thank you Dan for explaining in Labour language the difference between ro and ro/di. so many videos refer to ro/di but very few explain the difference. keep on doing it. I always refer people to your RUclips channel.
+Fish Behind Glass Thanks. That's cool that you just keep it playing while you do other stuff. Lol I always wonder if people sit and look at their phone for 25 minutes. Lol I'm going to have to start putting intermissions in my videos if they get much longer. Lol
+Dan Hiteshew actually I'll end up watching it twice, once during the day on my phone, but I wear Bluetooth headphones so I can move freely. Later in the evening, I'll play it on my fish room TV through my FireTV connected to the app on my phone. Then I can sit and relax to enjoy again, and review anything I might have missed if I was distracted earlier. I have been guilty of watching your epic vids on the phone. If I wake up early, I can really get caught up vids.
Fish Behind Glass lol. I was actually watching one the other day. I realized I never really look at my fish while I'm filming. It's distracting even when I watch later. My tanks look really good on video though. Lol I bet they'd look awesome on a big screen. Lol
Oh dear, wish I would have seen this before we got our RO system. Not even sure if it is DI. Why do crazy people buy stuff before researching, sheesh! (oh wait, that was me! lol) We do have extremely hard water, so we do need it, in the end. But it certainly makes more sense now "why" we need it. I REALLY appreciate you, I actually understood everything you said! (where were you when I took Chemistry class:0)~ Excellent info!! Thanks Dan!
+2DebbieDoo You're welcome! You are better off with RO. If you used a softener, you'd end up with way too much sodium ions for fish to live in it. Mixing RO with your tap water to get it the way you want it is your best bet. (be sure to test your tap water for nitrates, and remember that RO water has a very low pH of 6.4)
Looking for some advice, I’m new to this hobby and I am starting out with a planted 29 gallon tank filled with my tap water. My ph is high 8’s with a tds of 600. I’ve bought a 32 gallon bucket and filled it with tap water and added muriatic acid and have brought the ph down to 7-7.2. I don’t have an ro system and I’m going to try and just mix my treated tap water with distilled water. I’m going to try and slowly add it to the tank to lower the ph, so 4 gallons tap water and 1 gallon distilled water at a time. Will this work? Edit: I’m doing this to lower the ph and the dissolved solids
tds of my RO water is 13, do I still need full amount of water conditioner? my tap water has chloramine but Im not sure if my RO removes the chloramine
RO should remove almost everything. Chloramine may show up as a positive for ammonia. try testing your RO water for ammonia to see if you get a reaction.
I been using RO/DI water on both my reef tank and my tropical tank. Now my tropical tank I started out with 6 platies and after a month or so I added a glo tetrra. Now I lost two (maybe three) platies but I chopped that up to my tank not being ready when I added them; never thought it might be the water I'm putting in. Now I have not done any research or eve tested but what are your thoughts on this: I was wondering if you could take the waste water from a RO/DI system and then pump it back though. Would this still give you good RO/DI water (yes I understand there still be waste water from this as well)? Like I said have not tested or researched it just a thought that popped in my head the other day.
+James King (NJTiger24 Aquariums) Do you mean run it through the RO sytem again? I guess you could, but each time you ran it through, it would be higher and higher in TDS. The system would have to work harder for less output each successive pass. (I'm not even sure how you'd reclaim the water to run back through it anyway) As far as using the water that was gone to "waste", well that would defeat the purpose of the RO in the first place. Just use the tap water if that's what you're asking. Platies, like most Live Bearers, prefer harder to softer water. Too much RO will kill them for sure. You'd be better off putting them in your reef tank than in very soft water (yes Mollies and Platies can do full marine water)
Dan Hiteshew. That is what I figure about the system working harder. And yes I meant running the waste water back in. For example have the waster line go into a large container and then use a pump to send it into the RO unit again. Again didn't do any research or testing. Just one day when I was making water I thought about it lol I did know that platies could do saltwater I seen video of people who have them in their Reef tanks.
I can't remember the brand but it was the one my water system people used. It was a couple of letters, I think started with a "K" maybe. (sorry if that's not very helpful)
Thats some great info Thanks a lot. I pick up an digital PH meter and it came with a TDS meter. I tested my tap water PH is 7.0 TDS meter give me 035 is this good
Hi dan,I've come across your channel tonight after trying to research where I'm going wrong,yes I'm having trouble anyway I'm trying to get my planted 240 litre tank up and running since February this year at first everything went fine,then came the algae after that all my plants started to get thin leaves and it's so frustrating I nearly packed it up and give in but I'm determined to get it right,problem is I've watched so many different films and they all say different,so I've decided after watching a couple of your films to just stick to your advice as yours made sense more than others I've watched if I need some pointers would it be okay to message you ?? Thanks very much from Lee in Manchester England.sorry it was so long haha.
+Mad Mac82 Not at all. Lol I've gotten much longer and less flattering comments than yours. Lol I don't really do FaceBook, but I will if I have to. You can find me on Google Plus and Hang Outs if you have either of those apps installed. And of course you can always comment directly under the video itself. If your tank has only been up and running since this past Feb., then you really need to dial your expectations back a little. I don't consider a tank "settled in" for at least several months. There are a lot of variable involved, so it may take a while to sort out. Be patient. you'll get there.
Mad mac, I'm getting into plants to and I agree that the information can be quite contradictory and confusing . sticking to one source of information is good idea. thing is in the aquarium hobby much like life what works for one person might not work as well for somebody else,so do keep your mind open and continue doing what works well for you.there are some forums and fb groups that can be helpful when your ready. I find Dan very interesting and confident he is a fine mentor.wish you the best with your new planted tank,
+Dan Hiteshew hi dan,thanks for the encouragement,I'm just gonna take my time till I can figure everything out and read about everything I can your channel is great and your tanks especially the Angel fish tank are what I'm dreaming off having at some point.thanks again.
+Damion Markham hi Damien thankyou and yeah it is confusing but I'm determined to get it right,I'm gonna do as much research as I can ,I think I was going wrong with the water parameters there for a while but I've ordered the api master kit with gh/kh tests and as Dan said I'm a water keeper not a fish keeper and I didn't really think about that way so yeah I'm going to start over and just make sure my parameters are good as best I can and see if that makes a difference and hopefully start getting some good results,thanks again.
right on Dan,the more I learn the less I know . You didn't touch how it effects ph ,remineralizing or active substrate . I'm not complaining I'm just saying this topic is massive and confuses me. I did learn something and was refreshed on others.thank you
Yes Dan I know. I'm just sharing with you my confusion . I'm slowly learning and find it interesting . Thanks for all your research and sharing your experience .I do appreciate it
I am in Central-South Florida: what do you recommend (freshwater) I use for a new community tank? I have raw well water (approx. 275 per mil dissolved solids), water softened water, and R.O water.
That's a pretty broad question. there are hundreds of fish, and I have no idea what you like or even how big your tank is. Angelfish are good under the right circumstances. So are gourami. There's loads of schooling fish available too.
No doubt. Mainly going to start out with rainbows, gourami's, and cleanup crew fish. I may mix all three water types and see what I get. I will not add any fish until the water is stabilized, and where it needs to be for happy fish. Thanks, Dan!
you get pure water with zero TDS when you add a di resin filter after the ro membrane and you can get water saver ro membranes that have a 1:1 ratio if your really that worried about how much water your using.
Thanks for the video Dan. So I have been ready to pull the trigger on a 4 stage RODI unit from Bulk Reef Supply. My tap is 8.3ph but my TDS is very low (under 30). For whatever reason I have not had luck with SeaChem Neutral Regulator lowering my PH at all (even though my GH and KH seem to be quite low). I have planted tanks and just recently started shrimp tanks. Most people seem to say the best solution is to get an RODI unit and re-mineralize it (I am looking at Continuum's Reconstitute RO: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01C5LJMKU/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER) ). After watching your video, I was left scratching my head because it seems that you are suggesting to go with a RO unit without the DI. Yet when I look at companies like Bulk Reef Supply - it seems that the RODI is the standard type of solution for tanks. They do have a RO only unit but that seemed to be more for drinking water. Can you shed any light on why RODI seems to be the standard if you truly believe the DI is not a good thing... ? Thank you
I only use it for brackish water, so I have endless room for variances. If you are dealing with corals, you to know exactly what's going in the water. RO is fine for my purposes. I have 11 ppm in my ro water (down from 350 ish). I'm not worried at all about those few ppm. If I needed to remove them, then I'd get the "DI" (de-ionizer) to remove those last few ions. RO gives you a 90 to 97 % reduction in TDS, so your starting water is key. You have 30 ppm, so at the most, an RO unit would leave about 3 pmm. Is it worth paying the extra money to remove the last 3 ions?
Dan Hiteshew I need to have around 200-300ppm TDS anyway for shrimp. The purpose of RO/DI for me is to get the PH down and remove any undesirable impurities that could be harmful. It is a mystery to me how my tap ph is 8.3 but my GH and KH tests are so low. Are you a member of the high tech planted tanks Facebook group ? I have a recent post in there about this very issue with pics of my test results and what not. Posted it late Thursday
I was toying with setting up an RO system a while back but decided not to do it .... I'm glad that I didn't now because I would have killed al my fish I honestly thought st some point that RO water would have been the best water to use in your tank with it being pure water but I know different now that's for sure and thanks to you .... And there's the water test hint again I'm on it in fact I'm going to go and order it right this second 😂😂
I'm not sure I understand your question. Water conditioner is usually just an ammonia blocker. I'm not sure how or why I'd use that to replace RO water.
Bryan Cook RO water is pure water (almost like rain water). That being said people would rather use RO water and add their own additives to the specific amount for their own specific usage. ie: shrimp farmers use RO water and add their own minerals so they know their shrimp is living in an optimized water condition that’s stable and allows breeding
Excellent Job! The movement of water through osmosis has far reaching implication. Thank you
I really wish I watched this video before I set up an ro system, so glad I have before adding the water! very imformative vid. many thanks
Really good, information video! Very good explanation. Crazy about the difference in wells with your neighbor. Great Job!! Thanks for sharing.
Very insightful. Thanks for the detailed explanation and for letting me learn by your experience.
thank you Dan for explaining in Labour language the difference between ro and ro/di. so many videos refer to ro/di but very few explain the difference. keep on doing it. I always refer people to your RUclips channel.
Thanks! I'm glad it was helpful to you!
Excellent video. Well explained! Thank you
best info on the subject i found.. different fish different water...very well explained thank you
Excellent video. You are the water guru. Your content is great to listen to, while I'm doing maintenance. Great brain food.
+Fish Behind Glass Thanks. That's cool that you just keep it playing while you do other stuff. Lol
I always wonder if people sit and look at their phone for 25 minutes. Lol
I'm going to have to start putting intermissions in my videos if they get much longer. Lol
+Dan Hiteshew actually I'll end up watching it twice, once during the day on my phone, but I wear Bluetooth headphones so I can move freely. Later in the evening, I'll play it on my fish room TV through my FireTV connected to the app on my phone. Then I can sit and relax to enjoy again, and review anything I might have missed if I was distracted earlier. I have been guilty of watching your epic vids on the phone. If I wake up early, I can really get caught up vids.
Fish Behind Glass lol. I was actually watching one the other day. I realized I never really look at my fish while I'm filming. It's distracting even when I watch later. My tanks look really good on video though. Lol
I bet they'd look awesome on a big screen. Lol
+Dan Hiteshew They do.
WHAT?! Was this your office tank at one point? This tank looked amazing!
I think that video was from a tank I no longer have.
Oh dear, wish I would have seen this before we got our RO system. Not even sure if it is DI. Why do crazy people buy stuff before researching, sheesh! (oh wait, that was me! lol) We do have extremely hard water, so we do need it, in the end. But it certainly makes more sense now "why" we need it. I REALLY appreciate you, I actually understood everything you said! (where were you when I took Chemistry class:0)~ Excellent info!! Thanks Dan!
+2DebbieDoo You're welcome! You are better off with RO. If you used a softener, you'd end up with way too much sodium ions for fish to live in it.
Mixing RO with your tap water to get it the way you want it is your best bet. (be sure to test your tap water for nitrates, and remember that RO water has a very low pH of 6.4)
Looking for some advice, I’m new to this hobby and I am starting out with a planted 29 gallon tank filled with my tap water.
My ph is high 8’s with a tds of 600.
I’ve bought a 32 gallon bucket and filled it with tap water and added muriatic acid and have brought the ph down to 7-7.2.
I don’t have an ro system and I’m going to try and just mix my treated tap water with distilled water.
I’m going to try and slowly add it to the tank to lower the ph, so 4 gallons tap water and 1 gallon distilled water at a time.
Will this work?
Edit: I’m doing this to lower the ph and the dissolved solids
You'll just have to try some and test it. Then adjust accordingly. I'd start with 25% to 75% and see where you are.
@@DanHiteshew-oneandonly sounds good, thank you for the reply!
Man thanks I thought ro water was the ticket but I better check my tap water and use that instead thanks But I have to buy more testing equipment 😮
Very interesting. 👍
Thanks!
Thanks, as always David!
tds of my RO water is 13, do I still need full amount of water conditioner? my tap water has chloramine but Im not sure if my RO removes the chloramine
RO should remove almost everything. Chloramine may show up as a positive for ammonia. try testing your RO water for ammonia to see if you get a reaction.
TDS for RO normally read around 2,
I didn't know any of this holy cow.
I been using RO/DI water on both my reef tank and my tropical tank. Now my tropical tank I started out with 6 platies and after a month or so I added a glo tetrra. Now I lost two (maybe three) platies but I chopped that up to my tank not being ready when I added them; never thought it might be the water I'm putting in.
Now I have not done any research or eve tested but what are your thoughts on this:
I was wondering if you could take the waste water from a RO/DI system and then pump it back though. Would this still give you good RO/DI water (yes I understand there still be waste water from this as well)? Like I said have not tested or researched it just a thought that popped in my head the other day.
+James King (NJTiger24 Aquariums) Do you mean run it through the RO sytem again? I guess you could, but each time you ran it through, it would be higher and higher in TDS. The system would have to work harder for less output each successive pass. (I'm not even sure how you'd reclaim the water to run back through it anyway)
As far as using the water that was gone to "waste", well that would defeat the purpose of the RO in the first place. Just use the tap water if that's what you're asking.
Platies, like most Live Bearers, prefer harder to softer water. Too much RO will kill them for sure. You'd be better off putting them in your reef tank than in very soft water (yes Mollies and Platies can do full marine water)
Dan Hiteshew. That is what I figure about the system working harder. And yes I meant running the waste water back in. For example have the waster line go into a large container and then use a pump to send it into the RO unit again. Again didn't do any research or testing. Just one day when I was making water I thought about it lol
I did know that platies could do saltwater I seen video of people who have them in their Reef tanks.
***** My system is set up to use my household water pressure to push it through the membrane. My waste water just goes down the drain.
great video dan 👍
+Daniel hallonkvist Thanks!
Hi*\*&&&o.oh
What TDS reader do you use?
I can't remember the brand but it was the one my water system people used. It was a couple of letters, I think started with a "K" maybe. (sorry if that's not very helpful)
Thats some great info Thanks a lot.
I pick up an digital PH meter and it came with a TDS meter.
I tested my tap water
PH is 7.0
TDS meter give me 035 is this good
wow. that's great!
Lol do you live by a magic well ? My tap ph is 7.8 tds 400+
Mine is pH 8.6!! Planted tank
Hi dan,I've come across your channel tonight after trying to research where I'm going wrong,yes I'm having trouble anyway I'm trying to get my planted 240 litre tank up and running since February this year at first everything went fine,then came the algae after that all my plants started to get thin leaves and it's so frustrating I nearly packed it up and give in but I'm determined to get it right,problem is I've watched so many different films and they all say different,so I've decided after watching a couple of your films to just stick to your advice as yours made sense more than others I've watched if I need some pointers would it be okay to message you ?? Thanks very much from Lee in Manchester England.sorry it was so long haha.
+Mad Mac82 Not at all. Lol I've gotten much longer and less flattering comments than yours. Lol
I don't really do FaceBook, but I will if I have to. You can find me on Google Plus and Hang Outs if you have either of those apps installed. And of course you can always comment directly under the video itself.
If your tank has only been up and running since this past Feb., then you really need to dial your expectations back a little. I don't consider a tank "settled in" for at least several months. There are a lot of variable involved, so it may take a while to sort out. Be patient. you'll get there.
Mad mac, I'm getting into plants to and I agree that the information can be quite contradictory and confusing . sticking to one source of information is good idea. thing is in the aquarium hobby much like life what works for one person might not work as well for somebody else,so do keep your mind open and continue doing what works well for you.there are some forums and fb groups that can be helpful when your ready. I find Dan very interesting and confident he is a fine mentor.wish you the best with your new planted tank,
Damion Markham good advice. Never rely on a single source of information.
+Dan Hiteshew hi dan,thanks for the encouragement,I'm just gonna take my time till I can figure everything out and read about everything I can your channel is great and your tanks especially the Angel fish tank are what I'm dreaming off having at some point.thanks again.
+Damion Markham hi Damien thankyou and yeah it is confusing but I'm determined to get it right,I'm gonna do as much research as I can ,I think I was going wrong with the water parameters there for a while but I've ordered the api master kit with gh/kh tests and as Dan said I'm a water keeper not a fish keeper and I didn't really think about that way so yeah I'm going to start over and just make sure my parameters are good as best I can and see if that makes a difference and hopefully start getting some good results,thanks again.
right on Dan,the more I learn the less I know . You didn't touch how it effects ph ,remineralizing or active substrate . I'm not complaining I'm just saying this topic is massive and confuses me.
I did learn something and was refreshed on others.thank you
lol. I can't cover the whole of fish keeping in a single video.
especially since I don't know all of it. lol
Yes Dan I know. I'm just sharing with you my confusion . I'm slowly learning and find it interesting . Thanks for all your research and sharing your experience .I do appreciate it
+Damion Markham no problem. glad to help.
I am in Central-South Florida: what do you recommend (freshwater) I use for a new community tank? I have raw well water (approx. 275 per mil dissolved solids), water softened water, and R.O water.
That's a pretty broad question. there are hundreds of fish, and I have no idea what you like or even how big your tank is.
Angelfish are good under the right circumstances. So are gourami.
There's loads of schooling fish available too.
No doubt. Mainly going to start out with rainbows, gourami's, and cleanup crew fish. I may mix all three water types and see what I get. I will not add any fish until the water is stabilized, and where it needs to be for happy fish. Thanks, Dan!
That Madagascan rainbow fish sure doesn't like some of those smaller fish lol
Yeah, he was a dick. Lol
you get pure water with zero TDS when you add a di resin filter after the ro membrane and you can get water saver ro membranes that have a 1:1 ratio if your really that worried about how much water your using.
Way over my head for implementation but I got the idea.
I thinking in RO/DI my tab water started at Ammonia .25 ppm and started Nitrate 5.00 ppm.
Very nice !
+xxxmirekxxx1 Thanks.
You're welcome, Sir !
Thanks for the video Dan.
So I have been ready to pull the trigger on a 4 stage RODI unit from Bulk Reef Supply. My tap is 8.3ph but my TDS is very low (under 30). For whatever reason I have not had luck with SeaChem Neutral Regulator lowering my PH at all (even though my GH and KH seem to be quite low). I have planted tanks and just recently started shrimp tanks. Most people seem to say the best solution is to get an RODI unit and re-mineralize it (I am looking at Continuum's Reconstitute RO: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01C5LJMKU/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER) ).
After watching your video, I was left scratching my head because it seems that you are suggesting to go with a RO unit without the DI. Yet when I look at companies like Bulk Reef Supply - it seems that the RODI is the standard type of solution for tanks. They do have a RO only unit but that seemed to be more for drinking water.
Can you shed any light on why RODI seems to be the standard if you truly believe the DI is not a good thing... ? Thank you
I only use it for brackish water, so I have endless room for variances. If you are dealing with corals, you to know exactly what's going in the water.
RO is fine for my purposes. I have 11 ppm in my ro water (down from 350 ish). I'm not worried at all about those few ppm. If I needed to remove them, then I'd get the "DI" (de-ionizer) to remove those last few ions. RO gives you a 90 to 97 % reduction in TDS, so your starting water is key. You have 30 ppm, so at the most, an RO unit would leave about 3 pmm. Is it worth paying the extra money to remove the last 3 ions?
I'm baffled by your pH. I'd assume at low KH and gH, with such a low ppm, you'd have a pH of about 6.5.
Dan Hiteshew I need to have around 200-300ppm TDS anyway for shrimp. The purpose of RO/DI for me is to get the PH down and remove any undesirable impurities that could be harmful.
It is a mystery to me how my tap ph is 8.3 but my GH and KH tests are so low.
Are you a member of the high tech planted tanks Facebook group ? I have a recent post in there about this very issue with pics of my test results and what not. Posted it late Thursday
I don't do High-Tech tanks or FB, so that's a definite no. Lol
I was toying with setting up an RO system a while back but decided not to do it .... I'm glad that I didn't now because I would have killed al my fish I honestly thought st some point that RO water would have been the best water to use in your tank with it being pure water but I know different now that's for sure and thanks to you .... And there's the water test hint again I'm on it in fact I'm going to go and order it right this second 😂😂
i fell asleep you making some think so hard thats so easy to use and work out for a planted tank and work out your tds
so why use RO water at all and just simple use water conditioner instead ?
I'm not sure I understand your question. Water conditioner is usually just an ammonia blocker. I'm not sure how or why I'd use that to replace RO water.
@@DanHiteshew-oneandonly water conditioner is aother for of simple tapsafe so you can use your tap water
@@bryancook3195 I have treated well water. I don't need to condition it. I use RO water for making my brackish water and topping off tanks.
Bryan Cook RO water is pure water (almost like rain water). That being said people would rather use RO water and add their own additives to the specific amount for their own specific usage. ie: shrimp farmers use RO water and add their own minerals so they know their shrimp is living in an optimized water condition that’s stable and allows breeding