Considering Brewing My Own Water

[Derek]

I have been thinking of ways to minimize my overall maintenance costs. Currently I spend about $120 a month on replacement water for my water changes. I change 25 gallons of water a week and at $1.25 a gallon the cost adds up quickly. I also buy 5 to 10 gallons of RO each week as well.

Would it be cheaper for me to start brewing my own saltwater? Ideally I would buy an RO/DI and a drum so that I could mix my own.

How difficult is it to make your own saltwater?

[teg]

I think it'll be cheaper in the long run to get an RO filter and mix your own saltwater. Each 5gal bucket of red sea salt last me few months at the minimum. All you need is refractometer to measure the salinity when you mix the salt water, it's pretty easy.

Edited December 23, 2009 by teg

[+mcallahan]

Its well worth it. I have the same tank size you do (90G) and my RO/DI gets plenty of use.

Brewing it on your own is easy. I mix it in the white handled 5G jugs that you see around. I have a small pump that will fit into the neck of the jug and I let it mix the water for several hours, then check the salinity.

You'll want RO/DI for top off water and over the summer, I went through 5 gal every 2.5 days = lots of trips to the LFS.

Finally, a hidden benefit of your own RO/DI and salt water is that you won't walk into the fish store just wanting to buy water and walking out buying $50 of stuff you hadn't planned on! (This expense adds up fast!!!)

I can help you with RO/DI selection and setup if you need. You are welcome to come checkout my setup as well.

[Chrispar]

Finally, a hidden benefit of your own RO/DI and salt water is that you won't walk into the fish store just wanting to buy water and walking out buying $50 of stuff you hadn't planned on! (This expense adds up fast!!!)

I can attest to that fully, except i still dont have an RO\DI yet.

[wayneb]

I also agree that it is easier or at least as easy to mix 40 gal of saltwater as it is to mix 4 gal. I've gone thru the same pros and cons and decided that I needed to get a RO/DI unit. The time and gas money involved alone with mixing 10 - 4 gal containers vs one 40 gal container would more then pay for the RO/DI unit in a couple of months, not to mention the salinity consistency of mixing a large batch of your own saltwater

Note: the reason I quote 4 gal instead of the 5 gal a container holds is that 4 gallons is a lot easier for me to lift and carry plus it provides a gallon of space to add RO water if I miscalulate a bit on the amount of salt I added, so as to bring the salinity down.

On the con side: initial outlay of funds for larger containers, heater, pump, etc.

wayneb

[muddybluewater]

After you buy a ro/di unit you will wonder why it took you so long. Life is so much easier. They pay for them selves in just a couple months

[reefman]

I agree will all of the above. I was getting RO/DI for $.20 a gal. I calculated what water would cost from my own unit, and figured in gas to/from where I was getting it from, and the RO/DI unit would pay for itself in 6 months.

At one time, I calculated what saltwater was costing me (this was when I was still buying the RO at $.20 a gal). If I remember correctly it was costing $.50 a gal (with salt mix). Even at that, that is far below what you are paying at $1.25/gal, and its less than that now, because of the RO/DI unit.

Stephen

[Derek]

Its well worth it. I have the same tank size you do (90G) and my RO/DI gets plenty of use.

Brewing it on your own is easy. I mix it in the white handled 5G jugs that you see around. I have a small pump that will fit into the neck of the jug and I let it mix the water for several hours, then check the salinity.

You'll want RO/DI for top off water and over the summer, I went through 5 gal every 2.5 days = lots of trips to the LFS.

Finally, a hidden benefit of your own RO/DI and salt water is that you won't walk into the fish store just wanting to buy water and walking out buying $50 of stuff you hadn't planned on! (This expense adds up fast!!!)

I can help you with RO/DI selection and setup if you need. You are welcome to come checkout my setup as well.

That would be great. I have no idea where to start when it comes to setting it up or what to get.

[+mcallahan]

I use a 5 stage system and it works great. Here is a good deal on a brand new one from Bulk Reef Supply (ARC sponsor): 75 GPD 5 stage system It comes with everything you need including filters and parts to hook it into your house's water system.

You can also buy RO/DI systems used, but unless I know the buyer I tend to avoid it as you won't know how old the filters are a could easily spend the cost of the unit replacing the filters if need be.

Most people mount their RO/DI systems in their garage as its easy to keep a 55gallon drum and mix salt in the garage. I put a Y-fitting like you would see on an outside garden faucet with one side going to my washer, the other side going to the RO/DI unit. I ran the output line from the RO/DI out into my yard to water my lawn. All summer long the parts of my grass that the output hose could reach, were green...everything else died!

For people who live in an apartment, they tend to mount them in the washer/drier room and put the waste water from the unit either into the washing machine or down the drain line.

I can help you hook it up and as I said above, I can show you mine in person as I think you are close to me. (I was confused by RO systems until I saw one in person)

[+dapettit]

I did the math. It was cheaper to brew.

Some will argue that the replacement filter costs makes it more expensive, that may be so. But knowing the source of your water has to be good thing.

Dave-

[AlexKilpatrick]

Holy cow! $120 a month??? That's crazy. I have never understood why anybody would not use an RO/DI, even on a small aquarium. It is an easy equation with the cost, but the hassle is even a bigger factor. I hate lugging around bug heavy containers of water. I would go crazy if I had to make a trip to the store to get water, even if it was free.

One suggestion -- get a float switch with your RO/DI. It should only be a $15-$20 add-on. A float switch is a mechanical switch that you mount into your RO container (trash can, whatever) and it will shut off the water when it is full. If you don't do that, I *guarantee* you will forget about it and have a flood. Luckily, an RO flood is going to be small because the amount of water per unit time is small, but it is still a hassle.

[medi]

Just out of curiosity...Why are you doing a 25G water change every week? Do you have a huge bio-load? This seems like a large volume to be replacing that often. IMHO I would wait 'til every two weeks and maybe even consider dropping down to a 20G water change?

[+mcallahan]

Just out of curiosity...Why are you doing a 25G water change every week? Do you have a huge bio-load? This seems like a large volume to be replacing that often. IMHO I would wait 'til every two weeks and maybe even consider dropping down to a 20G water change?

I didn't catch that the first time around. You could even do less. I do 10G every 2 weeks with my 90g and I'm fine.

[+dapettit]

I do 40 gallons every 2 weeks on my 150.

Dave-

[medi]

I didn't catch that the first time around. You could even do less. I do 10G every 2 weeks with my 90g and I'm fine.

This sounds even better. Not to mention the money you would save.

[AlexKilpatrick]

I do 25 gallon changes every week on my 20. Some people say you can't change 25 gallons on a 20 gallon tank, but I take out all the water and then dehydrate the tank in the oven at 250 degrees for 6 hours. After the dehydration step, I have to add in 5 gallons before it even starts accumulating as water in the tank.

My corals are a little bleached, but my nitrates are always 0. Dilution is the solution to pollution, as they say...

[Derek]

Finally, a hidden benefit of your own RO/DI and salt water is that you won't walk into the fish store just wanting to buy water and walking out buying $50 of stuff you hadn't planned on! (This expense adds up fast!!!)

So I'm not the only one that does that. Haha. Good.

[Derek]

Just out of curiosity...Why are you doing a 25G water change every week? Do you have a huge bio-load? This seems like a large volume to be replacing that often. IMHO I would wait 'til every two weeks and maybe even consider dropping down to a 20G water change?

I do have a bunch of critters but nothing too crazy. My water parameters stay stable. My Nitrates get up to about 30 to 40 each week. Most of the fish I have are small. I do not many any friends that are reefers... yet (reason number 1 for joining ARC) so I don't really know if I'm doing anything right or wrong. Nothing dies. I consider myself to be a good fish daddy.

[+mcallahan]

My Nitrates get up to about 30 to 40 each week.

are you running a sump/skimmer? How much are you feeding? And how old is the tank? That seems like a lot.

[Derek]

are you running a sump/skimmer? How much are you feeding? And how old is the tank? That seems like a lot.

I have had the tank up and running since May. I have a sump and a skimmer. My skimmer is a Euro Reef RS80. Usually I feed one block of spirulina enhanced brine shrimp and one or two blocks of PE Mysis. I feed my anemones krill. I have a refugium.

[+mcallahan]

I have had the tank up and running since May. I have a sump and a skimmer. My skimmer is a Euro Reef RS80. Usually I feed one block of spirulina enhanced brine shrimp and one or two blocks of PE Mysis. I feed my anemones krill. I have a refugium.

and what's in there in terms of fish? Sounds like a lot of food.

[+dapettit]

How often do you feed?

[+mcallahan]

Sounds like you're stepping in the same hole all of us have stepped in before - over feeding. When I first started reef keeping, I fed enough that my cleanup crew could come out and have a whole meal themselves which was way too much.

Luckily, your issue is easily solved.

1. Cut back your feeding to 1 cube of mysis/day. Then alternate between algae on one day, mysis on the other. You probably could feed less than 1 cube a day, but I'd have to know what your bio load (fish/inverts, etc) are before I could say for sure.

2. Keep up your current water change amount and schedule for now, you'll need to drop your nitrates to an acceptable level. Once you adjust your feeding schedule, and after about a month, you can back off your water change amount to the normal 10% every 2 weeks as you'll be removing the source of your nitrate issue - too much food.

Common mistake, easy fix.

And certainly having your own RO/DI system will be of benefit to you!

[Derek]

and what's in there in terms of fish? Sounds like a lot of food.

Here's what I have in there:

Fish:

• Bicolor Angel (1)

• Flame Angel (1)

• Lamarck's Angel (1)

• Lawnmower Blenny (1)

• Flame Hawkfish (1)

• Pink Skunk Clown (2)

• Blue Green Chromis (2)

• Marine Betta (1)

• Dilectus Pseudochromis (1)

• Yellow Eye Kole Tang (1)

Invertibrates:

• Coral Banded Shrimp (1)

• Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp (3)

• Bubble Tip Anemone (2)

• Fighting Conch (2)

• Emerald Crab (4)

• Mexican Turbo Snails

• Turbo Snails

• Astrea Snails

• Trochus Snails

• Hermit Crabs

Coral

• Toad Stool (2)

• Finger Leather Coral (2)

• Kenya Tree (2)

• Pom Pom Xenia

• Australian Duncans

• Frog Spawn Euphilia

• Scuba Steve Euphilia

• Torch Euphilia

• Zoanthids (Green)

• Zoanthids (Purple Death)

• Mushrooms (Green)

• Mushrooms (Watermelon)

• Alveopora

• Yellow Polyps

[+mcallahan]

that's probably enough for you to feed a whole cube. Just keep an eye on it to see that you aren't over feeding.

The easy way to tell how to feed is if the fish are eating all the food before it can hit the sand bed. You've got a good cleanup crew that will take care of any pieces that get away.