Does anyone use Reverse Osmosis water in Australia?

[Ben]

I was just thinking if anyone uses Reverse Osmosis water for thier discus in OZ? I am looking at getting a unit but want to weigh up the pro's and con's before i get one. If anyone has advise please let me know!!


Thanks,
Ben

[leanne31]

I think a lot of people do Ben I personally dont but my fish are all juvies and arent breeding yet I think the main reason people get them for is to soften the water for breeding purposes.

[Rocky33]

Ben,

I would say the biggest pros are that you can provide really great water for your fish, most reverse osmosis systems remove up to 97-99% of all contaminants, chemicals, solids, etc. Now personally I use a 5 stage RO/DI system, they do not cost a lot, but they take the water down to 0 tds(total dissolved solids), which is excellent.

It depends on how much water you need on a daily basis, but most use normal systems like I mentioned.

I am not sure if there are any downfalls to using a system, it is pretty much a recommended thing, you would have to purchase the filters once a year, but that is just a maintenance cost.

I hope this helps. thanks.

[Hollowman]

One downside is that you will waste a lot of water. Most RO units will produce 1 part product to 3-4 times waste. Having good water pressure or using a pumped system with make an RO system a little more economical. I use 3 100gallon a day membranes piggy backed with a pump and get almost a 1 to 1 ratio.

Also using a DI resin can work out expensive as you have to replenish the resin every so often. DI is not necessary imo.

Also you have to reconstitute the RO water, it is too unstable to use pure for most people. So, you have to re-min the RO until you get your required conductivity/TDS (so you need to buy a digital meter to test imo) and the re-min salts can work out very expensive over time. (you can re-min using post pre-filter/pre-membrane water. This is what I do.)

So, think about what your goals are, what is your local water like?? you need to test it first, it may be ok as it is.
Re-min can be pricey, water cost need to be considered.

hth

H

[BobbyBruce]

Hi Ben,

I have been using RO for about a year now and have no complaints.

When I first started I was getting the water from a local Hydroponics operations for a carton a month.

I recently purchased a RO unit online which has a TDS meter. The price was good and I have probably recouped the cost of the unit in petrol savings and transport.

The unit I purchased produces about 25 litres of grey water to 20 litres of RO. I set my TDS meter to between 50 - 60 ppm.

If you would like any information on the unit I have and puchase location drop me a p.m.

Regards,

Bob