got ethical husbandry?

Hi All!

Hello Everybody!

I've been out of the reef hobby for about 7 years after my 55 gallon reef crashed, and I'm looking to jump back in. (I have been in the aquarium hobby for close to 30 years - so much has changed!) I had a 40 breeder once with a 20 long refugium, which was my most successful tank. I'm planning on building the same type of setup (in fact, I still have the same 40 breeder).

I'm still figuring out the South Bay water - it seems like it is very dirty, so one of my first projects is getting a proper RODI water/mixing station setup, for easier water changes and reuse of waste water. (I currently have a little Tanganyikan tank setup, that I just use straight tap water from, and algae is a bit of a problem.)

Just wanted to say hello!
 
Welcome to BAR! Where abouts in San Jose are you?

I'm in the Almaden area and my tap TDs is in the mid 300s. I'm using a Spectrapure 180gpd unit with booster pump n auto flush. I modified the unit to run 2 carbon filters and 2 DI canisters. Works well and lasts about a year before I need to switch out the carbon and 1 of the DI filters.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Hi Vincent again!

I'm actually further South, in Morgan Hill. TDS, last I checked, was around 270ish. I was going to do another reading today to double check - with and without the house filter. My RODI is hooked up to the water source before the house filter. I've only had the RODI unit for about a year, but I haven't been using it (mainly because the amount of time it takes to create water). I'm hoping to solve that by installing a float switch. I may do a similar setup as yours, and add on some additional filter modules, but when I do get RO water, it come out with 0 TDS, so I assume the current config is doing the job!
 
Hi.. and welcome to BAR! 7 years out of the hobby is not that long, but definetly things have evolved/changed a bit. imo most of the changes involve lighting, the use of DC powered pumps, and dosing.
Feel free to ask any questions as your build progresses. We're all here to share our experiences with what works for us.
 
Thanks Newjack! I'm quite interested in the new lighting options, and like you said, just discovered DC pumps, which I have no clue about! I will definitely be asking a ton of questions when my build starts. I'm looking for a way of creating and running an eco-friendly tank, with minimal resources like water and electricity used; an efficient reef.
 
Hi and welcome.

About bay area water, your utility will change the water source without warning. I'm currently in Milpitas, I could have TDS 50 in one week and TDS 200 the next. So RODI is a must regardless of what come out of the tap.
 
Hi Phuong,

Thanks for the info - I had no idea they even did that. I'm hoping with a proper RODI station, and a few enhancements to make filling up the water easier, that I'll be using RO water from now on.
 
Hi and welcome.

About bay area water, your utility will change the water source without warning. I'm currently in Milpitas, I could have TDS 50 in one week and TDS 200 the next. So RODI is a must regardless of what come out of the tap.
I wonder if that's unique to where you are. Ours stays the same.
 
Welcome to BAR! Where abouts in San Jose are you?

I'm in the Almaden area and my tap TDs is in the mid 300s. I'm using a Spectrapure 180gpd unit with booster pump n auto flush. I modified the unit to run 2 carbon filters and 2 DI canisters. Works well and lasts about a year before I need to switch out the carbon and 1 of the DI filters.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
A year for carbon? How little water do you make?
 
Back
Top