college tank ideas--No RODI

[NotReefsafe]

Looking for ideas to scratch my reef keeping itch while away at college. I'm willing to do maintenance and multiple feedings, but:

unfortunately have no access to RODI

want transport of tank to be easy

under $400 or so



have been thinking of doing a mangrove and soft coral nano, or a fowlr with a Yasha goby and no light.

How would tap water hurt these tanks? What are some other ideas?

Thanks

 

[cpoynter]

You could buy a RO Buddie off of Amazon and hook it to the sink.

 

[AydenLincoln]

It would not be good in terms of contaminates and algae! A better alternative to RODI is either distilled water or buying premixed saltwater from the lfs or Petco near the college as I know space in dorms is limited and sinks aren’t always in the dorm rooms on campus! I recommend this little guy as it comes with everything you need but water and livestock. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/desk...=14742&indexName=brs_prod_m2_default_products

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

How would tap water hurt these tanks? What are some other ideas?

Thanks

Depends on the tap water. It might be fine, or not.

The "not" possibilities include excessive algae or diatoms (e.g., due to excessive phosphate or silicate), and possibly being unable to keep most inverts if you wanted to (e.g., due to copper).

 

[JZ199]

When I got one of my smaller tanks up and running I used distilled water for about a year without any issues, it won't be as pure as rodi, but it should be useable. Also some LFS will sell you the water or already mixed saltwater

 

[BamaCoastPyrat]

Looking for ideas to scratch my reef keeping itch while away at college. I'm willing to do maintenance and multiple feedings, but:

unfortunately have no access to RODI

want transport of tank to be easy

under $400 or so



have been thinking of doing a mangrove and soft coral nano, or a fowlr with a Yasha goby and no light.

How would tap water hurt these tanks? What are some other ideas?

Thanks

@Tenecor Aquariums do you still have any codes left on your 3 gallon diy kits that just dropped. That sounds like a possible good fit here.

 

[JoJosReef]

Run to the science building and ask for DI water? Extra points if you find a professor that's also a reefer--you'll be set!

Also, you could go with a tank that has a hood to minimize evaporation as long as you are able to manage water temp.

 

[Nemo&Friends]

I have 2 FOWLR tanks for may be 10 years, and I only use tap water. One of my tank have macro algae. I inherited a fish from a friend and that damsel must be about 12 years old by now. Friend was using well water, but I only use tap water.
You could do a small tank with macro algae, and a carnivorous fish who would not eat them. The macro algae would give you the colors, until you are willing or able to start corals.
Macro algae are easier than the corals. Do not forget to put a few rocks, so that your fish have a place to hide.
Why salt water fish would require RO water, and not fresh water ones? I have never seen a reasoning for that.

 

[BamaCoastPyrat]

I have 2 FOWLR tanks for may be 10 years, and I only use tap water. One of my tank have macro algae. I inherited a fish from a friend and that damsel must be about 12 years old by now. Friend was using well water, but I only use tap water.
You could do a small tank with macro algae, and a carnivorous fish who would not eat them. The macro algae would give you the colors, until you are willing or able to start corals.
Macro algae are easier than the corals. Do not forget to put a few rocks, so that your fish have a place to hide.
Why salt water fish would require RO water, and not fresh water ones? I have never seen a reasoning for that.

This is one of those things that is location dependent. Every city and county has their own water system with differing age and type of piping along with differing age and type of water facility equipment and differing theories and methods for treating the water. Some towns have some truly awful water systems. Look at Flint, MI.

Your water may be ok with some simple dechlorinator but a friend in a neighboring town may have additives in their water that sensitive marine animals can't live in. And I believe frequently it's the invertebrates that are more sensitive to the water. Almost all saltwater keepers have invertebrates but it is much less common in the freshwater hobby.

 

[Tenecor Aquariums]

@Tenecor Aquariums do you still have any codes left on your 3 gallon diy kits that just dropped. That sounds like a possible good fit here.

Sorry. All gone.

 

[dennis romano]

I had freshwater tanks in my dorm room as an undergrad. A major problem is what happens to the tank during vacations. Usually, dorms shut down during breaks. What are you going to do when the school closes down for three weeks for winter vacation?

 

[katsreef]

Looking for ideas to scratch my reef keeping itch while away at college. I'm willing to do maintenance and multiple feedings, but:

unfortunately have no access to RODI

want transport of tank to be easy

under $400 or so



have been thinking of doing a mangrove and soft coral nano, or a fowlr with a Yasha goby and no light.

How would tap water hurt these tanks? What are some other ideas?

Thanks

I buy distilled water and make sure it has no minerals added. I also have a glass lid with a cut out to feed (and also nothing covering the aio chambers) to reduce evaporation and therefore reduce top offs

 

[Hooz]

When I got one of my smaller tanks up and running I used distilled water for about a year without any issues, it won't be as pure as rodi, but it should be useable. Also some LFS will sell you the water or already mixed saltwater

I don't know where people get the notion that distilled water is somehow inferior to RODI water, but 0 tds water doesn't get any more "PURE" than 0 tds.

I've ICP'd both Kroger and Walmart distilled water, and they are as pure as water gets.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I don't know where people get the notion that distilled water is somehow inferior to RODI water, but 0 tds water doesn't get any more "PURE" than 0 tds.

I've ICP'd both Kroger and Walmart distilled water, and they are as pure as water gets.

It's good that you checked, IMO.

Here's a copy and paste from an older thread of mine:

Distilled water should, in most cases, be fine.

That said, I am not comfortable stating that there are no readers of this thread who might encounter distilled water made with copper piping, and I'm not sure how one could make that conclusion.

If the distilled water was made on a device using copper cooling coils, that could be a concern, and most people would not know how their distilled water is being made.

When copper is used, there is copper in the product water. It has been measured and reported in the scientific literature:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC437257/?page=1

Do any commercial plants use copper?

Well, they certainly use copper-nickel alloys when seawater is the raw material for the distillation plant. Is any of that product water sold commercially as distilled water rather than just drinking water for the local population? I do not know.

Here's a paper on desalination plants that currently use distillation to produce drinking water, and they commonly use copper-nickel alloys and they report copper in the waste stream (no mention of the product water, since this is a study of environmental effects, not the product water):

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiRisycx9vKAhVEeD4KHcYmCyMQFggiMAE&url=https://www.sciencetarget.com/Journal/index.php/IJES/article/download/96/25&usg=AFQjCNFmgTvhr0H-pFD5QjQIkYerIPrBFA&bvm=bv.113034660,d.cWw

"2.7 Heavy Metals
Copper-nickel alloys are commonly used as heat
exchanger materials in distillation plants, so that
brine contamination with copper due to corrosion
can be a concern of thermal plant reject streams.
The RO brine may contain traces of iron, nickel,
chromium and molybdenum, but contamination
with metals is generally below a critical level, as
non-metal equipment and stainless steels
predominate in RO desalination plants. Copper
concentrations in reject stream are expected to be
in the range of 15–100 μg/L.

and here:

http://www.copper.org/applications/marine/cuni/applications/desalination_plants/

"Multistage Flash Desalination is a heat exchange process and although many materials have been promoted for the heat exchanger tubing, copper base alloys are still favoured since they have given good service in these plants. "

and here:

https://www.nickelinstitute.org/~/M...elAlloys_PropertiesandApplications_12007_.pdf

"In the heat reject section the preferred allow is a 70/30 copper-nickel containing 2% iron and 2% manganese for best corrosion resistance..."

 

[All_talk]

...Why salt water fish would require RO water, and not fresh water ones? I have never seen a reasoning for that.

Slightly off topic... Fresh water tanks require a certain level of minerals in the water, just like distilled/RODI is not good for us to drink, its not good for fish of plants to live in. I tried using RODI for water changes in my planted tank for a short while (mostly because it was stored at 78 degF and I wouldn't have to match temp out of the tap), and after a few weeks most of my plants died, fish seemed OK, but I suspect long term it would have caused problems for them too. Some freshwater keepers start with RODI, but re-mineralize it for specific setups.

 

[Hooz]

It's good that you checked, IMO.

Here's a copy and paste from an older thread of mine:

Distilled water should, in most cases, be fine.

That said, I am not comfortable stating that there are no readers of this thread who might encounter distilled water made with copper piping, and I'm not sure how one could make that conclusion.

If the distilled water was made on a device using copper cooling coils, that could be a concern, and most people would not know how their distilled water is being made.

When copper is used, there is copper in the product water. It has been measured and reported in the scientific literature:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC437257/?page=1

Do any commercial plants use copper?

Well, they certainly use copper-nickel alloys when seawater is the raw material for the distillation plant. Is any of that product water sold commercially as distilled water rather than just drinking water for the local population? I do not know.

Here's a paper on desalination plants that currently use distillation to produce drinking water, and they commonly use copper-nickel alloys and they report copper in the waste stream (no mention of the product water, since this is a study of environmental effects, not the product water):

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiRisycx9vKAhVEeD4KHcYmCyMQFggiMAE&url=https://www.sciencetarget.com/Journal/index.php/IJES/article/download/96/25&usg=AFQjCNFmgTvhr0H-pFD5QjQIkYerIPrBFA&bvm=bv.113034660,d.cWw

"2.7 Heavy Metals
Copper-nickel alloys are commonly used as heat
exchanger materials in distillation plants, so that
brine contamination with copper due to corrosion
can be a concern of thermal plant reject streams.
The RO brine may contain traces of iron, nickel,
chromium and molybdenum, but contamination
with metals is generally below a critical level, as
non-metal equipment and stainless steels
predominate in RO desalination plants. Copper
concentrations in reject stream are expected to be
in the range of 15–100 μg/L.

and here:

http://www.copper.org/applications/marine/cuni/applications/desalination_plants/

"Multistage Flash Desalination is a heat exchange process and although many materials have been promoted for the heat exchanger tubing, copper base alloys are still favoured since they have given good service in these plants. "

and here:

https://www.nickelinstitute.org/~/M...elAlloys_PropertiesandApplications_12007_.pdf

"In the heat reject section the preferred allow is a 70/30 copper-nickel containing 2% iron and 2% manganese for best corrosion resistance..."

Interesting. Like I said, I've ICP'd distilled a few times and it's come back clear. At the time I had one small tank going and I just bought a few gallons a week for water changes and top-off. My LFS at the time had notoriously nasty "RODI" and pre-mixed saltwater, so that was my solution at the time.

This is good to know, though, because who knows how often Kroger/Walmart/Whoever changes suppliers, especially in these market conditions.

 

[Nemo&Friends]

that sensitive marine animals can't live in. And I believe frequently it's the invertebrates that are more sensitive to the water. Almost all saltwater keepers have invertebrates but it is much less common in the freshwater hobby.

Thank you for replying. I do not have corals, so that would make sense. But my shrimps, snails and macro are doing well along with the fish. I do not really know where my city water stand as far as quality is concerned, but so far it has been working for me.

Fresh water tanks require a certain level of minerals in the water, just like distilled/RODI is not good for us to drink, its not good for fish of plants to live in. I tried using RODI for water changes in my planted tank for a short while (mostly because it was stored at 78 degF and I wouldn't have to match temp out of the tap), and after a few weeks most of my plants died, fish seemed OK, but I suspect long term it would have caused problems for them too. Some freshwater keepers start with RODI, but re-mineralize it for specific setups.

Thanks, I did not know that RODI water would be bad for fresh water creatures but it make sense that minerals would be necessary.