Well Water

[slo1]

I am begining to move towards a reef tank. (I have a few damsels and a hawkfish now). I have been cleaning up the water, I added a protein skimmer, then added a couple snails to see if they could help with alge.

Snails lasted just a few days. Despite repeated water changes I could not get the nitrates to drop. I had my well tested (I live in farm land), and it came back kinda hot. High in Nitrates, sulfate, ect. I was considering a Culigan RO water system, for our drinking water and the fish tank. Do you think that type of filteration should be good enough for reef water?

Thanks,

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Any RO is better than no RO but you typically get what you pay for (plus added cost for advertised names) The Filter Guys offer pretty good values

 

[Sascha D]

Well water is usually really bad for reef tanks from what I've seen. I really dont think you can do it without a unit. I agree with fishyfishy, you get what you pay for and make sure to check how much it produces on average before you buy.

 

[Scooterman]

For most reefers the safest way to go is a complete RO/DI unit, no two ways around it, this is one thing going cheap will cost you more in the long run. Many unknowns with city or well water for that matter, just because we're keeping conditions unlike the sea where water is constantly replaced & diluted by such a vast water source.

 

[DonW]

With a well I'd call the filter guys with your recent test results. They will tell you what you need without selling you something you dont.

Don

 

[krisfal]

With a well I'd call the filter guys with your recent test results. They will tell you what you need without selling you something you dont.

Don

I agree, I am on a well and I worked with the filter guys to buy my RO/DI. They did not try to sell me more than I needed, in fact I ended up buying a more expensive set-up than they had recommended only because I wanted the TDS meter. They are great to work with!

 

[slimy fish]

I am also on well water. Here are a couple of issues I have found at least with my water. Make sure to have a at least 2 DI resin chambers. The first is to capture the excess CO2 that is usually present in well water. This first chamber will help the second chamber last longer. CO2 does not get blocked by the RO filter and depletes DI resin very fast, I mean very fast. When its time to replace the first chamber just put second chamber in its place and refill the first chamber with new resin and put it where the second chamber was, hopefully that makes sense. If you have silicates in your well water like I do, make sure to get a strong basic resin to bind the slicates. For this you will need a 3rd chamber of DI resin of the strong basic type. This chamber will need to be placed between the two normal resin chambers as it is also very sensitive to CO2 and needs a follow up chamber of normal resin to remove the hydroxide ions it produces. Hope this helps! Any reputable filter company should be able to help you get a good RO filter unit that takes into account what you are trying to filter out. Make sure to test for silicates, they are usually high enough in well water to be a problem for your reef tank.