plaamoo said:
This would be very hard to do. I would have to dig down to the pipe and tap into the line I believe. An RO/DI system I think would be much simpler and easier to do.
Copper Poisoning
- Thread starter ShortyKiloGyrl
- Start date
This would be very hard to do. I would have to dig down to the pipe and tap into the line I believe. An RO/DI system I think would be much simpler and easier to do.
We have a single story home and a I have never been under the house to tell. As well we have a 10" thick concrete driveway...
hose91
Member
Sorry to hear about all the troubles!
Somewhere between your house and the street there is a water main shutoff valve, and occasionally it will have a tap off it or somewhere nearby. This would be useful if you wanted to test the hypothesis that the heavy metals are coming from your pipes and not your supplier. There are companies like repipe.com that advertise complete Pex repiping of homes in something like 72 hours if it turned out, in fact, that your pipes were leaching copper into your tap water. How old is the house/plumbing? Overall, simply a thought to consider for your long term health and water needs!
Somewhere between your house and the street there is a water main shutoff valve, and occasionally it will have a tap off it or somewhere nearby. This would be useful if you wanted to test the hypothesis that the heavy metals are coming from your pipes and not your supplier. There are companies like repipe.com that advertise complete Pex repiping of homes in something like 72 hours if it turned out, in fact, that your pipes were leaching copper into your tap water. How old is the house/plumbing? Overall, simply a thought to consider for your long term health and water needs!
I talked to the city and they said the lines are all plastic this end of town. So that leaves my pipes basically. I'm looking into RO/DI systems right now.
bassetman
Member
Look at bulk reef supply. I use their 150 gallon per day water saver system. It reduces wasted water by half. Fills a five gallon bucket in 35 minutes with my 80 psi pressure. Supplying the altums and apistos uses 1 12dollar bag of DI resin in five weeks. Very satisfied with the system . Took less than five minutes to set up and get it going.
I just watched three videos of theirs yesterday! Glad to hear good info about them. Their videos were very informative.
How many stage system is the one you have? I would only need about 50gpd
bassetman
Member
I got the basic unit and then added more prefiltration and a second DI stage and carbon block. So I have eight stages. 5, 1 and .5 micron prefilters two 5 micron and a .6 micron carbon blocks two 75 Gpd RO membranes the second of witch works on the waste of the first. And two DI stages. Before the DI I have 1ppm and after I have zero ppm water. Every five weeks I refill the exhausted DI stage and swap the DI canisters so the newest is second in line. System comes with an auto shutoff valve and membrane flush preinstalled I added a float switch to activate the shutoff when my 55 gallon holding container is full.
Oh man so much of that just went right over my head. I just started looking into these about a week ago so I don't really understand to much on how they work. Lol
bassetman
Member
Water goes in from your supply into the prefilters to remove sediments and any large particles. Then into the carbon blocks to remove any chemical impurities. Then into the Ro membrane where you get high ppm waste water and very low ppm product water. In my system the waste from membrane one goes through another RO me,brand giving more low ppm water and very high ppm waste. Then the water goes into the de ionization resin to remove any remaining ppm of impurities. Multiple DI stages are used mainly to extend the intervals of replacing the resin. One stage lasts my about five weeks. Two stages last ten weeks. I then filter through peat moss to add back some trace minerals and tannins I also add some acid buffer to lower and stabilize the ph to about 4.5. This is a simplified explaination but is basically correct.
Having the auto shutoff is handy to prevent overflows. A flush kit extends the life of the Ro membranes .....they typically last 2-3 years and are about 60 bucks to replace .
Having the auto shutoff is handy to prevent overflows. A flush kit extends the life of the Ro membranes .....they typically last 2-3 years and are about 60 bucks to replace .
bassetman
Member
Bulk reef supply has some decent vids to watch and has systems from very basic to to all bells and whistles. Basic systems can be upgraded as you go so you can start small and add stages as you go.
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/bulk-reve ... stems.html
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/bulk-reve ... stems.html
Thank you! That's the kind of description I needed. That helps it make much more sense to me. 
I need to get on one of these ASAP and figure out where to put it. :/
I need to get on one of these ASAP and figure out where to put it. :/
bassetman said:
Thank you, that means alot! Everyone here is so great. I nearly threw in the towel on the hobby. I have decided not to get another green spotted puffer for now. Instead when I get things settled and situated again I will get a figure 8 puffer since they stay a bit smaller. That way I can have a few other tank mates in with it.
So I went full RO/DI and the city says their lines are all plastic so anything in our water has to be from our pipes, so our responsibility. :/ the ro/di system should be here Friday but the holding tank won't be until next week I think. I was wondering what I should use for a mineral additive. I know Seachem cichlid salt was recommended.
Dleblanc, what do you use? Angels are my main concern and I know they are similar but more hardy than discus.
Dleblanc, what do you use? Angels are my main concern and I know they are similar but more hardy than discus.
dleblanc
New Member
I use SeaChem alkaline buffer to bring the KH up to where I need it. I have plants, to try to keep that around 5. If you don't have plants, still need to bring it up to about 2, or minor changes can produce large pH swings. I use SeaChem equilibrium to get GH where I want it, and to get various trace minerals back where they belong. Check the price per gram on Amazon - smaller bottles can be as much as 2-3x more.
If you wanted to make a chemistry project out of it, you can mix your own for cheaper, but I have enough projects.
If you wanted to make a chemistry project out of it, you can mix your own for cheaper, but I have enough projects.
So my next thing I need to do is figure out the periodical table in accordance to what I need and try and get all this figured out. Uhg, this is getting stressful on the minerals end now.