Is DIY tap water filter sufficient because i dont have R/O
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OP
OP
Key-tie
Active Member
Part of what makes a filter efficient is also contact time, and my water filters for days at a time, not minutes.
Every method has its good and bad points.
No perfect way...no silver bullet that works for everyone.
Every method has its good and bad points.
No perfect way...no silver bullet that works for everyone.
Bpb
2500 Club Member
while this thread has rivaled the heated entertainment of a good ol lighting debate, as far as I’m concerned with you anyway, any disagreements are squashed with that statement there. That about wraps up and reconciles the back and forth earlier in the thread.
I think ill take up needle point
So is it Knit one purl 2.....or purl 2 and knit 1 ? BTW everyone knows LED'S are better Good Day All
Bpb
2500 Club Member
Them sound like fightin’ wordsI think ill take up needle point
Good Day All
OP
OP
Key-tie
Active Member
I dont have one thing bad to say personally...
I've never met you, i cannot judge you...lol.
You care about the hobby, that makes you okay in my book with never having met you.
Just a feisty debate of ideas and theories.
OP
OP
Key-tie
Active Member
Heres a testing question...
What can test copper in parts per billion for a home tester, or can only labs go that sensitive with the tests ??
It seems our copper tests, in parts per million are at best...inadequate.
Having a zero result in parts per million tells us nothing if our concentration in parts per billion is extremely high or not.
What can test copper in parts per billion for a home tester, or can only labs go that sensitive with the tests ??
It seems our copper tests, in parts per million are at best...inadequate.
Having a zero result in parts per million tells us nothing if our concentration in parts per billion is extremely high or not.
Bpb
2500 Club Member
Diluting the test sample may work in this instance
Nannook
New Member
Don’t be so mean! Give some positive feedback. You don’t know any of those things. Let’s say he is the first person to make this work, yay!
shadesatsetbreak
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Not to revive an old thread but for those beginners out there who are debating the same question and reading through: don't do this.
Tap water isn't even close to natural water, and OP is mislead in thinking a couple filters gets you closer to nature.
If you want natural, get an RODI filter and add back trace elements through your salt mix: that's the closest to natural you can get outside of NSW. But, why would you want all natural when you could have full manipulation over parameters anyways?
My buddy and I work at a marine lab and he used the .02 micron filtered seawater to fill his tank. Gave his fish ich as a result. How about that for a natural system?
OP's water filter is bogus and while it will work to keep stuff alive for a while, his/her tank will survive longer using good water.
Hence why reef tanks are more successful nowadays versus when OP was doing the hobby 20-whatever years ago. Keep doing the "good enough" methods, or if you really care more about the organisms in your set up, get with the times.
Tap water isn't even close to natural water, and OP is mislead in thinking a couple filters gets you closer to nature.
If you want natural, get an RODI filter and add back trace elements through your salt mix: that's the closest to natural you can get outside of NSW. But, why would you want all natural when you could have full manipulation over parameters anyways?
My buddy and I work at a marine lab and he used the .02 micron filtered seawater to fill his tank. Gave his fish ich as a result. How about that for a natural system?
OP's water filter is bogus and while it will work to keep stuff alive for a while, his/her tank will survive longer using good water.
Hence why reef tanks are more successful nowadays versus when OP was doing the hobby 20-whatever years ago. Keep doing the "good enough" methods, or if you really care more about the organisms in your set up, get with the times.
Lol here we go again.
I have Never used RO water no has any saltwater fish store in Sri Lanka ever. I checked with all I know.
I use normal water straight from holding tank and mix with salt. If not I just use natural sea water. So far no problems.
Not just me every fish store in Sri Lanka (salt water) I know does the same.
Stupid posts like above are the reasons that kept me out of the hobby for years. I read and thought, I want all these stupid stuff worth thousands of $ to get in to the hobby. Most of the stuff that were not even available in Sri Lanka.
Also there are thousands of hobbiests who use NSW for their tanks all around the world. I bet there are more than 2x people running nsw aquariums in Asia,alone than the whole worlds RO water reef tanks.
Your way of hobby is not the only way....
I have Never used RO water no has any saltwater fish store in Sri Lanka ever. I checked with all I know.
I use normal water straight from holding tank and mix with salt. If not I just use natural sea water. So far no problems.
Not just me every fish store in Sri Lanka (salt water) I know does the same.
Stupid posts like above are the reasons that kept me out of the hobby for years. I read and thought, I want all these stupid stuff worth thousands of $ to get in to the hobby. Most of the stuff that were not even available in Sri Lanka.
Also there are thousands of hobbiests who use NSW for their tanks all around the world. I bet there are more than 2x people running nsw aquariums in Asia,alone than the whole worlds RO water reef tanks.
Your way of hobby is not the only way....
shadesatsetbreak
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I never said it's the only way. The implication is that you're running the gamut when you cut corners. Sure, it may work great for you but that's totally subjective. Your sri lankan nsw is better than California, not really a surprise. I wouldn't suggest switching a controlled system over to nsw though, as the organisms in the controlled system wouldn't have a good tolerance for the life that comes in with using nsw.
Most tap has hard metals in it, period. Old plumbing systems can leach lead and other nasty ****, let alone containing chlorides much of the time. For the majority of people who don't live in Sri Lanka where some of the most pristine reefs are, using nsw from our backyard or water from our tap isn't a viable option, and should be advised against. You're telling me that in purchasing all the basic **** to make this happen, a hundred bucks for an RO system is all of a sudden a huge inconvenience? It's stupid posts like above that make people think they can't afford the time to do things a better way, so as to avoid problems in the future that may dissuade them from the hobby for good.
Most tap has hard metals in it, period. Old plumbing systems can leach lead and other nasty ****, let alone containing chlorides much of the time. For the majority of people who don't live in Sri Lanka where some of the most pristine reefs are, using nsw from our backyard or water from our tap isn't a viable option, and should be advised against. You're telling me that in purchasing all the basic **** to make this happen, a hundred bucks for an RO system is all of a sudden a huge inconvenience? It's stupid posts like above that make people think they can't afford the time to do things a better way, so as to avoid problems in the future that may dissuade them from the hobby for good.
HunterW
Active Member
Municipalities change certain chemical attributes due to factors that happen seasonally. I have witnessed this in the stores I managed years ago. It probably still happens. You'd have to get a report locally.
I use a built Berkey system (0TDS) for my f/w tanks I setup for others, and my own, but RO/DI for my salt tanks, 0 TDS ir not It was worth it.
I'll jump in here with a question:
When people say "tap water", what exactly are you referring to? Yes, I know you mean the water that flows from your home tap, but it's the "source" I'm talking about.
I currently have city water, and I can smell the chlorine in it. No way I'm not going to run that through my RO/DI.
My prior home had a well. No added chemicals (unless there was something from runoff). I'd love to have an ICP test on that well water to know what was in it.
When people say they've been successful with tap water, I'm wondering which of those are city water vs a well.
When people say "tap water", what exactly are you referring to? Yes, I know you mean the water that flows from your home tap, but it's the "source" I'm talking about.
I currently have city water, and I can smell the chlorine in it. No way I'm not going to run that through my RO/DI.
My prior home had a well. No added chemicals (unless there was something from runoff). I'd love to have an ICP test on that well water to know what was in it.
When people say they've been successful with tap water, I'm wondering which of those are city water vs a well.
Anchor
Well-Known Member
If you have Municipal tap water here are some of the chemicals you might find in your tap.
Chlorine - Disinfectant
Chlorine Dioxides -
Monochloramine
Flourides
Ozone
The following are used as coagulants or are by-products of the flocking activities to remove solids.
Aluminum
Iron
Acrylimide
Epichlorohydrin
Byproducts of chlorination
Trihalomethanes
Pipe byproducts
Lead
Copper
Zinc
Vinyl Chloride (from PCV)
Now there may be OTHER metals included depending upon where your groundwater or surface water is extracted from.
Using a UV will not effect any of this as it is all chemical and UV is for biological eradication, As Aerobic bacteria attaches to surfaces, you wont be killing that off with UV.
I forget off hand but I think carbon will only effect organic compound extraction and will eventually become depleted unless water is forced through the capillaries to make it last longer and the cost for granular carbon is higher than most of the carbon capillary filters used in RO. . What this means is that granular carbon will become ineffective quickly. One thing about chlorine is that if it is bound to a metal (I think metal) that carbon may not be effective in removal in that state. Free chlorine will dissipate usually within 48 hours on its own. Chloramines will last a LONG time until aerobic bacteria breaks it down. Copper, Lead and Zinc would need extraction via Osmotic filtering to remove.
So, the OP needs to know (suggest ICP at $40 plus? per test) what is in their water. At that price and with the variability of municipal water treatment (3 times per year where I live) during the year. It would be more cost effective to use an inexpensive RO.. than his current setup.
As to natural, I guess I don't know what that means. Unless you have your own well (hardness is a big deal in most North American Groundwaters). the above list should show that tap water is anything BUT natural.
With the number of variables in home tap water AND the number of toxic things, It would be better for your animals to start from scratch and build something healthier for your system.
Chlorine - Disinfectant
Chlorine Dioxides -
Monochloramine
Flourides
Ozone
The following are used as coagulants or are by-products of the flocking activities to remove solids.
Aluminum
Iron
Acrylimide
Epichlorohydrin
Byproducts of chlorination
Trihalomethanes
Pipe byproducts
Lead
Copper
Zinc
Vinyl Chloride (from PCV)
Now there may be OTHER metals included depending upon where your groundwater or surface water is extracted from.
Using a UV will not effect any of this as it is all chemical and UV is for biological eradication, As Aerobic bacteria attaches to surfaces, you wont be killing that off with UV.
I forget off hand but I think carbon will only effect organic compound extraction and will eventually become depleted unless water is forced through the capillaries to make it last longer and the cost for granular carbon is higher than most of the carbon capillary filters used in RO. . What this means is that granular carbon will become ineffective quickly. One thing about chlorine is that if it is bound to a metal (I think metal) that carbon may not be effective in removal in that state. Free chlorine will dissipate usually within 48 hours on its own. Chloramines will last a LONG time until aerobic bacteria breaks it down. Copper, Lead and Zinc would need extraction via Osmotic filtering to remove.
So, the OP needs to know (suggest ICP at $40 plus? per test) what is in their water. At that price and with the variability of municipal water treatment (3 times per year where I live) during the year. It would be more cost effective to use an inexpensive RO.. than his current setup.
As to natural, I guess I don't know what that means. Unless you have your own well (hardness is a big deal in most North American Groundwaters). the above list should show that tap water is anything BUT natural.
With the number of variables in home tap water AND the number of toxic things, It would be better for your animals to start from scratch and build something healthier for your system.
Anchor
Well-Known Member
Found this and thought I should add it Came from WHO Guildlines for Dinking Water Quality.
Monochloramine
Monochloramine, used as a residual disinfectant for distribution, is usually formed from the
reaction of chlorine with ammonia. Careful control of monochloramine formation in water
treatment is important to avoid the formation of di- and trichloramines, because these can
cause unacceptable tastes and odours. The formation of nitrite as a consequence of microbial
activity in biofilms in the distribution system is a possibility when monochloramine is used as
a residual disinfectant, particularly if ammonia levels are not sufficiently controlled
The below might also be of interest to you for not only municipal tap water but also if the groundwater your well is coming from is polluted or in an agricultural area.
Contaminants can still be found in tap water even after treatment. In fact, 316 contaminants – including industrial solvents, weed killers, refrigerants and the rocket fuel component perchlorate – have been detected in the tap water of 45 American states during a three-year study. Out of which, approximately 200 of them are unregulated, including:
Monochloramine
Monochloramine, used as a residual disinfectant for distribution, is usually formed from the
reaction of chlorine with ammonia. Careful control of monochloramine formation in water
treatment is important to avoid the formation of di- and trichloramines, because these can
cause unacceptable tastes and odours. The formation of nitrite as a consequence of microbial
activity in biofilms in the distribution system is a possibility when monochloramine is used as
a residual disinfectant, particularly if ammonia levels are not sufficiently controlled
The below might also be of interest to you for not only municipal tap water but also if the groundwater your well is coming from is polluted or in an agricultural area.
Contaminants can still be found in tap water even after treatment. In fact, 316 contaminants – including industrial solvents, weed killers, refrigerants and the rocket fuel component perchlorate – have been detected in the tap water of 45 American states during a three-year study. Out of which, approximately 200 of them are unregulated, including:
- 97 agricultural pollutants such as pesticides and fertilizers
- 204 industrial chemicals from factory discharges and consumer products
- 86 contaminants linked to urban areas, polluted runoffs, and wastewater treatment plants
- 42 pollutants that are byproducts of the drinking water treatment process or from old pipes and storage tanks
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