Hello,

Wasn't sure if this this question is better here or under the DIY section. In any case, I would like to make my own water and am seeking advice on devices. I am looking to fill a 90 gal saltwater aquarium.

Basically, I have a garage with a water softener tank. This is the perfect place to install a water filtration system for the tank, no? I am looking into recommendations for (I assume) an RO/DI setup. Also, I assume I would set this up on the soft-water output.

While I am here talking about water, I would also like to ask for salt mixture recommendations. I am planning on starting fairly simple. Lion fish, murray eel, clown fish then slowly adding in choral and developing the complexity of the tank. I guess one brand does not fit all, so just wondering what people have liked based on past experience.

Thank you,
Chris S.

If you are going to go with an agressive tank (as your fish indicate), IMHO there is no need to purify the water. Just use tap.

I would balance out and stabilize the tank with macro algaes protected from the fish with a refugium though. Which I feel works even with tap water in reef tanks. But definately works for a fish tank of any kind. And contaminents in tap water are easliy removed with fast growing algae to keep conditions excellent for fish.


my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

I prefer Deltec H2O Salt, it's the UK number 1 and is gathering strength in the US.

As for the Fish, Clown Fish are more social with the Lion and Eel being aggresive so mixing them may not be a good idea, Ive even heard stories of people feeding their Eel mice.

The Lion Fish may be OK with the Clownfish so long as they aren't big enough to fit in its mouth but again this may still not stop it.

Another problem with Lion Fish is they can be a real pain/challenge to switch over from live food to the frozen stuff in the LFS, lots of folks buy a Lion Fish only to return it a week later.

I always recommend RO/DI regardless of the inhabitants. Just because they may be agressive fish does not mean they can tolerate tap water contaminants any better than a coral or docile fish.

Yes, you are correct, the RO/DI hooks up to the softened water. A good RO/DI with necessary components like an inline pressure gauge, a TDS meter and a full size vertical refillable DI canister and cartridge will run you between $150 and $250 depending on the quality of the components and filters.

I would recommend looking at the CSP-DI or MaxCap, both from SpectraPure Water Purification Products

The 75 GPD BFS-161 Premium from www.buckeyefieldsupply.com

The Optima series from FL Aquarium Water Filters Reverse Osmosis Booster Pump GFO Nitrate DI Carbon

or the Reefkeeper from Melevsreef.com - Welcome!

Just to clarify I did not mean for agressive fish but rather for any fish.

Some delicate corals like sps types are supposed to have ro/di water. The distinction I was making was reef (coral) vrs a Fish only tank.

FWIW I ran my 55g mixed reef with 2 tangs, a cardinal, plus several smaller fish, many lps and soft corals with tap water, no water changes, an in tank and external refugiums, no skimmer, a diy wet dry with crushed oyster shell filter media (wastebasket with bottom cut out), using normal output shop lights, no live rock, landscape type rocks, and home depot play sand, from 2003 until 2009 with no water changes, using straight untreated tap water.

Again the key is to get the algae to recycle the fish wastes into fish food. and harvest the algae to remove toxins like copper and the like. And a diy system to insure calcium/alk/magnesium are maintained.


still just my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

I always go for RO/DI, I can see where beaslbob is coming from and how the Algae helps it out but I'd rather just use RO/DI and not have to worry about Algae cleaning the water.

I don't have a sump like a load of FishKeepers but I have a Foxface so keeping any Algae doesn't last long as he eats it up in a few days.

There are countless websites showing the possible probs that come with Tap Water and IMHO I don't really see any point in taking a chance when an RO unit isn't that expensive piece of kit it once was.