# Converting from tap to RO procedure



## •Cai• (7 Feb 2016)

Hi all, I'm currently waiting on a RO unit being delivered ready to convert across to RO water from my tap.
Question is this:
How would I go about changing the water from tap to RO?
Is it gone over a flow gradual period for fish and shrimps sake or can I just drip acclimate them in like I did when I purchased? 
How will my plants react to this quick change if any?

I'm just needing some advice on the way to do it not why I'm changing as I'm sure this is how I'd like to go from now.
I'd like to know exactly everything about my water rather than solely trusting water board and all the Rubbish that's in my tap. 
There's basically a lot a lot of in needed gear within it.
I intend to reminerilise water with salty shrimp. Tank is high tech with co2 and high light. Tank is 60ltrs


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## Andrew Butler (7 Feb 2016)

Not the answer you're after I'm afraid and don't want to take your thread off course but can I ask for a little more info behind using RO/DI in a freshwater aquarium - I live in Thames water and know it's full of rubbish. When I had marines DI resin didn't last long before TDS went up from 0 and that was with a high end unit and media!
PM me if that helps keep this on course
Cheers
Andy


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## •Cai• (7 Feb 2016)

@Andrew Butler i basically want to be in control of how I set my water parameters before I add my fertilisers etc. It leaves me to only attack further problems on the basis of knowing it definately isn't certain elements being in tap water without me needing to worry. I'd like to keep a more sensitive type of invert too if possible.
My tap water is very hard. 25dgh and I also have very high levels of magnesium and calcium which I was told was unusual and could effect certain micro fertilisers reaching plants. Iron for example.
I basically just want to be more in control of my own water, set at what I want it to be. I intend to make my RO unit portable like the osmotics video that's on this forum. Il only need 50ltrs of it a week so I don't consider water costs too much of a worry. As for renewing di resins etc I have no problem with that and have bought a inline tds meter to keep eye on that.


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## Andrew Butler (7 Feb 2016)

I hope getting rid of my RO production/storage wasn't a mistake! I've very hard water too and when I first had a look into using the system with freshwater everything seemed to point to removing a lot of what's needed, I dont understand the chemistry for freshwater so have you any pointers for reading? What products are out there for remineralising the RO/DI water?
Andy


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## •Cai• (7 Feb 2016)

There are a lot of folk that stand by using tap water due to having many needed elements plants need to grow and thrive. You can use tap safely and successfully. I myself have done ok with it and plants have grown well but I just want a little extra control over things. It's just my way. 
Certain inverts need a certain water parameter to really thrive and reproduce. 
As many people will tell you if you want a high tech tank, you will need good levels of co2 and good flow. Lights and ferts cone after imo. 
There are plenty of threads to go through. I did the same myself. If you have a question, simply open a thread and ask. You will be advised well in my opinion. I ask many simple questions and get great in depth responses myself. 
As for reminerilising I have just bought some salty shrimp which adds kh and gh to my water which you need. RO water is very unstable with out something to buffer it. Co2 will lower ph and can cause water levels to crash causing all sorts of problems. 
Advise I can give is literally spend the time reading the articles on set ups, read others journals and threads. Ask any question you feel your cloudy on and plan plan plan. Even then you will make mistakes and wonder stay you did wrong. Good luck with it all too


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## EnderUK (8 Feb 2016)

Generally in a planet tank hard water isn't an issue. I add both Magnisium and Calcium (3 tsp a week of each) into my tank as I have pretty soft water.Generally most fish will adapt easily to hard water but may have problems breeding. Depending if you have Caridina or Neocaridina might be a problem with hard water. You might want to look for another source of iron with a different cleator. Darrel is your man to explain this. If you want to use the RO-unit I would probably just cut your water with it so you have a 50-50 mix with  tap. Just change it at the next water change as normal over an hour or two.


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## alto (8 Feb 2016)

•Cai• said:


> How would I go about changing the water from tap to RO?


For ease, I'm going to assume a water volume of 50 litre (assuming tank total capacity of 60l)

At present, tank is tap water with ~25GH
so if you were to do ~10% daily water changes
Day 1 remove 5l tank water & replace with RO, so 25GH x 45l/50l ~ 22.5GH
Day 2 same 5l change, so 22.5GH x 45/50 ~ 20.25 GH
Day 3 ~18.2 GH
Day 4 ~16.4 GH
Day 5 ~14.8GH
& so on, each time you are just removing 5litre tank water & replacing with 5litre RO
Day 7 ~ 12GH so easy to perform a 50% water change, refilling with a 50:50 mix of tap & RO ... or a 40:60 mix of tap & RO
At this point you can move to 20% water changes, replacing 10litre tank water with 10litre RO
At this rate, after 3 more small water changes, tank will be ~ 5GH
If this is a reasonable "target", you can now just carry on with usual water change schedule, but now refilling with your SS remineralized RO (rather than straight RO)

There are various ways to accomplish this transition from tap to (RO + SS) - in the given example, GH changes ~2 degrees with every water change, this method takes more time/effort but allows flora & fauna a gradual transition.


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## •Cai• (8 Feb 2016)

Thank you @alto exactly what im looking for.


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## ian_m (8 Feb 2016)

•Cai• said:


> 25dgh and I also have very high levels of magnesium and calcium which I was told


If in UK I doubt you will have magnesium in your water, please check.


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## rebel (8 Feb 2016)

alto said:


> For ease, I'm going to assume a water volume of 50 litre (assuming tank total capacity of 60l)
> 
> At present, tank is tap water with ~25GH
> so if you were to do ~10% daily water changes
> ...


This is a great way of slowly does it.


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## •Cai• (8 Feb 2016)

@ian_m water report says 53mgl/mg
                                          115mgl/Ca

I was just going off darrels observations on a previous thread : 
"Your water is really hard (25 dGH), and you also have both magnesium and calcium hardness, which is unusual for most of the UK (<"Magnesian limestone aquifer">)"


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## •Cai• (8 Feb 2016)

Unit installed. Simple enough using this video:


I have installed this outside. However, I may need to move it closer to main as pressure is only showing about 35-40psi at moment. I'm needing 60. Didn't think I'd need a booster. 
The inline tds meter is showing my mains water is around 570/565 which is a shock to me. 
Nice to see a 0tds going into my bucket.


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## ian_m (8 Feb 2016)

•Cai• said:


> I have installed this outside.


How are you protecting it from frost ? My mate who used to keep marines, kept his RO unit outside a cupboard and stored the RO in an outside water butt. He had real problems, in the winter with pipes freezing, despite placing a 50W heater (on a timer) in the water butt and insulating the pipes.

Eventually he moved the RO unit to under the plinths of his kitchen units, put a 50W heater in outside water storage butt and routed all the pipes (RO and waste) inside the house and didn't suffer freezing pipes again.


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## •Cai• (8 Feb 2016)

I've made it portable so I can disconnect without worry of overflowing. I just connect it up to a tap connector from outside tap. I've x2 25ltr jerry cans I will fill and store in kitchen cupboard. I'm lucky in that respect as its only 50litres of water within 60ltr tank. 
Looks like I'm going to need a booster pump if im to carry on using it outside like. It flies out on my garden hose though.


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## •Cai• (8 Feb 2016)

Question: should my RO water ph go up from tap water for any reason? My tap is generally 7.5/7.4 and I'm getting 8.5 with ro. Tds is showing zero however. Confused. Have I connected it up wrong or are there other factors? 
Cheers


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## darren636 (8 Feb 2016)

Ro is so soft that anything can effect its pH.
 I bet your tap water is over 8, if you leave it to stand over night.


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## alto (8 Feb 2016)

This is where the difficulties in measuring pH in RO comes into effect
- simplest answer: ignore it 

TDS is a "better" measure of RO water quality
As you mix tap water or SS into your RO water, you should see expected pH values


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## •Cai• (8 Feb 2016)

I used my ph pen to test this which was calibrated with buffer 7.0 solution and got 8.5. 
I then recalibrated pen with buffer 4.0 on surmise that the water would be more acidic after going through RO/DI filters. got a reading of 6.1ph


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## ian_m (8 Feb 2016)

My 2p worth is that it is ammonia from chloramine in your RO water. You should really add dechlorinator to your RO water (or test for ammonia) as RO units will break down chloramine into ammonia that passes straight through and chlorine which will destroy the membrane.

You need to ensure you have a suitable Chlor+ prefilter and passing water through slow enough to remove chloramine as well as DI final resin and dechlorinator.


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## •Cai• (8 Feb 2016)

If I ignore the ph, what's the trick for getting decent co2 within tank? I have a feeling this is one of those questions this is going to receive a really simple answer that makes me think. "O yeah" lol


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## darren636 (8 Feb 2016)

You need to remineralise the ro with something. What ever you use will move the pH .


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## alto (8 Feb 2016)

•Cai• said:


> If I ignore the ph,


You're not intending to run tank on pure RO - the SS should give you target pH information


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## •Cai• (8 Feb 2016)

Yep definately one of those  days. It's been a long day.  I knew that damn.


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## darren636 (8 Feb 2016)

•Cai• said:


> Yep definately one of those  days. It's been a long day.  I knew that damn.




Haha!

Have a nice cup of tea, put your feet up


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## Greenfinger2 (8 Feb 2016)

Hi Cai, Too remineralise your RO Seachem Equilibrium remineralise restores & maintains mineral balance & GH -- Alkaline buffer rases ph increases Alikalinity KH

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Equilibrium.html

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/AlkalineBuffer.html


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## •Cai• (8 Feb 2016)

Cheers for all the replies, advice and info everyone. Much appreciated. Changed my first 5ltrs not long ago.


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## •Cai• (8 Feb 2016)

I've got some saltyshrimp Roy which raises my gh/kh in the one mix.


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## •Cai• (11 Feb 2016)

Following altos recommended way to change water over:

, I'm going to assume a water volume of 50 litre (assuming tank total capacity of 60l)

At present, tank is tap water with ~25GH
so if you were to do ~10% daily water changes
Day 1 remove 5l tank water & replace with RO, so 25GH x 45l/50l ~ 22.5GH
Day 2 same 5l change, so 22.5GH x 45/50 ~ 20.25 GH
Day 3 ~18.2 GH
Day 4 ~16.4 GH
Day 5 ~14.8GH
& so on, each time you are just removing 5litre tank water & replacing with 5litre RO
Day 7 ~ 12GH so easy to perform a 50% water change, refilling with a 50:50 mix of tap & RO ... or a 40:60 mix of tap & RO
At this point you can move to 20% water changes, replacing 10litre tank water with 10litre RO
At this rate, after 3 more small water changes, tank will be ~ 5GH
If this is a reasonable "target", you can now just carry on with usual water change schedule, but now refilling with your SS remineralized RO (rather than straight RO)

Everything going well I believe. As he projected my water is following nicely down wit gh/kh
I'm getting on day 4:
KH- 6 
GH-16
 That's a drop of approx 2units with gh and my kh has halved.


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## Greenfinger2 (11 Feb 2016)

Hi Cai, Good to hear all going well


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## •Cai• (11 Feb 2016)

I'm definately going to need a booster pump I fear Roy. Taking forever from my outside tap at minute.


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## Andy D (11 Feb 2016)

My main pressure is not great either. I produce 25 litres in about 6 hours on a warm day and anything up to 10 on a really cold day. 

(My RO unit is inside)


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## Greenfinger2 (11 Feb 2016)

Hi Quick, Q Does the RO unit have to be attached to the water supply all the time ???? Only I have read somewhere that they should be.Or it can damage the membranes and become less effective at filtering.


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## •Cai• (11 Feb 2016)

Mine is rigged up to be portable, I just followed the guys direction on his vid I posted. You need to flush the system for 5mins a day to keep from clogging etc. That's all I've been doing up to now.


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## Greenfinger2 (11 Feb 2016)

Hi Cai, Ok thanks only thinking about getting a system later on Undecided at the moment. London tap water is very hard And I would I like to grow some soft water. plants.


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## •Cai• (11 Feb 2016)

I like the idea of it being portable as I only need it once a week. I don't suppose it matters though as you don't need it on 24-7 unless you want it like that. Best finding out what your water pressure is too first as like me you may need a booster pump which are around 100quid I believe. Especially with all your tanks mate lol


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## Andrew Butler (11 Feb 2016)

Have a look into the vertex ro/di units, you're not just paying for the brand. It's all in one, meaning booster pump, in line tds, auto shut off so you can connect it to a tank with a float valve and just leave it on
Also very good if you're on a water meter and need to have one as the waste produce ratio is very good.


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## mort (23 Feb 2016)

Greenfinger2 said:


> Hi Quick, Q Does the RO unit have to be attached to the water supply all the time ???? Only I have read somewhere that they should be.Or it can damage the membranes and become less effective at filtering.



If your worried about your membrane drying out when not connected or running, you can add a shut off valve before and after it. I do this and that way you can disconnect and move the unit whenever you need to and have no worries about it.


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## Greenfinger2 (23 Feb 2016)

mort said:


> If your worried about your membrane drying out when not connected or running, you can add a shut off valve before and after it. I do this and that way you can disconnect and move the unit whenever you need to and have no worries about it.




Hi Mort,Fantastic idea Thank you. Simple Solution to the problem


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