Rbacchiega

I can get big 10 gallon jugs of RO water at a store here for relatively cheap plus a deposit which is refundable once you bring the jug back. So my question is, would this be just as good as forking out alot of money for a unit that will only put out a limited ammount per day
A jug costs 5 bucks..plus 2 dollar deposit...

Gunnie

Is RO water absolutely necessary for your tank? Why can't you use tap water?

susitna-flower

IF you need the RO water for a saltwater tank, I see your point, but even though a system produces a limited amount, it can give you enough to do a substantial change every day. How long at $5/ jug would it take to buy a unit? Depending on the number of gallons you change a day/week, how long would it take to = the cost of a unit?

At one point I was considering a system that would change out 20 gallons a day in a big tank, At that rate it wouldn't take long to justify the expense.

Rbacchiega

Good point susitna...
From what I gather from my guy at the LFS, the cities water is okay, but I figure, why not try to get the best possible tank setup I can afford. I´ve already spent a fair chunk on the lighting (760w mh setup) completely revamped my woman made sump to allow for a fuge (even darkened two of the panels so the light wont leach into anything else) etc, so maybe I should fork out the extra dough for a ro unit. How much on average are they?

Rbacchiega

and another thing...how do I know how many gallons a day I need? Would it be smart for innitial setup to just buy the bottled ro water and then use a smaller unit for top offs?? It´s a 90 gallon tank with a 33 gallon sump... so something that puts out 50 gallons a day would be fine wouldn´t it?