will buying a RODI fix my tank?

A three stage system is going to be RO only and not RO/DI.
Many reef quality systems come standard with either an inline TDS meter or a handheld one as part of the unit. I would look at a RO/DI with the TDS meter and pressure gauge in the deal.

Not sure what you have available to you down under but something similar to the CSP-DI found here for $145 US.
SpectraPure Customer Appreciation SALE! 20% - 50% off

Don't skimp on water quality, it will bite you.

 

i think my LFS sells ro, not sure on price tho. will check with them this weekend.
thought the money spent on water would be better spent on a rodi

[STRIKE]AZ, would you mind checking the link i posted if you didnt already?[/STRIKE]it says 4 stage and looks similar to the spectrapure.
the only thing it seems to lack is the tds meter, but was thinking i could order that next week and just add it in?
4 Stage RO Unit 400LPD W/ Pressure Gauge

 

nevermind actually.
finally dug up some reviews of peoples experience and regardless of the porduct it sounds like the company is pretty shady.

might opt for buying the ro water from a LFS til i can get hold of a spectrapure unit.
meant to be going to the states next june/july (if i can save in time! :-/) so might have to wait til then

 

The Fix:

alright, heres the next chapter of my story with some follow up questions...
my LFS doesnt sell RO/DI, however they do sell salt water, forgot to check but i assumed its NSW(right acronym?)
plan was, do a good WC, research even more filters and get some opinions and buy something filter like next week when i had more money.

my weak will and poor patience got the better of me once again and what actually happened was i went back and got a fluval 105 canister filter the guy was talking up the first visit and a bag of coral sand i decided would be better than ****e gravel

put Trell (the clown) in a bucket with a large piece of rock and small powerhead. tore everything down, ripped out under gravel tray and replaced gravel with sand.


hooked up the fluval with sponges, and carbon that came with it, but swapped the noodle things for rubble. rubble had been sitting dry for a few months, any problems?


put rocks back in, filled with a mix of old and new water (mostly new).
left out one of the bigger rocks as i think it restricted the flow too much.
the calerpra is also back in but it seems to be dying off pretty quickly.


questions:
1. i guess most importantly, will any of this kill my fish? he seems quite resillient
2. will the tank see a cycle? nothing live was added?
3. when should i put the fish back in and will he be ok in the bucket til then?
4. should i swap out the carbon for phosguard later? or add some to the space left in the carbon chamber? or get a little reactor? :-/
5. should i leave the lights off for a week or so?
6. notice anything else that could cause issues?

i'm hoping that regular changes with the LFS water will reduce any more algae battles for now. will have to get an RO/DI eventually tho.
the nano was only meant to be a quick fix of marine til the big tank is running, but think i'll concentrate on getting this right now and hope it can subdue any more impulse buys so the big tank is spot on.

 

HTH, best of luck

 

The first question you have to ask is does the LFS use RO/DI to mix their saltwater. Will they show you the TDS reading of that water, and is it 0? What salt mix do they use and what level do they mix it up at?

All these are important.

 

thanks guys.
that helps alot

i asked if they had RO/DI water first and the said they only had salt water which is why i got the impression it was natural sea. when i asked if it was good to go as is, they only suggested testing ph as it can lower while sitting there? which seemed ok after testing anyway. its a small business and the guys there have actually seemed pretty good so i have a bit of faith in them.
will definietly get alot more information on the water next week, but if its not capable of supporting a fish for at least a week i'll know i need a new LFS.
just tested the ammo, nitrite and nitrate after leaving it over night and everything came up zero so i'll put the fish back in a keep an eye on him testing daily.
thanks again guys!

 

i wish i would've read this part, id of just recommended you going for Rodi you were thinking about or NSW water changes. Unless you plan on keeping your nano alongside your larger system, id save my money from livestock and equipment and plan out my larger system, that way you can spend your money on quality equipment. In my experience it cost me alot more in the long run than it should have because of my impulse buys. But id like to see how your larger system turns out, i said i would photo document my tank on a forum but i dropped the ball, it would be nice to follow your build if you had the time-good luck.

 

Agree with what everyone else has said.. I bought this unit for my 24g tank. Best investment I have made to date for my SW tank..

Aquarium Water | Reverse Osmosis | RODI Water | ReefKeeper Water | Mighty Mite 50GPD with DI Added

 

wasnt sure if the calerpra would be helping with phosphate reduction if was dying, will definitely take it out now. chaeto sounds better but i havent managed to find any yet. might just try the anti phos media and see how that goes.
the carbon chamber has alot of spare room in it (the blue cage on the left of the previous pic is actually empty and sits ontop of the carbon bag) could i put phosguard in there or is the space needed for circulation? tho youre point about the rock makes sense. might get another smaller piece of LR to make up a bit for the massive rock i took out orginially and see about using the canister space better.

the 200 spent on the fluval is going to slow down my ro/di purchase. i looked up a UPS quote on shipping for a 90gpd spectrapure (looked at the air,water and ice ones, but AZDesertRat has put too good a spin on the spectra!) and it adds another 150ish to the total which also doesnt help. anyone planning a trip to aus? lol
figure if i'm spening $6 a week on water, i'll try put aside some extra and maybe find a ro/di locally when theres a big enough pile of cash.

i dont mind spending enough money to get the nano right and having to wait a bit longer for the real tank. its better than giving up the fish. will probably keep this running in some form when the big one is up anyway