Food and water

[SeeCrabRun]

My tanks lose about 1.5 liters a day in water. Which is about 3 gallons a week. Weekly water change is a little over 2g and 1g, and then there is the rinsing water as well. So all in all I'm refilling my 7g jug every week.

As I was filling up my jug tonight it dawned on me how much that costs a year and how I probably should get a RO/DI.

Then I actually priced the system and maintenance over a 5 year period and I'm not sure I see the benefit for such a small tank. Though I would like to switch our drinking water over with it as we do a sort of basic filter currently.


As for food. I'm feeding my guys tetra marine flakes and algae tabs. I realize this is not at all a sufficient diet and I want to rectify that.

I will be feeding a damsel and I know they eat a wide variety. I'm wondering what the best food regimen would be though. Some brine and mysis shrimp seaweed strips, and then what is a truly good brand of food?

[m0nkie]

i bought RODI as the first item. It's not just about the cost of water. It's convenience. Also there's gas, car maintenance, time, and risks.. lot of stupid drivers around my area. My 16mpg car doesnt help either..

[SeeCrabRun]

I get it when I go grocery shopping, so no added cost there, but 7g of water weighs a lot for me. So that is annoying.

[m0nkie]

The BRS ones are very affordable. I would hate to keep carrying water for who knows how many years ahead.

[Amber and mark]

On a 75 gallon I find myself losing 5 gallons of water every two weeks. My tank stays at 75 but I keep my house at 68 degrees. I do not find temp fluctuations and do not run a tank heater. I just refill with fresh RO Water and This def works for my tank. Since salt does not evaporate I do not refill with salt water as that will drive up my salt levels eventually. I might do a 15 gallon water change once a month even if my parameters are on point. But if my parameters are fine I will leave it alone So far all is we'll. WHY FIX SOMETHING THat AINT BROKE? Perfect parameters means leave it alone ur water is good. As for food
my clowns, tang and damsels hermits and coral all eat marine pellets, flakes and mysis shrimp and love it they all thrive on this simple diet. Brand names are rather general so as long as the food comes from a reputable dealer I pay no attention to "who" the name is. Frozen or fresh is a matter of opinion and choice. I feed the amount eatin and do not just dump in food also to keep oragincs and nitrates at nearly zero. One problem I see with many people starting off is they over stock, over feed, and have a crap load of expensive equipment they know nothing about or how to run. Than when they encounter problems they don't understand why. Keep it simple- I promise it works. Good luck

[thegrun]

For me it's not the savings on water that make a RO/DI unit necessary, it's my inability to resist purchasing something every time I go into a fish store that makes having my own RO/DI unit a must!

[ViktorVaughn]

My tank is only 40 gallons but I still wouldn't hesistate to purchase a RO/DI machine for a 10 gallon tank if I had one. Driving back and forth lugging around 25 gallons of water was a huge pain. Before I even started on my water changes I would have carried 200 lbs of water from the car to my basement. Now, I have a 5 foot walk from my bathroom to bedroom. Also, if you're getting the water from a grocery store it is most likely not RO/DI water, just RO which might let some contaminants through. I was always getting around 10-15 ppm from the grocery store water while my BRS RO/DI gives me 0 ppm. Even if you wouldn't make up the cost of the unit in years, the convenience of it more than makes up the price in my opinion.

All my fish love PE mysis. They get a small pinch of NLS pellets and Ocean Nutrition flake food in the morning and about a 1/3 cube of each PE mysis and SF Bay Marine cuisine mixed together at night. I have 5 fish so the amount you feed will largely be dependant on your tank inhabitants.

[SeeCrabRun]

I'm unlikely to have more than 2 fish. But probably only 1.

[cloak]

The foods you have now, & perhaps some NLS pellets would be a good staple for the fish, but offering something like live black worms, live brine, or frozen mysis every now & then would be a good idea as well.
Generally the more variety you can provide the better, but damsels are not too particular when it comes down to food, so just about anything will work. GL.

[S13<3]

how often and how much does it cost to replace ALL the filters/cartridges in an RO unit?

[Amber and mark]

RO fresh water is only 48 cents a gallon at my lfs
And I have no problem paying that on 15 20 gallons at a time .
Gives me a reason to spend my money and since I'm always at the pet store I get bangin deals on live stock as I've become friends and a loyal customer with the staff on hand.
Remember salt does not evaporate . I dd a 20 gallon water change on a 75 gal when my salt level was at 0.020 and it only dropped to 0.018 which really isn't a big deal at least for my tank

[Reef Frog]

Damsels & Dortybacks are said to lose coloration over time. Foods with caratonoids (spelling?) are recommended to halt this process. Marine foods with red coloration like cyclopseeze, small krill & shrimp are said to help keep the colors vivid.

Fish eggs are highly nutritious with high levels of fat, Protien & micro nutrients.

[SeeCrabRun]

It is recommended to replace cartridges ever 6-12 months depending on the model. At my usage I'd be doing 12 months if I got it for the tank only. Plus at 3 years you replace the membrane. Cartridges are between 20-50 as a kit depending on your model. Mine would be $23.

It is .30 per gallon in the RO machine but it always gives you more so I actually only pay for 6 gallons in my 7 gallon jug. I only need to fill it once a week unless I'm doing serious maintenance and the machine is at Publix where I do my weekly grocery shopping anyway. So I do it all at once.

I came out to paying 93 a year for publix water and 62 a year if done at home.

But if I was going to go through the trouble of buying and installing a system I'd get the one we can actually drink, which would raise the cost considerably.

[Reef Frog]

^ actually drinking RO water is fine & has benefits.

I've read several comments on aquarium boards that drinking water that's been deionized is to be discouraged for reasons that may or may not be correct. But in any event you can order a little by pass valve that avoids the DI canister and I'm pretty sure the price is low.

RO or RODI water is useful for lots of things besides making aquarium water too.