FishProfiles.com Message Forums

A little thing to know about reverse osmosis:

The purifying results of the water are great...but!

The ratio of waste water to usable water is about 5/6 gallons to 1 gallon, the latter being the purified part. So I think what you're seeing is perfectly normal. BTW, those ratios could be off, I dont remember the exact numbers, but it's something along those lines.

The membranes in mine need to be replaced between 6 months and 1 year. Keep on top of that. Keep notes so you know when to replace.

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

i have t come to the only one conclusion that New York City's drinking water isnt as poor as it is said to be! gonna get the tank and stand today then im gonna start to add the water and sand.

double check your plumbing on it

oh, and your waste water will have a higher PH than the ro water.....thats a sign that its working

OMG i left the water on just enough so that the water would come out of the unit and the WASTE water is still LESS than GOOD water. Is there anyhting that i can measure to see if the unit is working properly? i only have a high pH test kit and yesterday the waste water's pH was higher than that of the r/o. i only have a high range test kit. i will have to dig up my old stuff.. any other way to check?

i just left the water on yesterday to the point where it had sufficent flow into the system. and i recieved those results. but as i said it slowed down after it did its maiden 10 gallon run.

you want the PSI kinda high, about 60-70 psi.....just not too high

the water going into the unit is very cold. it is connected to the garden hose.i went ut and noticed that the outputs were nearly the same and that the GOOD water was coming out slower. i cant take pictures of the unit for the fact i dont have a digi cam. also i had the water at a higher rate than that of what i had before... i guess when i am going to do this i will run the water very slowly. now that the water pressure comes into play i n0ow see that it may have been a factor to this high water production. i just dont think very well when im worried about things.:%)

Dafridge.....can you take a picture of your ro unit and how you have it hooked up?

Also have you measured your output of good water to waste water to see what the ratio is?

Ferret, the filter direct ro/di units are good units....when you go to replace the membrane in a couple years I would replace it with a specrapure membrane though...they tend to be a little better.

I like the fact that that one has the refillable di cart. instead of having to buy the whole thing you can just buy the mixed DI beads. I have that on mine too after some DIY work.

Hes saying that his GOOD water is producing more than his WASTE water though..that shouldnt be happening. A good ro unit will produce 3-4g of waste water to 1 gallon of good water.

Ohh! Wait, so he's in reverse? How on earth is that possible?


I hope you are not planning on replacing the membrane that often....filter cart. are another story though. Depending on where you are and how much you use your ro unit will determine when the filters (pre filter, carbon, DI) will need to be changed. I would recommend a minimum of ever 6 months for the carbon filter atleast. The carbon filter is what will remove the chlorine and other harmful chemicals from the water and save your ro membrane from being destroyed. Its for this reason that I usually change my carbon membrane and prefilter every 3 months. Its a lot cheaper than spending $100 on a new ro membrane.

Yes, my mistake, I think I mean cartridges not membranes. It's late and I'm tired. I'm gettting:

[link=this one...]http://cgi.ebay.com/USA-110GPD-RO-DI-REVERSE-OSMOSIS-water-filter-system_W0QQitemZ7705365599QQcategoryZ20756QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting" style="COLOR: #3c4e82[/link]


-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

Hes saying that his GOOD water is producing more than his WASTE water though..that shouldnt be happening. A good ro unit will produce 3-4g of waste water to 1 gallon of good water.

The membranes in mine need to be replaced between 6 months and 1 year. Keep on top of that. Keep notes so you know when to replace.

I hope you are not planning on replacing the membrane that often....filter cart. are another story though. Depending on where you are and how much you use your ro unit will determine when the filters (pre filter, carbon, DI) will need to be changed. I would recommend a minimum of ever 6 months for the carbon filter atleast. The carbon filter is what will remove the chlorine and other harmful chemicals from the water and save your ro membrane from being destroyed. Its for this reason that I usually change my carbon membrane and prefilter every 3 months. Its a lot cheaper than spending $100 on a new ro membrane.

What is the temp of the water going into the ro unit, and how many PSI are going into it? If you are running a high PSI going into the unit then it will push more water and result in more good water even though the water isnt good. Water temp also will increase the production of good water, but your ratio is still too high. You do have it hooked to the cold water line correct?

hey all. i have been quite busy ordering things for my new FO setup but now its time to think of what to add to this tank. my tank is 55 gallons. here is my stocking list, those fishes that have a ? next to them are ones that i would like you guys imput on and if they are applicable to my tank. also please let me know if the list appears overstocked and any good suggestions as to how i can make it a peoperly stocked tank. i will be adding live rock later on.... within the next month or 2.
any way heres the list:
2 Brittle Starfish
5 yellow tail damsel fish
5 clown fish (3 yellow, 2 orange)
5 turbo snails
2 hermit crabs?
1 picasso trigger fish (same as painted)?
1 royal dottyback
1 yellow tang?

i am open to any suggestions for fish that i could put into this tank. also i see that some fishes are reef safe and others are not. what goes into the tank that makes it reef or not? please lmk which ones of the questionable fish i can put into my tank.

Watchman gobies. also since you know alot IMO ferret can you help me with my r/o unit? the blue is supposed to be for r/o water but it is giving out excessive amounts of water. alot more than waste. could something be worng wiht my unit i have checked the membrane a few times. i just started it for the firts time could this be why? it has done about 5-6 gallns in the last half hour. could it just be my water. ohh yea my "waste" waters Ph was higher than that of the r/o water they were both 7.8 ish. i also checked the hoses to make sure they were connected correctly. it is a coralife 50 GPD unit.

Dont forget that saltwater cannot hold as much oxygen as freshwater can, therefore lowering the stocking ratios greatly.

Which gobies were you looking into?

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

can i get some gobies? are there any other fish that i can get?

2 Brittle Starfish
5 yellow tail damsel fish
5 clown fish (3 yellow, 2 orange)
5 turbo snails
2 hermit crabs?
1 picasso trigger fish (same as painted)?
1 royal dottyback
1 yellow tang?

The Picasso trigger will get WAY too big for a 55 gallon tank.

As was mentioned, stick to a pair of clowns so you wont have any aggression...I would also think twice about the 5 damsels, even though the yellow tail damsels are probably the most peaceful....they still tend to be aggressive especially towards other members of the damselfish family (clownfish).

Almost forgot....two brittles in that size of a tank will not do too well because of lack of food. If you fed the tank as much food as both of them would need, you would most likely have severe water quality issues.

Last edited by DarkRealm Overlord at 15-Aug-2005 23:24

Multiple pairs of clownfish will often display aggression.

Yellow tangs get too big for a 55, I'd give 'em at least a 75 gallon tank.

Triggers can get pretty large and nasty, but since this is a FO tank I dont really see a huge problem with it. Dunno the exact size they get to offhand, I'd look into that though.

It's sort of late so that's just what jumped out at me...I think I might have some other ideas when I'm a little more awake though.

Hope I helped a bit.


-Ferret

EDIT: Oh yeah, do me a favor and stay away from the more common damselfish? They just create more problems later on, so do yourself a favor and dont get them in the first place, it'll spare yourself the issues and the money.

Last edited by Ferretfish at 15-Aug-2005 22:58

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

out of noobiness may i ask why i cant keep more than one pair of clowns?

id would go with
2 brittle star fish
2 yellow tail damsel(theyll be a pain if you want to take them out, and they arent that aggressive either)
2 clownfish either 2 orange or 2 yellow no more then 1 pair
10-30 turbo snails
10-30 hermit crabs
1 royal dottyback




rabbit.

I'd get the live rock, then cycle your tank first.

About the list: too small for a tang, a trigger would eat all of your inverts.


Kim