RO Unit

Jan 13, 2006
792
2
0
Colorado
#1
heres an idea that i have been wondering about for some time now, i know people use the ro units to filter the water put into tanks, BUT... could you connect an ro unit directly to a tank and have it on a timer to take water from the tank and then filter it then pump it back into the tank? and would it help cut back on water changes? i have never used an ro unit so i have been curious about this for a while now.
 

Avalon

Superstar Fish
Oct 22, 2002
2,846
10
0
Ft. Worth, TX
www.davidressel.com
#2
No. RO units do not work this way. RO units work via water pressure (of the tap) in order to push the water through the membrane. The holes of the membrane are so small, it can filter out viruses (virii?). If your tap pressure is not high enough, you must install a pump. But even if you did that on an aquarium, you would clog the filter up in a matter of minutes, as they aren't meant to filter large sediment and poop. RO filters filter out 99%+ of everything, including hardness (Ca & Mg), which will result in pH crashes from bacterial activity.

If you find the need to use an RO unit, the most common approach is to store filtered water in a bin of some sort, with a float to shut the unit off (similar to a toilet float). The water is then "reconstituted" if so desired to add hardness back or whatever, then pumped into the aquarium when needed.
 

Jan 13, 2006
792
2
0
Colorado
#3
ahhh i see i wasnt planning on getting one becuase i dont need one but the concept sounded like a good idea if it worked. thanks for the info about the ro unit, i could never find anything about how they worked exactly.