tap water orthophosphate

[GSnake]

hi guys,
Im converting my 90 gallon cichlid tank to a saltwater, but I plan to use tap water to make things easy as possible for me.. if its doable. I have rodi for my already established 56g reef, but it takes hours to make water, and then even longer to make enough for the 90g too.

my water report looks ok to me... other than orthophosphate. can this be removed by skimmer (im planning to get a HOB skimmer)?
not sure if this orthoP is referring to organic P which can be removed by skimmer, but is likely inorganic P which cannot be removed by skimmer? correct me if im wrong.
Or perhaps a cheato refugium would help me lower inorganic P ? or would chaeto also prefer organic P?

3.3 max 1.1 min, 1.8 average ppm orthophosphate.
the water report is attached.

I plan to condition the water with chloromine/ammonia/chlorine remover (also detoxifies nitrate, nitrite) [aquavitro alpha]

anything else i should be wary of on the report?

I just tested the water (red sea pro test), it looks like .12ppm phosphate (inorganic)

 

[blaxsun]

If you have a RODI system I'd just use that - even if it takes longer. Just buy some 5-gallon pails and start making saltwater.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

What's your tap tds? Did I miss that?
I've started sw tanks with tap yes but you still have to top off with rodi
D

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

If you have a rodi with a flush ro membrane bypass you can run it through that. Shouldn't take long with the membrane passed. At least your filtering it some. Sediment filter. Charcoal block. Di resin.
D

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Orthophosphate refers to normal inorganic phosphate, PO4- - -, and is not removed by a skimmer.

IMO, I would not use that tap water.

If the 0.12 ppm is correct, that’s much smaller than foods each day, but the water report number is much higher.

Copper is my biggest concern in tap water, and it comes from your own pipes.

 

[GSnake]

What's your tap tds? Did I miss that?
I've started sw tanks with tap yes but you still have to top off with rodi
D

the TDS of my tap is 140, -- -

If you have a rodi with a flush ro membrane bypass you can run it through that. Shouldn't take long with the membrane passed. At least your filtering it some. Sediment filter. Charcoal block. Di resin.
D

I dont have a membrane bypass flush valve at the moment, could be something i can buy if it will help, wonder what the TDS will be coming out of it.
it is a RODI buddie unit from aquatic life. there is a 'wastewater' drain which is at the bottom of the RO membrane ( so after sediment and carbon ) , but this TDS is 180 at the moment.

if i were to install this it would be at the wastewater location i believe, since my DI resin is the last step, so it would just go through the sediment and carbon, bypassing the membrane? (and di of course)
rodi buddie flush valve -- this is it right?

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Yup. That's what your gonna want.
I do it when my rodi has been sitting not making any water. Shoots the foul stale water through.
D

 

[GSnake]

Orthophosphate refers to normal inorganic phosphate, PO4- - -, and is not removed by a skimmer.

IMO, I would not use that tap water.

If the 0.12 ppm is correct, that’s much smaller than foods each day, but the water report number is much higher.

Copper is my biggest concern in tap water, and it comes from your own pipes.

the report on copper is 0.0058 avg ppm . isn't that negligible ? it should not be a huge problem even over time.

a small amount of activated carbon should remove this [from a previous post/thread you said purigen will remove copper that is bound to organics.... will this copper or, is all copper able to bind to organics for purigen removal ,which I currently use, if not - I have activated carbon on hand anyway.]

regarding phosphates - yes the report states much higher... actually i just did a high range test (from .17 - 2.72 ppm, and it looks like 2.5 to me ) it must have just been maxed out on the low range earlier (max = .16ppm) its hard to tell sometimes ya know . So, for phosphate treatment of the water I was thinking of using Two little fishies Phosban-L, an economical choice that I can just add to my ATO reservoir along with Chloromine remover (Aquavitro alpha) and purigen and/or carbon, and I should be good to go.

 

[GSnake]

Yup. That's what your gonna want.
I do it when my rodi has been sitting not making any water. Shoots the foul stale water through.
D

Now I gotta find one, I'm interested to see how much the TDS from the wastewater will lower after using it!
This will make it super quick to fill up my ATO , and I can just treat this semi filtered water instead of straight tap water.

being able to fill up both tanks at the same time is a nice thing too

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

the report on copper is 0.0058 avg ppm . isn't that negligible ? it should not be a huge problem even over time.

a small amount of activated carbon should remove this [from a previous post/thread you said purigen will remove copper that is bound to organics.... will this copper or, is all copper able to bind to organics for purigen removal ,which I currently use, if not - I have activated carbon on hand anyway.]

Your own level? The water supply numbers are typically very low for copper. But then it can come from your own pipes.

Usually they say how many tests at taps in homes are above a certain threshold.

Copper in tap water is not bound to organics. You'd need a metal binding material like cuprisorb to bind it.

 

[GSnake]

No, I haven't tested my tap water for copper. but I'm sure it would be higher than the report due to my oldish condominium building piping is all copper. I will test it at the LFS tomorrow - that being that I will probably end up getting a bag of cuprisorb as well tomorrow - and its great cause its regenerable/color changing like purigen is.

So, cuprisorb, phosban-L and Aquavitro alpha is my plan for water treatment -- its good to know I can have a convenient alternative to just using RODI . am I missing anything?

 

[GSnake]

Your own level? The water supply numbers are typically very low for copper. But then it can come from your own pipes.

Usually they say how many tests at taps in homes are above a certain threshold.

Copper in tap water is not bound to organics. You'd need a metal binding material like cuprisorb to bind it.

No, I haven't tested my tap water for copper. but I'm sure it would be higher than the report due to my oldish condominium building piping is all copper. I will test it at the LFS tomorrow - that being that I will probably end up getting a bag of cuprisorb as well tomorrow - and its great cause its regenerable/color changing like purigen is.

So, cuprisorb, phosban-L and Aquavitro alpha is my plan for water treatment -- its good to know I can have a convenient alternative to just using RODI . am I missing anything?

 

[GSnake]

just an update -
im going to buy a booster pump and upgrade to 100gpd RO. I should be able to make double the water in the same time frame, and supply my old and new tank im setting up.

The alpha/phosban/cuprisorb treatment to tap water will be reserved for emergencies only, if im really short on time and water is needed.

tap water is complicated vs 0 TDS rodi and im not sure what else would accumulate if used over time!