Is RO really necessary?

[erinw347]

Hey there! I’m thinking about going salty and I am just wondering if it’s possible to have a nano saltwater tank without RO water? I have been keeping freshwater for awhile now but I still have a lot of research to do before I jump into saltwater. My thoughts for my first saltwater tank would be somewhat of a FOWLR tank, 10g. Any tips would be appreciated

 

[Sump Crab]

RODI is absolutely necessary where I live. Our tap water is crap.

 

[jeffchapok]

If you're going to spend the money on saltwater inhabitants, why risk them by cheaping out on your water. You can get a 4 stage RO Buddie for $80.

 

[Cole.mormon]

Yes its neccesqry

 

[Hydrored]

necessary? No

But why invest in a saltwater tank? the cost of maintaining the tank and inhabitants far exceeds the cost of a basic RODI setup. Plus the other issues that come when dealing with poor water quality, silicates, algae, diatoms, etc.

 

[Pistondog]

Hey there! I’m thinking about going salty and I am just wondering if it’s possible to have a nano saltwater tank without RO water? I have been keeping freshwater for awhile now but I still have a lot of research to do before I jump into saltwater. My thoughts for my first saltwater tank would be somewhat of a FOWLR tank, 10g. Any tips would be appreciated

We would recommend rodi.
Not necessarily, but there'll be a lot of finger pointing if you have problems

 

[Kryptonian]

If you're going to spend the money on saltwater inhabitants, why risk them by cheaping out on your water. You can get a 4 stage RO Buddie for $80.

4 stage RODI all the way. I think I got mine for $55 and for a nano setup, you'll very very rarely need to change the DI sleeve. You're going to spend way more on band-aids for problems that arise down the road if not using RODI.

 

[Skullring]

Do yourself a favor and use RODI. You will forever be chasing problems just to save probably the lowest expense of the hobby.

Also since this is your first saltwater it may be better to start with a little bigger tank volume to cushion the parameters from swings.

 

[monti mike]

Hey there! I’m thinking about going salty and I am just wondering if it’s possible to have a nano saltwater tank without RO water? I have been keeping freshwater for awhile now but I still have a lot of research to do before I jump into saltwater. My thoughts for my first saltwater tank would be somewhat of a FOWLR tank, 10g. Any tips would be appreciated

I kept my 10 gallon for a couple of years with no RO system. I’d just buy a couple of gallons of distilled water for top off and water changes. A gallon of distilled water is like a buck or less and 1 gallon would be a 10% water change. Easy stuff. I only got an RODI system when I upgraded my tank.

 

[DSEKULA]

Hey there! I’m thinking about going salty and I am just wondering if it’s possible to have a nano saltwater tank without RO water? I have been keeping freshwater for awhile now but I still have a lot of research to do before I jump into saltwater. My thoughts for my first saltwater tank would be somewhat of a FOWLR tank, 10g. Any tips would be appreciated

Rodi basically starts you off with a nice base to mix your saltwater. It takes the guess work out if something goes wrong. With all the uncertainty of starting a new hobby it's one less thing to question... For instance you add fish, coral, etc and they are all looking a little off do you really want to be questioning if there was maybe something in the water at that point or be able to rule out poor water and mover forward looking for the real issue? I've seen successful tanks with not rodi but if you want to try I'd recommend tracking water quality for a year to find fluctuations and considering how to remove what needs to be removed. I did this at my house btw, but I professionally run water treatment systems and run a mobile laboratory giving access to equipment most don't have. I also run rodi water for my tank bc it's the most cost-effective solution. If you don't have a good source and don't want to invest in an rodi filter system you could potentially buy distilled water to use, for a 10gallon it would take a decent while to add up.

As a side note a 10gallon reef is very limited in stock and suspectable to swings and usually attempted by experienced reefers.

 

[erinw347]

Thanks for the replies. It’s not so much about money for RODI, I simply don’t have room. I’m a teenager and I keep the fish tanks in my bedroom.

 

[Pistondog]

Thanks for the replies. It’s not so much about money for RODI, I simply don’t have room. I’m a teenager and I keep the fish tanks in my bedroom.

Somebody said buy pure water as required. Do this or buy saltwater, which would be easiest if lfs has good supply, and space is valuable.

 

[sas226]

I kept my 10 gallon for a couple of years with no RO system. I’d just buy a couple of gallons of distilled water for top off and water changes. A gallon of distilled water is like a buck or less and 1 gallon would be a 10% water change. Easy stuff. I only got an RODI system when I upgraded my tank.

Gotta be careful with any underselling on buying just a few gallons of water. Small tanks evap at relatively absurd rate. My 20 evaps half a gallon day. It'd be a pain to have to buy a ton of distilled constantly.

 

[DSEKULA]

Thanks for the replies. It’s not so much about money for RODI, I simply don’t have room. I’m a teenager and I keep the fish tanks in my bedroom.

Hmm... I don't have a great answer then, your best bets are rodi or distilled. Either way the water will need space to mix and come up to temp before it's added. The small rodi systems are about the size of a gallon jug, its kind of one or the other space wise.

 

[JRAD]

I did the distilled h20 thing with a 16 gallon nano. It got to be a pain buying 2.5 gallon jugs every week. Got an aquatic life ro that takes cartridges and it was a huge step up in convenience. It is a very worthwhile investment!

 

[DSEKULA]

Do you have a pic of the potential tank area? Maybe we can help you organize out the area better?
When I was younger I put my bed up on risers to squeeze more space too.

 

[Pistondog]

Somebody said buy pure water as required. Do this or buy saltwater, which would be easiest if lfs has good supply, and space is valuable.

You'll need top offwater too. Our waterbox 10 goes thru 1.5 gallons a week.

 

[DSEKULA]

There is also the possibility of buying mixed saltwater from a lfs if there's a decent one near by but that would also mean transporting buckets back and forth, then temping it. And depending on the situation maybe relying on someone for rides or borrowing a car. I know my parents would not have been cool with me taking the car and transporting saltwater with the potential for drips etc.

 

[harrylikesfish]

If you really don’t want RO or RODI you can use distilled.

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

Hmm... I don't have a great answer then, your best bets are rodi or distilled. Either way the water will need space to mix and come up to temp before it's added. The small rodi systems are about the size of a gallon jug, its kind of one or the other space wise.

You keep your rodi attached to a stationary sink which is easily removed when you need to use it. I was a teen when I got into reefing as well. I would not suggest the aquatic life units they are junk and filters hardly lasted for me. Check your TDS out of Tap and water reports. Even a 4 stage unit can still produce TDS which is why I upgraded to a 7 stage 200gpd BRS unit with the booster pump. I can not stress this enough your saltwater will only be as good as your rodi water. I lost about $5k of sps from a city water issue that got through my 4 stage unit... and that was in a nano tank. Tank size doesn’t matter.. protect your investment and going cheap will not help you. Most people buy things 3x because of this reason. You get what you pay for in reefing.

congratulations on making it over to the salty side and welcome to R2R!