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View Full Version : How's the water out here (Surrey)?


Doormatt
10-16-2005, 06:34 PM
Hey all you locals :)

I'll be starting up my 37G reef soon, and wondering if RO/DI is totally necessary. They're not exactly cheap, but at the same time I don't want to ruin my chances for success, just because I skimped on one thing. I'm in surrey (Scott and 80th area), and just wondering if other surrey reefers use RO/DI.

Thanks!

props
10-16-2005, 10:44 PM
the water pressure where i'm at is terrible and so is the water quality.. i think its due to the fact that city's always working in my area especially with that new gas station going up on 80th and king george.i change the filters every three months =o( ..water filtration is a must in this hobby its one of those things you have to have.. check out ebay and search for aquasafe ..

Ruth
10-16-2005, 11:18 PM
By the time you buy live rock, livestock, corals, skimmer etc. the RODI will be peanuts. I would not take a chance on investing all that money in a tank to have it become infested in algea/

hockey nut
10-17-2005, 05:06 AM
I live in Surrey and you couldn't pay me to drink the water out of the tap. LOL. So RO/DI it is. When I first started SW I had too buy my water. That ended up costing more than buy the RO system. Not to mention more work.

Ruth hit it right on the head. Why not go that extra mile when you have already gone so many. Confusious

HTH

Ruth
10-17-2005, 05:12 AM
Well I am still buying all my RODI water and believe me it's a workout to pack all that water. I am out of town on well water with high TDS - like around 1600ppm. I am going to be getting a RO unit but it is going to cost me like $3K so for the next little while I'll be packin'
Honestly go with the RODI unit. You'll be thankful in the end.

sumpfinfishe
10-17-2005, 06:05 AM
Doormatt:

I would buy an RO/DI for any city in the world, there's far too much chloramine and not to mention other metals and minerals in tap water.

The savings outgrow the cost for the system in no time, especially when you use the RO for drinking too-it's not all about the fish-we need clean water too :mrgreen:

Mike Olson
10-17-2005, 06:15 AM
If your'e looking to buy water to get started up or until you get an RO unit...theres a place on King George and around 60th ave(behind the Mohawk and Petro station) that you can drive up and fill 5 gal buckets for 2 bucks...I have an rodi unit but if I need volume I just go there and fill up. I tested the water with salifert kit and it passed :smile:

Doormatt
10-17-2005, 06:18 AM
Thanks everyone for your advice!

I never planned to do without, unless I had overwheming response saying "Pfft, none of us use RO/DI!". After finding out about Aqua-Safe, the price of a RO/DI unit just got thrown into the budget :)

Thanks again!

Johnny Reefer
10-17-2005, 12:33 PM
I am going to be getting a RO unit but it is going to cost me like $3K .....

Yikes! :eek:
$3K for an RO unit? :eek:
Why so much :question:

Cheers,

Doormatt
10-17-2005, 01:12 PM
You know, I was wondering the same thing! If an aqua safe 100GPD unit is ~$140 plus shipping...

Unless Ruth needs a larger unit, or something to that effect.

Invigor
10-17-2005, 01:51 PM
i just bought an aquasafe ro/di (roadie) unit, and I'm very satisfied. it was more than 50% cheaper than buying one locally...I saw one at rona almost identical, for $439 :eek:

Ruth
10-17-2005, 01:52 PM
I do need a larger unit plus I have to install a water softener first. You guys are lucky that way in that you can install one of these aquasafe units. I wish - oh well it will be for the whole house so I guess worth it. Plus with my new tank it will be too much to pack all that water.

tinpusher
10-21-2005, 05:23 AM
Not another thing to buy. This saltwater tank is getting expensive. Is my good ole Surrey water unaceptable for reefs or fish or both? What is in the water that my chlorine/chloramine remover won't take care of? OK OK its off to Blaine I go. Aquasafe 100GPD $110 USD, I quess that is a small drop in the bucket (pardon the pun).

Doormatt
10-21-2005, 06:18 AM
It's not the chlorine/chloramine that you're worried about (well, you are...), it's the phosphates, and random crap in the water (TDS). The rule of thumb (that I now know) is basically ALWAYS use RO/DI water for a tank. You're gambling too much if you just use tap water.

tinpusher
10-21-2005, 12:54 PM
Is the Aquasafe 100GPD available in Blaine (Ebay)easy to install or does it require a plumber? Does it attach to your tap or under the sink? Can you turn the DI feature off and use the RO water for drinking then turn it back on for tank water?

Thanks for your help

sumpfinfishe
10-21-2005, 07:04 PM
>you should be able to order the unit from Blaine without any problems

>yes it is very easy to install, so no plumber needed

>it can attach directly to your cold water line and with the drinking water kit you get a holding tank for water ontap, or you can simply mount it under the sink and fill a 5gl jug for drinking water like many others do. the kit will come with a tapping tool so you have a direct feed via a pressure fitting.

>you can pickup a tee fitting at Home Depot for about $1.50 which allows one to change between RO & DI. I have a tee fitting with a on/off valve on both RO & DI, so I just open whichever valve if I need RO or DI

tinpusher
10-21-2005, 07:42 PM
Thanks sumpfinfishe. Reading the other posts I found a dealer in West Vancouver. The pictures and descriptions are idendical with the Ebay ads out of Blaine. I would assume they are one and the same person and that Blaine is only used for shipping.

christyf5
10-21-2005, 07:56 PM
Thanks sumpfinfishe. Reading the other posts I found a dealer in West Vancouver. The pictures and descriptions are idendical with the Ebay ads out of Blaine. I would assume they are one and the same person and that Blaine is only used for shipping.

Yes I think he changed it so that people from the US would buy more.

WWWD
10-21-2005, 08:30 PM
he won't let you pickup, many have tried you have to have it shipped ups.

tinpusher
10-27-2005, 07:18 AM
It came today and I want to run my hook up plan by someone who knows about the aqua safe filter. I want to hook it up so I can output either non-DI drinking water or DI aquarium water.

Out of the ASV I am going to install 2 Tees which will give me 3 hoses. One to the pressure tank, one to the DI and one to the carbon filter. The output of the DI will have a on/off valve and be used for the fish. The output from the carbon filter will also have an on/off valve and is for drinking water.

This setup should work if my 2 presumptions are correct.
1. Neither the DI or the carbon filter will reduce the pressure out of the tank.
2. The carbon filter is only needed for taste and has no benefit to the aquarium water.

If there is a better setup please let me know.

Thanks