Initial tank fill - RO, TWP or Tap?? (update)

[M.E.Milz]

I will be setting up my new reef tank later this month at my new home, and I will need about 200-300 gallons of water (in addition to the water I will transfer from the old tank) to fill it. I figure I have 4 options:

1) Haul in from home 15-20 gallons of RO/DI water per day (the limit of my RO/DI unit) for 2 weeks. Besides taking too long, this would be a real pain in the back.

2) Buy RO/DI water at $1 per gallon and have it delivered. Easy, but a bit expensive.

3) Get a TWP (probably 2-3 cartridges) and hook it up to the tap and fill it over the course of 1-2 days. Relatively easy and inexpensive.

4) Just use tap (Chicago). I cringe at this, but it is tempting when I think about the other options.

Any opinions?

[ April 16, 2002: Message edited by: M.E.Milz ]</p>

 

[liquid]

So you're spending big bux on this large 300 gal tank but you are considering option #4 to save a couple hundred bux? In the whole scheme of things, I'd kill option #4 right away. You never know what using tap can do when first setting up the tank.

In regards to option 1 and 2: how much is your time worth to you? Since this will take you 2 weeks to do option #1, is it worth your time and headache to cart all this water into your new home? Sounds like you're not crazy about this option. How far do you have to drive to get from your old place to your new place and could that cost of transportation also be applied to having the water delivered?

In regards to the TWP option #3: how much does a TWP cost and would you use it after you're done filling the tank? This cost could be applied to just having RO/DI water delivered to your new house.

If it were me, I'd be looking at either option #1 or #2. You *might* get a bulk rate if you buy enough RO/DI water too. You may want to ask about that...

Shane

 

[SPC]

Mike, I ran a line from my RO/DI to my 180 when I originally filled it.
Steve

 

[Anonymous]

why not take your current RO/DI unit to the new house and set it up? It'll still take a long time to fill, but you won't have to haul water. That sounds like way more trouble than it is worth.

jayo

 

[FishDaddy]

There's an even better option:
(5) Upgrade your RO/DI with a 100 gpd membrane and fill it up on site.

With the great investment you are going to have in a large tank, the best water quality you can get is paramount from the first fillup, IMHO.
Tap water should be avoided at all cost!

A Tap Water Purifier with 3 extra cartridges will set you back at least $80. You can get a new 100 gpd membrane for your RO unit at Aquatic Reef Systems for $49.95!!! Cheaper than the cost of the 3 extra TWP cartridges!
http://www.aquaticreefsystems.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PLST&Store_Code=ARS

I have one of ARS' 100 gpd 4 stage units and am extremely pleased with it. You can call Bryan and he will be happy to tell you how to upgrade the membrane even if you don't buy from him.
HTH and good luck with the new home!
Dick

 

[Anonymous]

DO NOT USE TAP!!!

It could take your tank up to a year to eat all of the nutrients in that tap water. It took about that long for my 55 gallon to exhaust all the nutrients when I started it with tap water. The hell of picking cyano and hair algae was painfull. I couldn't imagine doing this at the 300 gallon scale.

 

[Anonymous]

hi.
I used to live in Evanston, Ill, but I don't know if Chicago use the same Lk Mi water. It is so bad that you can taste stuff in the tap. My landlady got used to the junk so she did not notice anything wrong.

You want your tank to fill up with tap?!!? I guess it is fine if you going to do 100% water change later.

[ April 10, 2002: Message edited by: seven ephors ]</p>

 

[M.E.Milz]

Thanks for the input. I really wasn't considering the tap water option very seriously, but I did want to see if anyone could give a compelling argument as to why I might want to consider tap. Nobody did, so that idea is out.

Using my existing RO/DI unit, even if set up at the new place (which it will be eventually anyways), is still not that good of an option because of the time issue. Once the new tank is set-up and plumbed, I will begin to dismantle my current reef tank by transferring everything to temporary tubs. This is so that I can get at and remove the DSB for transfer to the tank. Once I get the sand transfered to teh new tank, I begin filling it with freshly mixed saltwater. I need to do this fairly quickly so that the skimmer has a chance to handle any die-off from the sand before moving all of my corals and fish into the new tank. Thus, I need to fill the tank in a day or 2, not a week (or longer). Otherwise, all of my corals and fish will be sitting in tubs without skimmers, proper lighting, calcium reactors, etc, for weeks.

I will, however, have to look into the 100gpd membrane. This might be a real good option. My current unit is a Kent Maxxium 24gpd RO/DI unit. Do you know if the 100gpd membrane will work on this unit?

 

[SteveP]

This shows how much I know about RO units:

So the only difference between GPD ratings on RO units is a replaceable membrane? So just about any RO unit's GPD production can be increased or decreased?

Steve
8{I

 

[Adam1]

Mike and all,

I have been pondering the same question since I am planning on a big tank when I move this summer.

I would not necessarily rule out tap water. Get a water analysis and find out what kind of additives the water authority uses.

As long as it is low in phosphate and metals (esp. copper), I wouldn't sweat it. Any nitrate will pale in comparison to what any respectable cycle will produce.

After the tank is filled, run a power filter full of good phosphate free carbon to get rid of any chlorine, flouride, organics, etc.

If you are too paranoid about tap water (understandable), I would go with the membrane upgrade.

Just a final rant..... More phosphate came out of my old RO than went in (cheap carbon block). Also, because phosphate has a weak affinity for DI resins, phosphate can be re-released before the resin appears to be exhausted.

Adam

 

[Anonymous]

hi.
Steve is right. Just upgrade the membrane, or add another RO pressure vessle to make a 124 gpd (24+100) RO. The only problem with getting a new membrane is to get a matched valve for it.

 

[M.E.Milz]

Update:

I decided to upgrade the membrane in my Maxxima RO/DI system to a 100 gpd unit. In addition, I will be adding a drinking water kit with a 10.5 gallon bladder tank that will fit in a kitchen cabinet next to the sink (next to the RO unit). The system will have a quick disconnect fitting and ball valve wherein I can connect a feed line to my tank for top-offs when needed (every few days or so). The feed line will connect to a float valve shut-off in my sump so that I won't accidently overfill during top-offs, and so that I can leave the RO unit connected to the sump (for automatic top-offs) if I am away for the weekend. Bryan at Aquatic Reef Systems helped with the set-up configuration.

Thanks to all for their thoughts and suggestions.

[ April 16, 2002: Message edited by: M.E.Milz ]</p>