# RO/DI question



## wannalearn (Jan 22, 2011)

probibly a stupid question, but here goes. alot of what i read(especially on here)says to use ro/di watter.. my question is why, does the water treatment(to remove chlorine and heavy metals) not do the job. or how about letting your water set out for a day or 2 first. does that not reallly work. i come from the freshwater world, and that is how we done it. please explain the diffrence... thanks


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## onefish2fish (Jul 22, 2008)

you want the RO/DI to remove as much, if not everything from your water to make it as pure as possible. you dont want to introduce phosphates, nitrates, and a whole list of things that would be in your tap water. After getting your RO/DI water and your TDS ( total disolved solids ) reading is 0, or as close to it as you can obtain, 0 being the best, you add your selected salt mix which will return any WANTED minerals to your water to get them at proper levels to mimic sea water.

tap water conditioners will only remove chloromines, chlorines, ammonia but not everything else in your water. having nitrates and phosphates pumped into your water by using tap water will almost guarentee you an algae problem, this is why its best avoided from the start.


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

Reverse osmosis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## wannalearn (Jan 22, 2011)

thanks for your replies, dont get me wrong i completley understand what ro/di is and does. i just didnt know that water conditioners, didnt remove the nitrates and phosphates. so i will start looking into the ro/di. man i had no idea wht a sw tank was so expensive..lol...but what ever is best i wanna do... i guess that is what research if for.. lol.. do you have any recomendations for a good unit that wond break the bank.. or should i just plan on spending a good hunk of money


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## onefish2fish (Jul 22, 2008)

i personally use air water ice.


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

wannalearn said:


> thanks for your replies, dont get me wrong i completley understand what ro/di is and does. i just didnt know that water conditioners, didnt remove the nitrates and phosphates. so i will start looking into the ro/di. man i had no idea wht a sw tank was so expensive..lol...but what ever is best i wanna do... i guess that is what research if for.. lol.. do you have any recomendations for a good unit that wond break the bank.. or should i just plan on spending a good hunk of money


 I got mine off E-bay and have not had any issues.
REVERSE OSMOSIS WATER SYSTEMS, DRINKING RO WATER COMPONENTS items in PREMIER WATER SYSTEMS store on eBay!


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## wannalearn (Jan 22, 2011)

thanks so much for your help, another question, i see alot of units that are just RO. are they fine. or does a person really need RO/DI. just wondering how much benefit the DI part of the unit is.


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

wannalearn said:


> thanks so much for your help, another question, i see alot of units that are just RO. are they fine. or does a person really need RO/DI. just wondering how much benefit the DI part of the unit is.


 Well, the DI is the part that brings your TDS to 0, without it the RO membrane does not get it there. RO=98% pure, with DI= 99.9%


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## wannalearn (Jan 22, 2011)

allright then. ro/di it is.. thanks


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