Is RO really necessary?

[DSEKULA]

isnt a hob in a reef basically just polishing water, i mean live rock and a power head would do more to deal with nutrients export, i guess you could modify it to make a fuge

It would depend on what you put in it, you could get really creative. You could cut a bioblock to fit in there and do a minimal tank scape. Use for carbon, gfo, purogen or any other chemical type media, you could put a pad or floss to mechanical filter.. it depends on the intention. Yes, I've seen some modifications to make into a fuge as well. For me personally to use a hob on a reef I'd probably have one rated for 100gals on a 10gallon tank to facilitate what I'd like to do

 

[Kryptonian]

Where did you find yours for 55 dollars I want one lol

Just went back and checked. It was Amazon and $59 but says "currently unavailable".

 

[CavalierReef]

Good idea! You should totally check out pistol shrimp and shrimp gobies. Some easy ones are candy cane pistol shrimp and yellow watchman gobies. Had a pair for years, they were great.

Like this. So much fun to watch and they are inexpensive (by saltwater fish/invert standards).

 

[DSEKULA]

Like this. So much fun to watch and they are inexpensive (by saltwater fish/invert standards).

I have two oystercrests that bonded with a random pistol it's about 2" long orange and has a black dot on each side. Super cool to watch. They auctually live under my carpet nem that hosts my clarkies. Makes a really cool naturalish habitat imo.

 

[DSEKULA]

@erinw347
Here's my 2gal setup, please don't take my comments to mean you can't do a small low tech set up. You just have to be way more in tune with what's going on with your tank.
The cost on this build was about $200 plus stock. Just an example of some of the cool things you can do on a low tech budget. It's newly set up and still settling. Also, I opened the lid the light, ato resivour, heater outlet, and feeding port are up top. Air is pumped through the center rock for gas exchange and flow. Definitely a K.I.S.S. system that runs on water changes.

 

[D1rty30]

Just went back and checked. It was Amazon and $59 but says "currently unavailable".

I’ll check it out thx

 

[TheRealDmorty217]

If you’re doing a fish only or just soft corals it’s not necessary to have RODI.

 

[Scubachef31]

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

You can get salt rodi from your LFS for $1 gal. If it’s not worth that for peace of mind, Salt is probably not your best bet. Nobody wants to waste money but for that little $$ why risk it?

 

[Oatey72]

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

Heard this somewhere and it always stuck with me, not verbatim, but... “as aquarists we are water keepers first. Proper water chemistry is the base, the fundamental component to keeping a healthy, thriving aquarium.”
So, IMO, yes. A RODI system is necessary.

 

[nyghtdancyr]

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

Just wanted to add as an aside...a 10G saltwater tank won’t hold the number of fish a 10G freshwater tank wil nc they can’t take as dirty of water as freshwater fish can. I have a pair of Ocellaris clowns and a goby in my 20G tank for reference.

 

[92Miata]

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.

Storing tipoff/water change water is going to take up more space than an rodi unit. Especially with a small tank where the RO buddy type units are viable.

 

[erinw347]

Just wanted to add as an aside...a 10G saltwater tank won’t hold the number of fish a 10G freshwater tank wil nc they can’t take as dirty of water as freshwater fish can. I have a pair of Ocellaris clowns and a goby in my 20G tank for reference.

I am really into inverts, so I would probably have one or two fish and some snails or stars.

 

[Reef.]

Yes I know it doesn’t work the way a protein skimmer does, that is just an example of some of the things I’ve done with HOBs before.
I should probably start another thread(s) for all of these questions, but what exactly does a protein skimmer do, and what kind of nutrients do I have to add to saltwater? I currently add calcium because I have many inverts but I know that is not quite the same

for fish only you can do this as cheaply as you want, as said rodi can be very portable, mine is in a cupboard till I need it, or buy distilled water, I would recommend a cheap light, you don’t need one for the fish but I think the tank looks better under a light, up to you though.

you don’t need a skimmer, changing water will work just fine, as for your question on what will you need to add, nothing, just the salt, the water changes will renew anything taken out of the water, with no corals the rule about the tank has to be very stable is not as true, the corals pull elements out of the water, so they need replacing, with just fish you will only need to keep an eye on you nitrates and phosphate, and the benefit of a no light or a low powered light just for viewing setup is algae will not be as much of a battle as a coral light would bring.

once up and running, it’ll be very cheap to run, a bucket of salt will last you a year, a couple boxes of tests, some carbon, filter floss and maybe some chemipure blue or purigen too, a tub of each of those will also last a year, then you just need to buy food, I would recommend you stick to frozen food, adds much less phosphates etc to the tank.

The good thing about nano tanks, if something does go wrong, a full or 50% water change is a 30 minute job.