replacement water filtration

[Subtlefly]

Hi team,

So more (possibly dumb) questions.  As I have explained in other posts we have a concrete tank under our house for rainwater - I am going to test the parameters of this water before any use in shrimp tank.. but say I want my family to have filtered water - if I put in an undersink two or three stage cartridge filter (lets say ceramic and carbon)  to filter the tap water - is this good enough for use in a tank - do you really need to go to the extent of an RO system?

Thanks for you insight and have a great day

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[sdlTBfanUK]

I use tap water through this jug and it produces the same as RO water, TDS 000 hence the name They are readily obtainable around the world (amazon, ebay and some countries UK/USA in shops) and cheap enough. They are slow to filter though so probably not practical for a very large tank. You could start with one though and if everything  goes to plan with the tank then get a full RO down the line. Each filter does about 100L of MY water.

https://zerowater.co.uk/?variant=48184661572

You will need to re-mieralise the water with GH/KH+ as you would with RO water!

Simon

Edited June 3, 2020 by sdlTBfanUK

[Subtlefly]

So you can do it just through fine filtration?

How would zero water co compare to something like this or even multi stage cartridge undersink filter you think?

https://www.bunnings.com.au/brita-filtered-water-tap_p5090423

I am trying to figure out what is best for human drinking as well as fishtank but maybe this is two different things?

thanks for your wisdom,

have a great day

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[sdlTBfanUK]

I tried Brita JUG (and still  have it) but it didn't work for the shrimp (It did reduce TDS but not much), though I was keeping Caridina shrimp. I would say don't bother wasting tme with other makes as you don't really know what they remove so just get the zerowater and you know it produces RO equivalent water and removes probably ALL things bad for shrimps. It is meant for human consumption but I am not convinced such pure water is ideal for humans except for hydration during excercise maybe??

As you plan to keep cherry shrimp you could try it but I would try just a few shrimp in a bowl for a few days to a week first. If the brita doesn't filter out something like copper (? just an example) or other toxic to shrimp things then you don't want to have contaminated the soil/tank etc. It may even be a better idea to get both, the brita for personal use and the zerowater just for the tank,

https://www.amazon.com.au/ZeroWater-10-Cup-Pitcher-Filtration-System/dp/B0073PZ6O0

I just found this when I did a search for 'zerowater australia' that will show you the difference, just look at the 'which water filter is best?' page:

https://www.yourbestdigs.com/reviews/zerowater-vs-brita/#which-is-best

 Simon

[jayc]

The Brita filters "reduce" but doesn't completely remove chlorine, and other minerals. 

Its okay for drinking but still lacking for aquariums.

 multi stage cartridge undersink filters are also designed for human consumption, and one of the stages is to add alkalinity back into the water, since drinking water below pH 7.0 will be bad for your teeth.

You want to look for an RO filter that gives you the option of turning on/off this alkalinity stage if you want a system that is both for an aquarium and for human consumption. Check out Filters System Australia https://www.filtersystemsaustralia.com.au/reverse-osmosis-water-filter/aquarium-systems.html.

Ring them and talk to them if you can't find exactly what you want. They are very helpful.

[Subtlefly]

Ok thanks all, sdlTBfanUK I ended up buying the zero water 23 cup filter with the free TDS meter.  I will test my watertank water and hopefully be using this (at the moment we only really use this on the garden), but now I have an emergency source of water for the aquarium in case we have an extended dry period.  I got a couple of extra filters so this should do fine for me in an emergency.  Maybe when we renovate the kitchen at some time in the future I will look into a legit RO system.

Thanks for all of your help team!

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Edited June 4, 2020 by Subtlefly

[sdlTBfanUK]

With that filter you get the equivalent of RO water so it will be TDS 000, GH 0, KH 0, therefore you will need to add minerals to the water using GH/KH+ for the shrimps. The products will be premixed to offer the ideal balance of these 3 parameters so you only need to use the TDS meter to mix/measure the water to the level you want, so it will be really easy. I recommend getting a GH and a KH testing kit though so you can test the tank maybe once a month etc as there may be other things in the tank altering them slowly over time! It is still a good idea to know what theparameters of the source water(s) are as well?

This water filter will go a long time at TDS 000, then it will creep up but by the time it gets to TDS 006 it will go up almost every litre so you need to watch for that. Mine does about 80 litres at 000, then 10 litres at 001, then 5 litres at 002, then about every litre it goes up! They say to change the filter at 006! If your tank of rainwater (or even tap water) starts off with a low TDS of coarse the filter could last A LOT longer!

Simon

[Subtlefly]

All good!  Test kit is in the mail and the tank hasnt even been built yet so just trying to plan it all out ahead of time.  I bought the zero water filter and 2 extra cartridges and only plan to use it in emergencies ( unless the tank water tests really poorly) so it should last for a while.  Thanks again for your help

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