London nitrates

[seangee]

If you still have the platy it won't last very long in pure RO. The 75/25 suggestion is actually not a bad one although with the platy you may want to think about 2:1, or even 3:2.

RO comes out of the tap at the same temp as tap water - which is way too cold in winter. It would also take too long. My 100GPD unit takes around 6 hours to produce 100l - which is my weekly change in a similar size tank. This weekend I had had to heat my water for the water changes - first time in a while. I store mine in 25l jerry cans for the big tank and 10l jerry cans for the smaller ones. Currently filling the last one (25l) after todays 100l change. Usually I refill immediately after the water change so I am ready for next week. No need to dechlorinate because chlorine kills RO membranes, so whatever system you have will have a dechloriation stage before the RO membrane.

 

[mhancock]

Thank you, really helpful

 

[seangee]

Thank you, really helpful

Very old pic of my low tech solution which I have been using for over 2 years

Tap is like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0058OA27O/?tag= - make sure you get the right size for your container

 

[mhancock]

I like that, presumably by using the plastic container you can let the water settle to room temperature before adding to the tank, much less temp diff than the cold tap.

 

[seangee]

Yeah. The room I store them in is actually cooler than the rest of the house (and I like the house cooler than most). In winter I line them up in front of a radiator the night before WC. If the water in the containers is more than 2 or 3 C lower than the tank I stand them in a basin of hot water - but I know lots of people just use the kettle to adjust temp.

 

[mhancock]

So I've finally got my own RO system

Yesterday I filled two buckets with RO, then left overnight to adjust to room temp, 20oC.

Today I put the RO water in another bucket, about halfway full, then used the hot tap to top up the bucket and reach 26oC.

So my tank (200l) had a 20% water change today, comprised of 50:50 RO:tap, therefore only 10% chlorinated.

I think this works for me, and over time the tank will slowly (rather than a quick shock) become about 50% RO.

 

[mhancock]

This is the tank with the floating plants doing well.

Two questions:
1) Would it be better to take a load out so that there's plenty of room for new growth (lower nitrates)
2) How careful do I need to be about the filter getting clogged up with all the bits of plant that fall down?

Ps I have trimmed of some of the leaves with brown algae