r&g Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Hi, I have a water softening system for my house and also an RO system under my sink. I can't tell the difference between my RO water and the tap water. Can I use my tap water for water changes and top offs? And how can I tell if my RO filters need to be changed? Thank you in advance for y'all's help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+brian.srock Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 It depends. Most will say no but if you are just starting out your system and plan on running a FOWLR then you will be ok. I started my system for the first year with just tap and had no ill effects. To test your RO filters you can buy a $10 TDS meter off amazon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Like brian said, it depends on what you're wanting to do. If you're going to run a simple tank with soft corals only, you can probably get away with it. If you're going to do a more complicated tank with delicate inhabitants (SPS corals primarily), you're probably better off using RODI. That's not to say that it can't be done, it's just one variable that you can remove to aid in having a successful tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r&g Posted January 10, 2014 Author Share Posted January 10, 2014 Thank you Vic and Brian! My tank is simple FOWLR so I'm going to switch to my tap water then if you think it will be ok. And I'll hop on amazon and get that tester in the meantime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Thank you Vic and Brian! My tank is simple FOWLR so I'm going to switch to my tap water then if you think it will be ok. And I'll hop on amazon and get that tester in the meantime. Keep in mind that Austin water fluctuates during the year. I see you're in Leander, but monitoring your tap water can be important. At certain times of the year the municipality treats water to deal with quality issues so you can get a chlorine or chloramine spike. I'll leave it for others to offer advice on what you should do to prepare tap water before introducing it to your tank. I know that Timfish has successfully been running one of his service tanks for over a decade using tap water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r&g Posted January 10, 2014 Author Share Posted January 10, 2014 After researching my home water purification system, I found that one of the things it filters out is chlorine among other minerals. So my thoughts are "well then can I just use my tap water for my tank instead of my RO system under my sink?" I really can't tell the difference just from taste and appearance. So, I don't know if my home system just works really well or if my RO system isnt working at all... I'm going to get those test strips for the RO and try my tap water in the meantime. My tank is really simple. FOWLR and some GSP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Your home system likely won't remove the ammonia that remains after the chloramine bond is broken. As far as I know all the municipal systems around here use chloramines now. You may still want to use amquel or prime to take care of the ammonia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 You definitely, definitely should dechlorinate (prime or other sodium thiosulfate) if you're not going use a full RODI setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Like jamie said, chloramine is a different beast than chlorine, and is much harder to remove. Spend 20 bucks and buy a bottle of prime and sleep better at night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+brian.srock Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Here's the TDS meter I have http://www.amazon.com/HM-Digital-TDS-EZ-Measurement-Resolution/dp/B002C0A7ZY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389372637&sr=8-1&keywords=tds+meter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r&g Posted January 10, 2014 Author Share Posted January 10, 2014 Thank you again. I'll get some Prime. I didn't even know there was such a thing for salt water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r&g Posted January 10, 2014 Author Share Posted January 10, 2014 Thanks Brian, that's the meter I'll get then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Thank you again. I'll get some Prime. I didn't even know there was such a thing for salt water. it's just for water. salt comes later in the process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceastman Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 You definitely, definitely should dechlorinate (prime or other sodium thiosulfate) if you're not going use a full RODI setup. I see that BRS has an rodi unit that references Chloramines - I also see that they have an upgrade kit if you have an existing rodi unit. Is there a chloramine / chlorine test? or just request a report from my water provider? or just upgrade my rodi to include the Chloramine removal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 It's an additional chamber (one for a pentek chloramine specific replaces your standard carbon filter a loose carbon canister called "catalytic carbon"). There are several total chlorine testers, and some chlorine testers (so you can just subtract one from the other to find chloramine or in CoA's case, you know they only use chloramine so total chlorine = chloramine). Chloramine definitely gets through standard RODI, but there is debate amongst the group about whether the amount that gets through is harmful to your tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 A good quality chlorine or ammonia test should be able to detect it. It might be prohibitively expensive to get the accuracy you need though. Assuming you have the right type and quantity of carbon, such as the BRS kit, the carbon breaks the Chlorine Ammonia bond and binds the chlorine. The DI resin should take care of the ammonia. Most RO/DI systems don't have the correct type or long enough contact with the carbon so they can't handle all of the chloramine and it ends up in the effluent water. With the chloramine bond not broken, the resin cannot exchange ions, and lets the chloramine pass. If you do have the appropriate carbon, you'll go through DI resin a quicker as it is sucking up the ammonia so another increased cost in a chloramine RO/Di system. The most economical solution is to ignore the chloramine issue altogether and run a normal RO/DI unit. Use seachem safe instead of the liquid prime to treat the RO/DI water. $26 for a kilo and it treats almost 200,000 gallons for chloramines. I can't see the BRS or other chloramine specific systems or addons to get within 10 times of the price of safe over time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 The only downside to that is that you're still going to be dosing the tank with ammonia because you're treating leftover chloramine in the water that will eventually go into your tank. An additional byproduct of the sodium thiosulfate (prime)/chloramine reaction is that you get some sulfate as well. I haven't done the stoichiometry and figured out whether those levels are worth the cost, but for me personally I'd rather get it all done in a single process at the cost of, well, co$t. For a FOWLR, it probably won't make a lick of difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 Timfish has successfully been running one of his service tanks for over a decade using tap water. Actually it's only been 5 years. Here's a video: You can see it in person at the meeting on the 18th this month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mako Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 Very Nice Timfish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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