Questions about RO systems

[gwand]

My well Water has a persistent nitrate level of around 30 ppm. So far my fish, shrimp, crayfish, and African dwarf frogs seem to farewell despite the nitrate level. We are talking 17 months. However, I would like to eliminate it if possible. I was told a reverse osmosis system would eliminate most of the nitrate. If this is true, how often do you have to change the filter or whatever the material is that extracts the nitrate? What is the approximate annual cost of such a system once it’s been purchased and installed? Does the RO Water need to have minerals added back to it to have hard water? Lastly can I attach a python system to the RO faucet? Thanks for your help.

 

[Magnum Man]

I was told in my instructions, change all the filters every 6 months, and the RO membrane ( filter ) annually… I think this is a general guideline… mine is just over 6 months, and water quality is still good, and flow through hasn’t significantly slowed

 

[gwand]

I was told in my instructions, change all the filters every 6 months, and the RO membrane ( filter ) annually… I think this is a general guideline… mine is just over 6 months, and water quality is still good, and flow through hasn’t significantly slowed

Does the system turn hard water which I have and want for my hard water tanks into soft water? Is the RO water completely demineralized? Thanks.

 

[Magnum Man]

7.0 Ph and no minerals at all… I blend in some well water where needed

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello. Nitrates in the 20 to 30 ppm range are ideal. I change out a lot of tank water every week and the last time I tested the water, nitrates were roughly 20 ppm. I very much doubt that your tank inhabitants would even notice nitrate at the level you're talking about. RO units can be pricey and so far, your well water is within limits to keep your fish and others.

10

 

[gwand]

Hello. Nitrates in the 20 to 30 ppm range are ideal. I change out a lot of tank water every week and the last time I tested the water, nitrates were roughly 20 ppm. I very much doubt that your tank inhabitants would even notice nitrate at the level you're talking about. RO units can be pricey and so far, your well water is within limits to keep your fish and others.

10

That’s the kind of news I like to hear. Thanks for the update.

 

[FishyD]

Does the system turn hard water which I have and want for my hard water tanks into soft water? Is the RO water completely demineralized? Thanks.

It will remove a very high % of it. My water is loaded with calcium. An API kit won't really test my water properly IMO. My salt based water softener replaces a calcium ion with a sodium ion. My RO removes perhaps 97% of both with an older membrane. If you have crazy amounts of calcium, my guess is you would need some pretty expensive gear to get much better results than I am. A TDS meter reads my well water at 260-280. About 7-8 out of the RO and it used to do just a little better. Hopefully that was clear enough to be helpful.

 

[Sleeveless]

I went with a RO/DI system due to well water,. Not Nitrates in my case, but due to other issues that involved crazy PH spikes and basically brackish water coming out without treatment. I strip everything out now and remineralize. I use Seachem Equilibrium, Alkaline and Acid buffer, then Flourish for my plants and Fresh Trace to cover my bases. Took a very long time to dial down, but final seeing some solid results with water. I do water changes every 2 weeks now with Ammonia at 0, Nitrite at 0 and Nitrates stick around 10ppm with bi-weekly changes.

 

[Magnum Man]

Also on my RO unit, mine came with a booster pump, and is designed for lower pressure well systems, and I use a translucent 35 gallon plastic drum to collect the RO water, which has a diaphragm RV water system pressure pump, on the barrel powered through a switched extension cord, which makes it easy and painless to fill tanks

 

[Magnum Man]

This is the unit I bought, which came with an extra set of filters, for the 1st change

Amazon.com

 

[Sleeveless]

This is the unit I bought, which came with an extra set of filters, for the 1st change

Amazon.com

I did this one. Has been great as well. I bought the 100gpd system instead of the 50.

https://www.amazon.com/Aquatic-Life-Changing-Deionization-Cartridge/dp/B00204CQF6/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=pMbXW&content-id=amzn1.sym.d0ebfbb2-6761-494f-8e2f-95743b37c35c%3Aamzn1.symc.50e00d6c-ec8b-42ef-bb15-298531ab4497&pf_rd_p=d0ebfbb2-6761-494f-8e2f-95743b37c35c&pf_rd_r=REMPBMMP2W7GYWGQ2M2T&pd_rd_wg=3hmKy&pd_rd_r=842aca88-37b1-4118-809d-0f2cbcd8b3ef&ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mr_hp_atf_m

 

[TwoTankAmin]

If you want the purest water possible, then you should get a unit with both as RO and a deionizing module. My choice of units was purchased for several reason.
1. I wanted it to be portable so i could bring it with me to fish weekend where I was selling fish either as a vendor or a room seller.
2. I wanted it to make as pure water as possible, so I chose one that had bot an RO and a DI (deionizing) module.
3. I found ones where I could chose to have it come with and input that fit the standard garden hose connection.
4. I did not need high output so I opted for between 50 and 100 gallons/day.

So I got a 75 gpd, 3 stage {carbon-->RO-->DI}, portable unit. I replaced the RO and carbon modules once. When I finally needed to replace all the modules I opted to buy a new unit. However, I really wanted a sediment filter in front of the carbon. So I now have a 4 stage unit.

It is light weight, easy to use. I attach it to my utility sink which has a fauet that accepts garden hose connections and provide a way to deal with the waste water. I batch into a 20 gal can. From there I fill a series of storage containers which last me about 4 weeks I have a couple of TDS pens and I can test the output which is usually 0 TDS.

In theory, my RO/DI water should be 7.0 ph. But this is on;y the case in a vacuum. In the can it is exposed to the air which includes CO2. When that gets into the water it creates a small amount of carbonic acid which doesn't last long but is also constantly replaced. So the effect is that acid causes the pH of the water to drop below 7.00.

Here is the nice part of this. My first 3 stage unit about 10 years ago cost me $120 plus shipping. The 4 stage was bought in the past 6 months and cost me $159 + shipping.

My main use of the above system at home is to maintain a 55 gal tank at a pH of about 6.0 and TDS no higher than in the 60s. My tap is 7.0 and TDS that can range over years from about 80 to 115 ppm. it depends on the aquafer and rainfall. I have seen it as low as 53 ppm after a few weeks of very heavy rain storms.

Here is where I buy: https://store.afwfilters.com/brands/afwfilters.html

Click Categories, then Reverse Osmosis Systems. My next click was not Aquarium RO DI Systems, it was Portable RO Systems. My first system was the Mikro Omega 3 Stage Portable Aquarium RO/DI System with 75 GPD Membrane. It is now $139 = shipping. The one I replaced it with is the Mikro Delta 4-Stage Portable RO System PLUS DI with 75 GPD Membrane (Former Psi system). Both offer:

2 Connection Options
Your choice of connection options for quick and easy setup
Garden Hose Connector - Simple connector fits standard garden hose thread
Diverter Valve - Connection to most standard faucets with valve to direct water to system

 

[Ceez]

I did this one. Has been great as well. I bought the 100gpd system instead of the 50.

https://www.amazon.com/Aquatic-Life-Changing-Deionization-Cartridge/dp/B00204CQF6/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=pMbXW&content-id=amzn1.sym.d0ebfbb2-6761-494f-8e2f-95743b37c35c%3Aamzn1.symc.50e00d6c-ec8b-42ef-bb15-298531ab4497&pf_rd_p=d0ebfbb2-6761-494f-8e2f-95743b37c35c&pf_rd_r=REMPBMMP2W7GYWGQ2M2T&pd_rd_wg=3hmKy&pd_rd_r=842aca88-37b1-4118-809d-0f2cbcd8b3ef&ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mr_hp_atf_m

I bought this one as well. My TDS is 0-3 depending on how it feels that day.


This unit will last me more than 6 months before having to replace filters because I only use it to make fish water. I plug it into my garden hose outside and fill up 55g barrels. I did a ton of research and some very reputable German zebra breeders are mixing their RO/Tap to 55-65 TDS.

You can either add minerals back to your water or you can mix tap/well water. I opted for mixing water so I don't have to purchase anything else. My tap water is also coming out at 20ppm so when you're doing a 50% water change you're not really lowering nitrate levels if your nitrates go up to say around 80ppm in a week. You do a 50% water change, nitrates still test at 40ppm and now you're adding 20ppm with the new water. Only way to get your nitrates to acceptable levels is by changing 90% or more...(this is just an example, nitrates may only be 30-40ppm after a week depending on how you feed, how many fish etc etc..)

By mixing ro/tap at basically a 50% ratio I can cut nitrates to 10ppm for new water and I change 90% every other week on my breeders with 50% changes in between. So week one would be 50%, week 2 90%, week 3 50%, week 4 90% etc etc..keeps my nitrates in check on my breeders.

You could also heavily plant your tank which would help combat nitrates naturally.

 

[gwand]

I spoke to the plumber that put in my water conditioning system for my well 28 years ago. He tells me he can put in a column in line with my water conditioning system that will extract all of the nitrate or at least most of it from my well water. He says no need for a RO System which will remove all the minerals as well. now I’m waiting for him to price it out.

 

[FishyD]

I spoke to the plumber that put in my water conditioning system for my well 28 years ago. He tells me he can put in a column in line with my water conditioning system that will extract all of the nitrate or at least most of it from my well water. He says no need for a RO System which will remove all the minerals as well. now I’m waiting for him to price it out.

An RO can be a side thing. Mine is under my kitchen sink and has it's own small faucet next to the normal one, where I have normal access to all the minerals I like. You can spend a lot more of course, but an RO system good enough for a few aquariums starts around $200.