Ro Units

[trace1]

i'm swapping my 55g freshwater over to marine now for ever reason i can't buy ro water from any of the shops round here, so i'm going to have to buy an ro unit .
i can get 1 for £75 & its supposed to give 75gpd of ro water, now i know that depends on water pressure, temp & stuff.
would this be any good ???
also whats an tds think thats right lol. do i need 1 as well ???
i will be doing the swap over very slow as everything is soooo much more expensive for marines
i've also read somewhere that as a rule you need 1 cleaner such as snails/hermit crab per gallon is that right ???
thanks in advance
trace

 

[SkiFletch]

Since you're in the UK, I'd suggest a unit from Osmotics, everybody seems to rave about them

 

[pengy666]

RO man

 

[trace1]

ok cool, i've got a couple of good names there to go by.
what about the clean up crew question ??
how many clean up crew do i need for a 55g tank
thanks trace

 

[joecoral]

theres no set rule for clean up crew eg X per Y gallons, just put in a few, leave them for a while, if they survive and thrive, put in a few more

 

[trace1]

ok thanks joe.
right what about the tds thing do i need to make sure i've got 1 of those as well.
i'm doing this tank in the hopes that if i get everything sorted & right from the start i won't have any crashes
thanks trace

 

[1entra]

As far as clean up crew go, there are many different types that do different jobs eg, some eat waste, some eat detritus, some eat hair algae, some sift through the sand hence cleaning it, others eat different sorts of algae and many are scavengers that will eat any left over food etc.

The general rule I have come across is 1 snail per 1 or 2 gallons of water, but this is very general, what I would do instead is get CUC in accordance to your needs and only a couple at a time. That way you dont get too many off one sort and not enough of another. For eg. if you have alot of brown algae (diatoms) only get a couple of snails and hermits to eat it as if you get too many, when the algae has been eaten, unless specifically fed, your CUC may start to starve!

With regards to the TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) meter, it is used to measure the the clarity of the RO water and the effectiveness of the membrane, but is not essential for you to have as you would only really use it if you start having problems in your aquarium and wished to check the RO unit!

 

[trace1]

nice 1 thanks 1entra.
i have been reading your start up as well, been reading a lot just lately & my head is mashed lol
i just need to move fish now & get the salty essentials (sp) then i'm on my way