Need Prime when running RO/DI
 

Hi everyone,

I am filling my new tank with RO/DI water (over the next week.....) and was wondering if I need to use something like Prime to de chlorinate. I have used Prime for years on my fw tanks and had not added it so far to the RO/DI water I am putting into the SW tank. It is supposed to remove ammonia, chlorine, and chloramine. Ammonia will be handled by the cycling process but are the other two removed by RO/DI?

thanks,

Palmer

No prime required. :wink:

RO/DI removes everything from water - repeat: EVERYTHING.

Thanks (one less thing to buy more of) I have never read anything about using it in reef tanks but it just dawned on me I hadn't been adding it and old habits are hard to lose!

Palmer

Except the wetness.. :lol:

The chlorine and chloramine and many other chemicals are taken care of by the carbon cartridge before the RO membrane - chlorine can severly damage a RO membrane for example, so the initial carbon filtration helps with that. Metallic ions, etc are usually taken out by the membrane and by the DI resin after the RO membrane, hence you don't need Prime.

Huh!

Silly Leah, You can't remove the Wetness of water. :D

when you have a RO/DI unit the DI will remove the remaining Total disolved solids that are after the membrane. This will result in 0 TDS. These units make the purest water available.

If the RO unit is being properly maintenanced, then the the water coming from it will be fine. I don't have my own unit yet, so I buy top off water from those machines in the grocery store. That water I add prime to, because who knows how good those machines are taken care of. Considering how cheap a dose of prime is, why risk it?