Hi guys,
few days ago, I came across some readings about the resins and their use in water purification systems and aquatics respectively.
So I start wondering, is it the right choice in matter of effectiveness and cost to use resins to soften and purify water? This could be useful for shrimp keeping and planted tanks too.
Many of us use RO water nowadays, but the cost of the decent system and the volume of water we waste to produce 1 unit of RO water makes me think - is this the best and the most wise option?
After doing much of a reading I have found out that there are 2 main types of resins having application in the aquariums:
Anion exchange resins and Cation Exchange resins
The Anion resins exchange the negatively charged ions from the water, such as : Chlorides [Cl-], Sulfates [SO4=], Nitrates [NO3=], Carbonates [CO3=], Silicates [SiO2-]
The Cation resins are responsible for the absorbtion of positively charged cations as Ca and Mg, which is the reason for the lowering of the Kh.
Based on the above, to get a pure soft water, suitable for use in the shrimp/planted/marine tank, we will need to combine the 2 types of resins. After some research I found that actually the so called mixed bed systems are widely used in the window cleaning systems.
The price for a liter of those resins is about 5-10 Pounds depending on the brand. They are not rechargeable, but should last quite long.
Some thoughts:
Now, I'm not quite sure, is it possible to use these resins, straight in the aquarium, as there are 2 types of resins: macroporous and microporous resins. The latest are used in the water purification systems for drinking water but they are not suitable for aquarium use, as they will get clogged very fast. But we could use them to treat the tab water, prior aquarium use.
I'm not sure, what is happening with the Gh if only the Cation resins are used - they are not affecting the CO3? Do we really need to get the Gh down too for general aquarium use? How the flora and fauna would react on Kh 0, Gh 16 for example? Darren or Clive, please help me out on this!
There are also rechargeable resins, but for the anion resins we will need some strong acids NaOH, which makes it not very convenient and dangerous.
The cation resins can be recharged with table salt, but IMO this is not the best solution, as the collected Ca and Mg cations will be exchanged with Na, which afterwords will be released in the aquarium water. as we all know, the Sodium is not good for the aquatic life. I found that possible solution could be recharging with KCl, where the K cation will be exchanged for the Mg and Ca. This could be even beneficial for the plants :?:
few days ago, I came across some readings about the resins and their use in water purification systems and aquatics respectively.
So I start wondering, is it the right choice in matter of effectiveness and cost to use resins to soften and purify water? This could be useful for shrimp keeping and planted tanks too.
Many of us use RO water nowadays, but the cost of the decent system and the volume of water we waste to produce 1 unit of RO water makes me think - is this the best and the most wise option?
After doing much of a reading I have found out that there are 2 main types of resins having application in the aquariums:
Anion exchange resins and Cation Exchange resins
The Anion resins exchange the negatively charged ions from the water, such as : Chlorides [Cl-], Sulfates [SO4=], Nitrates [NO3=], Carbonates [CO3=], Silicates [SiO2-]
The Cation resins are responsible for the absorbtion of positively charged cations as Ca and Mg, which is the reason for the lowering of the Kh.
Based on the above, to get a pure soft water, suitable for use in the shrimp/planted/marine tank, we will need to combine the 2 types of resins. After some research I found that actually the so called mixed bed systems are widely used in the window cleaning systems.
The price for a liter of those resins is about 5-10 Pounds depending on the brand. They are not rechargeable, but should last quite long.
Some thoughts:
Now, I'm not quite sure, is it possible to use these resins, straight in the aquarium, as there are 2 types of resins: macroporous and microporous resins. The latest are used in the water purification systems for drinking water but they are not suitable for aquarium use, as they will get clogged very fast. But we could use them to treat the tab water, prior aquarium use.
I'm not sure, what is happening with the Gh if only the Cation resins are used - they are not affecting the CO3? Do we really need to get the Gh down too for general aquarium use? How the flora and fauna would react on Kh 0, Gh 16 for example? Darren or Clive, please help me out on this!
There are also rechargeable resins, but for the anion resins we will need some strong acids NaOH, which makes it not very convenient and dangerous.
The cation resins can be recharged with table salt, but IMO this is not the best solution, as the collected Ca and Mg cations will be exchanged with Na, which afterwords will be released in the aquarium water. as we all know, the Sodium is not good for the aquatic life. I found that possible solution could be recharging with KCl, where the K cation will be exchanged for the Mg and Ca. This could be even beneficial for the plants :?: