Help! I've been using tap water for 2 years!

[Meadowofdragons]

Okay okay okay. So I've had my 72g saltwater tank set up for two years. TWO YEARS! And I've only been using tap water for my aquarium and it has been working fine. But the problem is, I've had a brown algae (diatom) problem from the beginning and it has never gone away. After getting tired of cleaning the algae off of the whole tank for 2 years, I've been trying for the last 6-7 months to determine the cause of it because my water perameters are all in check and I've finally decided that's it's probably because I use tap water! I should really switch over to RO/DI water, but I have no idea how! Like I said, this tank has been mature with fish and liverock for two years now. Am I supposed to switch over slowly over time with water changes? Or do I put the fish in a bucket and do it all at once? (Will that mess with my cycle?) Also, do I need to buy a RO/DI unit for my sink? Or can I just buy jugs of it somewhere! I don't have much money right now I can't afford to buy a whole unit! I'm in a bit of a pickle and would appreciate any advice. Thank you!

[Member No. 1]

Not to worry, it's not all that bad, nor are immediate actions required.
Whether you buy a RODI unit, or buy RODI water doesn't matter and it's what you need to figure out cost wise. Weight the cost of a unit over how much you will be paying for water.
Since you stated you currently are using tap water, I would assume you mix your own salt water. My advise is that, if you plan on buying RODI water from your LFS, only buy RODI and not Pre-mixed saltwater, and continue to mix your own saltwater. But get yourself a TDS meter, only about $20, good to have anyway, and check the RODI you buy. Some LFS don't change the filters as often as they should and you might end up getting water that is worse than your tap. And the reason I say don't buy pre-mixed saltwater, is you can't test it with the TDS meter, so if the LFS is using bad water you won't be able to check it.
All said and done, no need to do a massive water change. Just start using 0 TDS RODI and the levels of contaminants will slowly be reduced.

[Marchillo]

Not to worry, it's not all that bad, nor are immediate actions required.
Whether you buy a RODI unit, or buy RODI water doesn't matter and it's what you need to figure out cost wise. Weight the cost of a unit over how much you will be paying for water.
Since you stated you currently are using tap water, I would assume you mix your own salt water. My advise is that, if you plan on buying RODI water from your LFS, only buy RODI and not Pre-mixed saltwater, and continue to mix your own saltwater. But get yourself a TDS meter, only about $20, good to have anyway, and check the RODI you buy. Some LFS don't change the filters as often as they should and you might end up getting water that is worse than your tap. And the reason I say don't buy pre-mixed saltwater, is you can't test it with the TDS meter, so if the LFS is using bad water you won't be able to check it.
All said and done, no need to do a massive water change. Just start using 0 TDS RODI and the levels of contaminants will slowly be reduced.

+1. All advice here is solid. Just buy RODI from a lfs, test it with a tds meter, and mix your own salt. Maybe start a little RODI fund and save up for one. At 72g you probably want your own unit eventually. Water conditions will improve over time with water changes but it will take time. No need to rush things.

[Dkuhlmann]

I recently bought what's called a portable RODI unit on Ebay for $64 shipped! It is a 50 gpd unit and does a great job. It doesn't cost much if you do your due diligence in searching the internet by using Google, Ebay or Amazon.

I agree 100% with Member No 1!

[CarrieB]

Spectrapure has a starter kit on sale for $160 that includes a TDS meter and a set of replacement filters. 90 Gpd.

[RayAllen3422]

I would think if you are doing regular water changes the RODI will pay for itself pretty quickly. I don't even know what a LFS would charge for RODI.

[Sk8r]

Right now your water chemistry (in trace elements) is probably somewhat screwy, but enough months of ro/di and faithful water changes will begin to haul it toward regular. You'll see a number of problems diminish or go.

[Meadowofdragons]

Thanks guys! I'll look into getting a small unit and do normal water changes. Any recommendations on what RO/DI units to purchase?

[drillsar]

http://spectrapure.com/Refurbished-90-GPD-RODI-System and get a handheld tds meter

[drillsar]

or get the one that has a inline tds meter.

http://spectrapure.com/RO-RODI/RODI-SYSTEMS/CSPDI-Standard-90-GPD-RO-DI-System

[CStrickland]

I have the spectrapure 90gpd and its cool. Nice to know where I'll get replacement filters from, and they were really helpful when my setup went a little screwy (my tap water is special).

When I switched over I did a couple larger changes, like 30% and then a few 20%. If you do the math one 30% makes a much bigger diff than 3x10%, because smaller ones you are taking out some of the new rodi each time. The downside is that you have to be a lot more careful with a large change to not shock the system. I do weekly changes of 10% and it doesn't make any diff if the waters really cold or the salinity is not he same. With a big change it does. Mostly just temp, sg, and alkalinity are important.

I wouldn't be in a huge rush, I honestly didn't notice that big a dif and it sounds like ur tanks doing ok. But it is nice not to worry about mystery contamination.

For price comparison, at $1 a gallon from the store, and 10g a week for top off and changes (that's what id use for a 70gallon, and what stores charge here) a $150 refurb spectrapure will pay for itself in 3 or 4 months.

[drillsar]

in the meantime u can use distilled water

[Meadowofdragons]

Thanks guys! Very informative!!

But Really? I was told to never ever use distilled water?

[hotelbravo]

ive used distilled on a number of occasions. not sure what could be wrong with it...

[CStrickland]

Distilled is the only bottled water I'd use. Lots of times the label will even say "distilled by rodi." It's what people with little tanks who don't need a rodi use, also babies that need really pure water to make formula from, and things like ironing you clothes where if the water had minerals the steam function would get all clogged up if the water weren't pure.

As opposed to "drinking" or "spring" water, which have not-water in them for flavor. Pure water like rodi or distilled tastes flat and bad. But I'd still treat the distilled water with something in case they use copper pipes at the factory. That's always an issue with tank water cause it's fine for people but bad for coral. If you're treating your tap water with drops now for chlorine, they may work for that too. Several brands claim to "bind heavy metal." Anyway, it can't hurt.

[Member No. 1]

"In chemical and biological laboratories, as well as in industry, cheaper alternatives such as deionized water (DI) are preferred to distilled water. But if these alternatives are not pure enough, distilled water is used. If exceptionally high purity water is required, double distilled water is used."

Distilled is purer than DI, so you should't have a problem.

With that said, I have heard talk that people don't like to use distilled because it is unknown if it was distilled thru copper piping which could introduce copper to the water. I doubt it, and I don't have any proof of this happening, but me personally, I wouldn't use it for this reason.

[Ou8me2]

This is what I use for mine and it cost $110.00

6 Stage 100GPD 0PPM RODI Reef Marine Aquarium Hydroponics Reverse Osmosis System

http://www.ebay.com/itm/200675857950?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Also a nice video by BRS explaining things when buying a certain type of unit.

How to produce the best water possible
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMq-vk1mnZw

[leviburns89]

I'm gonna say the BRS 75gpd unit is the best.

Not only is the unit certified in every way possible, it's also backed by a true lifetime warranty.

BRS is a great company to work with, they will replace it no questions asked if something ever goes wrong.

They also use the best fittings available, is 100% made in usa, free shipping, and comes with color changing di resin.

Best bang hands down.

[PAXpress]

http://spectrapure.com/Refurbished-90-GPD-RODI-System and get a handheld tds meter

I have this and agree. My lfs charges 1$ per gallon of premixed salt water and I have a 75 gallon tank. Filling my tank twice would have cost what my RO/DI cost. To me that was a no brainer. I even live in an apartment and have very limited space but I was able to set it up fairly easily. This is the unit I have and I love it. Even use it with my FW tanks and just mix in a bit of tap to get it to more normal hardness levels.