coffee! My kids wouldn't drink Koolaid made with it! When was the last time you say a kid turn down koolaid?????

Now we have a Spectra Pure 4 stage unit in our laundry room attached to the same line as the washing machine (not to the the washer just on the same line with a Y fitting) Using an Automatic Top Off we run the line into a 55 gal food grade plastic drum. This way we have water ready anytime we need it! With a 125gal reef we need 40g just to do water changes! So having the unit is way cheaper than buying water at $0.50 a gallon plus driving 30miles once a week and then hauling up to a second floor apt! Even with the waste water it's worth it!
We have what we call a city well so we have treated water like the city but it comes from a well and pumping station at the end of our street, We live in the country but to avoid septic systems the developer had to put in this system. Even with the "city" water no way would I put it in my tanks! I've tested that too nasty stuff! lead, iron,copper(very bad for reef tank!)

So for the last 10 years we have been using RO/DI and my water bill has NOT increased (unless my kids come home to visit) my fish are way happier! So IMHO that's the only way to go!
BTW.. is everyone in your area having a problem with the "stones" in your water or just you? you might want to have some check your pipes! You could have a broken pipe letting all that junk in! Just a thought!

hope that helps!

Answer 3

I use RO water in my tanks as well. It is safe but you must add some things to it to keep the ph stable. First is a product called RO Right by Kent Marine and then Neutral Controller, also by Kent Marine. Dose every time you change the water for the entire tank. That is if you are changing 20 gallons in a 55 gallon tank dose the water for the entire 55 gallons.
If you don't use buffering agents in RO water, the water will not stay consistant ph, resulting in ph crash.
I'm with you on the city water thing. When you use RO its like starting with a clean slate and then make the water the exact ph you want. That way you know that no chemicals or bits of stone will be in your water, only what you put in there. It may be a little more work but the fish will thank you for your efforts.

Answer 4

i would add an Ro unit under your sink, they can be ahd with tanks, ebay has a guy that sells units for under 100, i believe either 50 or 100gph a day with a 3g tank, if you email me i may be able to find a link to a really good company to work with, you might want a larger tank, and maybe some form of prescreening to remove alot of the sediment, otherwise you may be going trough alot of sediment/carbon filters, and the rocks and sand may clog the piping. or a whole house system may be the way to go, i feel your pain on the stones, company was doing alot of water work around my inlaws and i had to help clean alot of the pipes out....not fun. oh and the only difference is price, kent RO cartridge $50, onlie form the site under $10, it made for human use, just watch what kind of membrane you get, one is for chlorinated water the other isn't, well it wont remove chlorine anyways, and yes for the tanks you will need an RO correct powder, i heard somewhere that you can use a small amount of aquarium salt in lieu of the RO Right, but im not for sure if that is true or not.

Answer 5

As far as i am concerned with keeping my reef tanks RO/DI is the way to go. it takes a lot longer to filter the water than it would using chemicals. For instance my RO/DI filter does about 50 gallons/day so to make 15 gallons take roughly 9 hours give or take depending on my water pressure that day. I also live in an apt so you may not have such issue with water pressure. i do know they make ones for drinking water but i just more about the ones for aquariums. since i got my RO/DI filter i dont even bother with chemical water treatments and after years of having aquariums i have learned to avoid chemicals wherever you can. Id highly reccomend one i will almost guaratee once you get one you will be amazed at the difference they can make on your tank. i personally have a 4 stage one by coralife and once you work out the kinks with some leaks here and there with a few trips to home depot i regret ever not having one.

Answer 6

You do know that RO wastes about 7 gallons down the drain for every gallon of RO water that you get. If you are paying for your water, it can get pretty expensive. If not, it is still very wasteful.