Water Purifier helpful?

D

DustinKeating

Large Fish
#1
Jan 9, 2005
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#1
I've got a lot of nusiance algae, and i've been told (and i've read) that it may be due to my tap water, and a RO/DI unit would be in order. But i have NO CASH. no money what so ever, and then i realized my parents have a water purifier that they use to make alchohol.

It's this one
http://www.epinions.com/hmgd-Small_Appliances-All-Kenmore_Water_Purifier_34480

is that what i'm looking for?
If not, will it help?
will it hurt that it's been used for alcohol?

thanks in advance.
 

lordroad

lordroad

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#2
Sep 2, 2004
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#2
What size tank do you have, Dustin?

If it's a nano, call around to some of your grocery stores and see if they have R/O vending units. That's what I use, and it's cheap and real easy. I have one 3 gallon container I keep full of R/O, and I top off and mix with salt as needed.
 

D

DustinKeating

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#5
Jan 9, 2005
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ahah i dunno, to distil it or something. i'm not sure, i think it's to measure the percentage of alcohol you want to add.

It is a Nano, a 10 so it's easy to fill with the mobile units. I just thought if i had this, might be good.
 

lordroad

lordroad

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#8
Sep 2, 2004
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#8
Oh, my bad... no harm no foul, right? :)

It's a really hot day down here...

On a side note, my dad used a distilling machine for a while. Took a while to steam and prep the water, but it made about a gallon at a time, and that should be ok for a nano... knowing what a cheapskate my dad was, a distilling unit should be able to be found pretty cheap.
 

1979camaro

1979camaro

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#11
Oct 22, 2002
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#11
all this appears to be is an activated carbon filter...it isn't going to do what you want it to do...before you go out and buy something why don't you actually test your tap water to see if it contains PO4 or nitrates...if it doesn't then you may want to look elsewhere for the problem. i equate the process you have begun to exploratory surgery for a stomach ache...there are other options available to help you diagnose the problem
 

D

DustinKeating

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#12
Jan 9, 2005
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ahah, don't stop there.

Explore the options with me?

The only thing i can think of is that i have less than an ideal clean up crew, spiny star snail and an emerald crab (10 gallon). My lights are no actinics, and 4 Overdriven walmart specials (although they're a very blue light, i dunno if it matters). And i've got crushed coral substrate, but the tanks' only been going around 3-4 months.
 

1979camaro

1979camaro

Ultimate Fish
#14
Oct 22, 2002
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#14
i think he is talking about a flourescent tube...those spiral compacts cannot be overdriven. the forumla for algae is: light + nutrients = algae

while you could just not run the lights, if you plan to keep photosynthetic organisms you will need them......so......you need to find the source of the problem. i would test your tap water for phosphates and nitrates and go from there.
 

1979camaro

1979camaro

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#16
Oct 22, 2002
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#16
DustinKeating said:
So i guess you're saying if i'm not going to fix the light problem, i need to fix the nutrient problem.
Click to expand...
you have to fix the nutrient problem no matter what you do with the lights...if the nurtrients are there then the light will grow algae...i suppose you could run your tank dark but that makes it kind of hard to see the fish
 

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