BUYING FIRST RO FILTER HELP.

[mugsy]

this is brilliant folks. i will do some working out and go for tap water as remineraliser. Very helpful. Thanks

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

i will do some working out and go for tap water as remineraliser.

The tap should add 1 : 1 dGH : dKH, with the dGH being nearly all calcium (Ca). You are going to add magnesium (Mg) with your fertiliser.

cheers Darrel

 

[mugsy]

After some thought and reading over some other posts on the forum iv decided to use ro water only and remineralise myself.
I appreciate the help and information on mixing ro with tap but i just want to have more control over whats going into my tank..
So.. am i right in thinking that all i need to add to ro water is caso4 and mgso4.
???
Im gona be using tropica specialised fert also.
Tank will be well planted and intend on keeping 1 or 2 sparkling gouramis, small shoal embers and some shrimp,otos and snails..
Thanks folks

 

[bazz]

Hi,

So.. am i right in thinking that all i need to add to ro water is caso4 and mgso4.
???

I'm not a chemist but the answer as far as I can tell is basically yes.
As an insight though and I can only relate to my basic understanding and practices which include supplementing CaSO4 50/50 with CaCl2 and I also use a small amount of CaNO3 to reduce the final amount of K by reducing the amount of KNO3 needed (you may well not want to do this).
You also may or may not want to add a small amount KHCO3 depending whether you want any alkalinity or not, zero dKH is trending but I bring mine up to 0.5 dKH because I'm an old fuddy duddy.
Your above assumption is correct and all of the above is totally unnecessary, I'm just trying to show what can be accomplished if you want to.
Familiarisation with the excellent IFC Aquarium Fertilizer Calculator will be worth it's weight in gold for you having a remin section.
Hope this helps!

 

[mugsy]

Thanks bazz. The chemisty stuff really confuses me. Its slowly starting to make a bit of sense to me. I will look at the IFC CALC as u suggested👍

 

[_Maq_]

am i right in thinking that all i need to add to ro water is caso4 and mgso4.
???

Calcium sulfate is poorly soluble and you'll struggle with that. It can be done, though. Fortunately, you can use calcium chloride in its stead. Perfectly soluble. Such a way is arguably even better because you add both sulfates and chlorides - both are natural and very common parts of most waters. Beside that, both sulfur and chlorine are essential elements for plants.
Complete mineralization is a practice which I recommend wholeheartedly. It's like you said - you have complete control. However, you are likely to discover that many more compounds will come handy. It depends, if you get liking this practice and elementary chemistry... Have no fears. I've mastered it in spite of my absolutely different education & profession.

 

[mugsy]

Cheers Mac. That makes sense. Think im starting to grasp this.

 

[mugsy]

Folks iv just set up my new ro system. Psi is reading 60 dead on. Do you think its worth while getting a pump to increase to 75psi. Would it make much of a difference.?
Thanks
Sean

 

[bazz]

Folks iv just set up my new ro system. Psi is reading 60 dead on. Do you think its worth while getting a pump to increase to 75psi. Would it make much of a difference.?
Thanks
Sean

Maybe or maybe not. Is it possible for you to time how long it takes to produce a given amount water and then use the math to compare it to the amount that the unit is advertised to produce? If it's 150g/day and it's only producing 100g then yes, whereas if it's producing 140g then probably not.
Basically (within reason) the higher the pressure the less waste water you will produce.
Cheers!

 

[mugsy]

Thanks bazz. Yes it was 12.30am last night when my 25ltr container finally filled. It took 3 1/2 hours on a 50gpd system. A bit slow so i think il invest in a pump in near future.