RO alternatives

we had a write up not long ago by zoom on ph and the dangers of chemically changing it.now we know that lots of the fish we keep have adapted to whatever is coming out the taps some more so than others.so we know if you want to keep discus and the like and you living in jhb tapwater wont work so lekker?not that i want to keep discus(life is to short)but maybe something like german blue rams(i hear wild strains are coming soon)now a decent ph would help when keeping them am i right?so how is that possible?the answer seems to be RO which while trying to keep costs down flies right in the face.so i would like to know if there are any other options i know tasa members are an industrious bunch.

 

Sera's Peat worked pretty well when I had my 6 Discus. @JungleAquatics USED to stock it

 

It will be very interesting to see what suggestions are made here.

@oscar freak has your interest in Blue Rams been re-tweaked a little?

 

You can look at this. I tried it, but do not like the color of the water.

 

they'v always been on my "one day" list @DarylA along with a few others.i'm just trying to work out a few things before i make the jump.so i'v been doing some thinking and a few mad ideas popped in.
01.the buying distilled water option
02.collecting rain water
03.blasting a container with diy co2
04.peat(which i have tried)


any other ideas

 

1: At R1.00 per L ( doing one 50% WC a week, for me thats 200L =R200x4 =R800 a month!!!!
2: it does not rain all year! and i tried it, and you dont collect that much.
3: Co2 will help to drop PH, but not the rest!
4: never did this before.

 

Ph isnt really the problem, hardness is, and the only way to soften water is by using a RO unit.

 

Buy the cow and sell at 50c lt in your area. That is what I am doing.

 

i know! im already busy with it! should have one by month end, if not next month!

is it true that you need 3L to produce 1L of RO water?

 

Vez, where are you buying ? I suggest you contact The Waterboy on Masa if you havent already done so.

 

Yes! Shocking!

Where are they and what is the price?

 

Depends on what you want Tom, they custom build their unit most of the time, i have bought 2 units from them and the service is excellent. Bought a big 5 stage one that produced 500l per day for R4200 and a small 3 stage 100l per day unit for R900. They also come with genuine filmtec membranes.

 

on junkmail and gumtree, but will try The Waterboy first

 

that 3 stage one doesnt sound to bad but does it do a good enough job?i read somewhere it takes 9L to make 1L.

 

thats not a bad price! 100L a day is perfect!

 

3l to make 1l RO

 

Oh, I thought they are selling water! My bad.

So, you got your own units. What is your TDS and what do you measure with?

 

I would guess that the small one would produce 2-3 litres waste for every 1 litre of RO, but contact Marco (the waterboy) and tell him what you want exactly.

 

so on 200l a week thats 600L down the drain so speak?

 

In Northwest there is also a waterboy company that sells the bottled water yes, but the waterboy in Pietermaritzburg sells RO units and water treatment equipment.