RO/DI improve coral growth and color?

[nayrgaijin]

Ok honestly wasn't sure where to post this, so it's going in the general reef area haha.
Anyway, I know there are silicates in tap water and all the other yummy stuff like ammonia, but my friend has been wanting an RO/DI system lately and I keep telling him to buy better equipment like lights, skimmer, and to upgrade the fuge. Now he has all this and we are about to do a makeover to his aquarium.
Reason I told him not to worry about one is because RO water where I work is .39 a gallon and he has been buying 10g at a time for his aquarium. Now that he has better equipment, would it be worth buying an RO/DI now? Does it ACTUALLY help with growth and color?
What else is in tap water?
Or should he just stick with buying 10g at a time from the LFS?

Him and I only use RO or RO/DI water for our aquariums. Just making that clear, we would never put tap in.

 

[RBursek]

How importent is convience to have a unit at home? What is the TDS's of the RO you are buying?

 

[JNye]

if your getting quality water for cheap then its a luxury item, but IMO so worth it. If your friend is single and goes to the fish store twice a week anyways...maybe its not worth it to him. Its not going to imporve color or growth because he's already using it?

 

[CoralBandit]

well 10g = ~ $5 a pop not that bad depending on how long that lasts for him. But if you add it up and consider he must buy more when doing a water change and he wants to do this for a long time the RO/DI will essentially pay for itself. It will make water changes a lot easier and less gas $ to waste. As far as coloration Im not sure why you asked since hes using RO/DI water already? As far as algae reduction and limiting nutrients RO/DI is def a must for a "highend" reef with sensitive corals

 

[wicked demon]

Get the filter, save money in the long run, on the water, gas, and time, also going to the store is a pain in the butt, and you and be sure its pure.

 

[150er]

I think RO/Di indirectly improve your coral's growth and color.
Better water quality = improve color and growth.

 

[ShakyJay]

OK so the general consensus for "his friend" is to buy the RODI...

SpectraPure Customer Appreciation SALE! 20% - 50% off

Linkjacked this from another thread...does the $150 seem like a good deal? I have never heard of a 4-stage, I have heard of the 5-stage, but this one comes with a hose attachment, which would be good for me-uh I mean him

 

[AZDesertRat]

Water is the single largest ingredient in a reef system by far, why not provide the very best? The key is consistencey, with a good RO/DI you get the same consistent water quality every time, unlike purchasing water or tap water both of which you hav absolutely no control over and may be hit and miss.

Do not get hung up on the word "stages", this is an old ebay ploy to make low quality drinking water systems sound like the best thing since sliced bread. They tack a few cheap filters on like a 10 micron carbon or GAC carbon, both of which are completely exhausted in 300 to 1000 total gallons ofwater (total gallons means means all water passing thru the filter including waste so at the normal 4:1 waste ratio thats only 60 to 200 good gallons and 240 to 800 waste gallons) or another little dinky horizontal DI with about 6 oz of resin bobbing around in it and call them "stages".

Good vendors don't play this game. Spectrapure has been building RO/DI systems for the reef hobby for 25 years. They give you a guaranteed systems withe exactly what you need, no extra carbons, no small horizontal DI's no extra taste and odor carbons etc.
A single 0.5 micron carbon block is good for up to 20,000 gallons of normally chlorinated or chloraminated tap water, a 1 micron is good for 9000 gallons. No need for extra carbons and the associated pressure drop they cause. A good vertical 20 oz DI like they use is good for much more treated water than two or 3 or more of the smalkl horizontals since it has a true engineered bottom up flow pattern so all water and resin come into contact with each other unlike horizontals that channel and short circuit.

For a reef quality RO/DI 4 stages is perfect, if you want to add something make it a second DI like the MaxCap where you get something for your money.

 

[nayrgaijin]

Currently he uses, shakyjay who finally chimed in haha, just RO water. He was asking me if RO/DI would be worth the buy, but seems like all these replied is YES!
A-lot of you pointed out the convinience which is definitely a plus.
AZDesertRat Thanks for that reply!!! A good read for sure.

 

[ShakyJay]

So if I am currently running/filling my tank with RO water will RODI help with my coloration. Basically I am running into a problem with my corals losing their colors. I buy the brightest things I can find and then months/weeks later they all turn a brownish color. Don't get me wrong they have color, but they are just not the extreme colors that I bought them with and want.

I am currently running PC set up with 260 watts on a 75gal. I thought that the lighting might be contributing to this loss of coloration, so I also just recently bought a T5 set up to see if that helps. Basically I am at a loss on what could be causing this and am willing to try anything.

 

[AZDesertRat]

Lighting, flow and water quality are key. You can use RO/DI for your water but you still need to keep up with water changes and regular maintenance. Sounds like you are on the right track with lighting, what do you have as far as live rock, substrate, skimmer, sump, refugium and macroalgae for nitrate export etc?

 

[Sikryd]

My philosphy is -

EVERTHING starts and ends with water quality.

Without good water quality, it doesn't matter what kind of lights, filtration, ect.

So I'd say pick one up depending on the TDS of the water he is putting in.

 

[roscoe]

IMHO this should have been one of the 1st and important piece of equipment he should've bought. It always amaze me how this is one of the last things people think about getting. It is also one of the cheapest investment in the hobby and to me a very vital part of having a thriving reef.

 

[LegoZ81]

A single 0.5 micron carbon block is good for up to 20,000 gallons of normally chlorinated or chloraminated tap water, a 1 micron is good for 9000 gallons. No need for extra carbons and the associated pressure drop they cause. A good vertical 20 oz DI like they use is good for much more treated water than two or 3 or more of the smalkl horizontals since it has a true engineered bottom up flow pattern so all water and resin come into contact with each other unlike horizontals that channel and short circuit.

I agree with all of your points, I ended up doing things a little different due to my circumstances.

My tap water had higher sediment than most, so a 1 micron prefilter was clogging weekly = big pain in the backside.

I added a 10micron and a 5 micron in front of the unit, as this just makes things much easier for me. so mine is 10>5>1>carbon>carbon
Not really needed but I can get 6mo out of the cartridges this way.

I run the second carbon block from a safety standpoint if I forget to change and the first is exhausted the second catches it. If I did not have the second then chlorinated/chloraminated tap water could get sent to the RO membrane and can damage it if I slack off.

Is any of this making the output water cleaner? Not in the slightest. It just insulates from a failure on my part to keep up on things.

Another thing to note the 20k gallon rating includes both waste and product water not just the product. This is something that you have to keep in mind.

Above all yield AZDesertRat's advice on the vertical DI. I still need to replace mine the horizontals are SUCH a pain.

 

[AZDesertRat]

Out of curiosity do you have a pressure gauge on the RO membrane. I'l bet you a dollar to a donut you are adding a significant pressure drop compared to one prefilter and one carbon. You are adding way overkill and probably doing youself an injustice since lower pressure equals lower treated water quality, thus shorter DI life and lower GPD.
Remove the extra prefilters and the extra carbon and look at the difference in pressure. If you have sediment get a single pleated prefilter. You can even rinse them if the get dirty.
You will be much happier, get longer DI runs and higher GPD. I can't imagine you making 4,000 gallons of RO/DI in a 6 month period so a single Chlorine Guzzler in the 0.5 or 0.6 micron size is more than suffieicent, thats 4.000 good and 16,000 waste. Everything you are doing goes against my advice you say yo uagree with?

 

[LegoZ81]

I did have a pressure gauge which and this is how i noticed the problem with the 1 micron. the gauge has since died and I only compared the post clogged 1 micron against the new filters so it was skewed. I am saying I agree as in they are all good points and would work in many situations. 6-10tds out of the membrane input water is 300+tds
I'll be ordering a new gauge here at some point and will let you know.

 

[AZDesertRat]

I would try the pleated prefilter and a single carbon, you will be very happy with the results and find you get more and better water too. Both www.buckeyefieldsupply.com and SpectraPure Customer Appreciation SALE! 20% - 50% off sell pleated prefilters and good carbons.
6-10 TDS from 300 is about average, as a comparison I get a RO only TDS reading of 5 down from a tap water TDS of 800 and my DI is 0 TDS as they all should be. Thats with a single 0.2 micron pleated prefilter and a single 0.5 micron carbon block.