More Newbie Questions

[Mike]

I have a 150 gal freshwater tank, and am planning on going marine... reef
to be exact..., and I am slowly getting the things I need. I have almost
everything I need but I would like to get (or build) and install a calcium
reactor and a reverse osmosis filter.
The first questions I have regard the reactor. From what I read, the PH in a
reef should be about 8.1 Yet the reactor has a PH of about 6.7-7.0. So how
do you raise the PH up to 8.1, if your reactor's PH is so low. Won't the
water from the reactor lower the PH in the main tank? How does one RAISE
the PH to 8.1 before dumping it into the main tank?
Also is a calcium reactor fed water by gravity, something like a canister
filter. or is it "new water" that is being put in the system? Do you guys
know of any pages that explain all this?
Also the reverse osmosis filters: Are they installed under your kitchen
sink? If they are installed in the aquarium cabinet, and it has an output of
35 gpd, does that mean I have to have a garden hose from my kitchen sink to
my tank for several days? I am OK with that, but I'll have to pay for a
vacation for my wife if that's the case. Now that I think about it, even if
it is installed under the kitchen sink, I will still have a hose to the
tank.

I have a fridge that dispenses "filtered water" through the door of the
fridge, Is this water considered "RO water"?
does anybody know about this filtered fridge water. It gets its water from
under the kitchen sink, does the RO filter work the same way?

Thanks to all who put up with newbie questions

Mike

[Chris Taylor]

"""Also the reverse osmosis filters""" ... """Are they installed under your
kitchen sink"""

Its not absolutely necessary to mount the RO unit in a fixed place. Mine
sits in a basin under the stairs and is taken outside to the hosepipe every
few days to fill a plastic jerry can (the camping kind). The jerry can is
then emptied into a 230 liter strorage container in the garage. This water
is then used for salt water mixing, drinking water and top-up's for the
tank. I use this method as the present house we stay in is rented; I'm sure
the owner wouldn't like modifications done to his house.

"""I have a fridge that dispenses "filtered water" through the door of the
fridge, Is this water considered "RO water"?"""

It is doubtful the the fridge water is RO. RO units aren't cheap and as such
its not likely that the manufacturer would have gone to the extra expense.
Its likely that the filtration is carbon which is insufficient for the
marine environment you'd like to create?

Welcome to the hobby.
Chris



"Mike" > wrote in message
...
> I have a 150 gal freshwater tank, and am planning on going marine... reef
> to be exact..., and I am slowly getting the things I need. I have almost
> everything I need but I would like to get (or build) and install a calcium
> reactor and a reverse osmosis filter.
> The first questions I have regard the reactor. From what I read, the PH in
a
> reef should be about 8.1 Yet the reactor has a PH of about 6.7-7.0. So how
> do you raise the PH up to 8.1, if your reactor's PH is so low. Won't the
> water from the reactor lower the PH in the main tank? How does one RAISE
> the PH to 8.1 before dumping it into the main tank?
> Also is a calcium reactor fed water by gravity, something like a canister
> filter. or is it "new water" that is being put in the system? Do you guys
> know of any pages that explain all this?
> Also the reverse osmosis filters: Are they installed under your kitchen
> sink? If they are installed in the aquarium cabinet, and it has an output
of
> 35 gpd, does that mean I have to have a garden hose from my kitchen sink
to
> my tank for several days? I am OK with that, but I'll have to pay for a
> vacation for my wife if that's the case. Now that I think about it, even
if
> it is installed under the kitchen sink, I will still have a hose to the
> tank.
>
> I have a fridge that dispenses "filtered water" through the door of the
> fridge, Is this water considered "RO water"?
> does anybody know about this filtered fridge water. It gets its water from
> under the kitchen sink, does the RO filter work the same way?
>
> Thanks to all who put up with newbie questions
>
> Mike
>
>

[CapFusion]

"Mike" > wrote in message
...

> I have a 150 gal freshwater tank, and am planning on going marine... reef
> to be exact..., and I am slowly getting the things I need. I have almost
> everything I need but I would like to get (or build) and install a calcium
> reactor and a reverse osmosis filter.
> The first questions I have regard the reactor. From what I read, the PH in
a
> reef should be about 8.1 Yet the reactor has a PH of about 6.7-7.0. So how
> do you raise the PH up to 8.1, if your reactor's PH is so low. Won't the
> water from the reactor lower the PH in the main tank? How does one RAISE
> the PH to 8.1 before dumping it into the main tank?

Reactor will lower your pH. You can add kalkwassar or limewater as top-off
to increase or raise your pH. Try to get pH8.2 or so. You need to determine
how much you need test and balance or ratio that your tank need.


> Also is a calcium reactor fed water by gravity, something like a canister
> filter. or is it "new water" that is being put in the system? Do you guys
> know of any pages that explain all this?

You will need to use a small pump and valve to adjust the feed to the
reactor or have a T connector.


> Also the reverse osmosis filters: Are they installed under your kitchen
> sink? If they are installed in the aquarium cabinet, and it has an output
of
> 35 gpd,

I am not sure what you mean about your RO and it output is 35GPD.


does that mean I have to have a garden hose from my kitchen sink to
> my tank for several days? I am OK with that, but I'll have to pay for a
> vacation for my wife if that's the case. Now that I think about it, even
if
> it is installed under the kitchen sink, I will still have a hose to the
> tank.

I do not understand the last few sentence of your statement regarding about
vocation / garden hose / wife / hose to the tank. I believe you were falling
asleep while you wrote that last part .

[i]
> I have a fridge that dispenses "filtered water" through the door of the
> fridge, Is this water considered "RO water"?
> does anybody know about this filtered fridge water. It gets its water from
> under the kitchen sink, does the RO filter work the same way?
>

The filteration from your fridge will not be efficient to produce good
water. You may use a TDS meter to check the quality of the output water and
see the rating. If it over 5ppm or so, then it not too good. You need
anything lower then 5ppm or else expect algae growth [so-of-speaking].

CapFusion,...

[PaulB]

> Also the reverse osmosis filters: Are they installed under your kitchen
> sink? If they are installed in the aquarium cabinet, and it has an output
of
> 35 gpd, does that mean I have to have a garden hose from my kitchen sink
to
> my tank for several days? I am OK with that, but I'll have to pay for a
> vacation for my wife if that's the case. Now that I think about it, even
if
> it is installed under the kitchen sink, I will still have a hose to the
> tank.

There are a lot of ways to do this. You could run the RO unit where ever
you can connect it and carry the water in containers, or pump it from a
container to the tank.

If you are talking about filling the tank initially, I would simply fill it
with a garden hose, use something like Prime to get rid of the chloramines
and run a Poly Filter for a day or so.

[Marc Levenson]

You can install it under your sink, or possibly under your tank (I know at least
one guy that did this). However, do yourself a favor and just buy a 100gpd
unit. You'll have about 5g every 60 to 80 minutes, which is about right. When
you really need water, having a 35gpd unit will mean you'll get about 1.4g per
hour if conditions are good. In an emergency, you don't have that kind of
luxury. My unit makes about 30g in 7 hours. I have mine over my washing
machine, in the utility room.

http://www.melevsreef.com/ro_di.html

Calcium reactors circulate water through them constantly. CO2 is pumped into
the unit, which dissolves the media to liquid calcium, and the output will have
high alk and ca readings. A smaller powerhead, like a Minijet will push water
into the reactor from your tank/sump and you regulate the flow back into the
tank. This is a DIY reactor, which explains this a little. I'm still planning
to build it, when I finally have all the stuff I need. (A couple of pumps!)
http://www.melevsreef.com/dj88.html

Marc


Mike wrote:

> I have a 150 gal freshwater tank, and am planning on going marine... reef
> to be exact..., and I am slowly getting the things I need. I have almost
> everything I need but I would like to get (or build) and install a calcium
> reactor and a reverse osmosis filter.
> The first questions I have regard the reactor. From what I read, the PH in a
> reef should be about 8.1 Yet the reactor has a PH of about 6.7-7.0. So how
> do you raise the PH up to 8.1, if your reactor's PH is so low. Won't the
> water from the reactor lower the PH in the main tank? How does one RAISE
> the PH to 8.1 before dumping it into the main tank?
> Also is a calcium reactor fed water by gravity, something like a canister
> filter. or is it "new water" that is being put in the system? Do you guys
> know of any pages that explain all this?
> Also the reverse osmosis filters: Are they installed under your kitchen
> sink? If they are installed in the aquarium cabinet, and it has an output of
> 35 gpd, does that mean I have to have a garden hose from my kitchen sink to
> my tank for several days? I am OK with that, but I'll have to pay for a
> vacation for my wife if that's the case. Now that I think about it, even if
> it is installed under the kitchen sink, I will still have a hose to the
> tank.
>
> I have a fridge that dispenses "filtered water" through the door of the
> fridge, Is this water considered "RO water"?
> does anybody know about this filtered fridge water. It gets its water from
> under the kitchen sink, does the RO filter work the same way?
>
> Thanks to all who put up with newbie questions
>
> Mike

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Rod]

>Reactor will lower your pH. You can add kalkwassar or limewater as top-off
>to increase or raise your pH. Try to get pH8.2

If hes his dosing Kalk to bring the pH back up, he wouldnt need the CA reactor
anymore ;).. Calcium reactors are the most over rated peice of equiptment there
is in a Reef tank IMHO.. I used them for a few year, but I didnt loke the
slightly lowered pH, i didnt like putting co2 into my systems, and kalk WILL do
the job (with other benifets) if evap is high enough.
Rod Buehler
www.asplashoflife.com

[Ross Bagley]

(Rod) writes:

> >Reactor will lower your pH. You can add kalkwassar or limewater as top-off
> >to increase or raise your pH. Try to get pH8.2

> If hes his dosing Kalk to bring the pH back up, he wouldnt need the
> CA reactor anymore ;)..

Actually, I really like using both a Nilsen reactor and a Calcium
reactor at the same time. I have found that they offset each other,
balancing pH and ion concentrations quite nicely.

> Calcium reactors are the most over rated peice of equiptment there
> is in a Reef tank IMHO.. I used them for a few year, but I didnt
> loke the slightly lowered pH, i didnt like putting co2 into my
> systems, and kalk WILL do the job (with other benifets) if evap is
> high enough.

Which is exactly the question: Is evaporation high enough for kalk to
supply your tank? I have an 800sf condo that I can't install A/C in,
so I'm doing anything I can to keep evap to 1/2-3/4 gal/day from my
110 (full system volume of 250gal).

Tha kalk I can put in 1/2 gallon of water simply can't keep up. So I
also use a calcium reactor. And if I add the calcium reactor effluent
just upstream of the Nilsen reactor effluent, any excess CO2 is
converted into bicarbonate by the hydroxide ion in the kalk.

Also, too much kalk has a tendency to raise pH and unbalance the
Ca/Alk relationship. If you only need a little calcium, kalk is what
you want. If you need a lot of calcium, any long-term solution
will almost certainly involve a calcium reactor.

Regards,
Ross

-- Ross Bagley http://rossbagley.com/rba
"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature...
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." -- Helen Keller