What's new
  • As of today ICMag has his own Discord server. In this Discord server you can chat, talk with eachother, listen to music, share stories and pictures...and much more. Join now and let's grow together! Join ICMag Discord here! More details in this thread here: here.

reverse osmosis....

D

dankbudz

bout to pick one up any suggestions??

i have tap water with high calcium. but my water is at 102 ppms so its not hard just lots of calcium. so what ill need is 40 gallons a week to water my babiees. ive heard good things bout the 3 stages. so any opinion??
 
G

Guest

dankbudz said:
bout to pick one up any suggestions??

i have tap water with high calcium. but my water is at 102 ppms so its not hard just lots of calcium. so what ill need is 40 gallons a week to water my babiees. ive heard good things bout the 3 stages. so any opinion??
Click to expand...

gaiusmarius just stopped me from making a big mistake by continuing to use straight ro water. Said he did it once and at a certain stage in the grow, the complete lack of calcium in the RO water caused a problem that was unrecoverable by the time it showed up. I'm growing in straight coco so the plant doesn't get it unless I feed it to em. What he suggested I do is to use half tap and half ro. Made sense to me so that's what I've been doing. The plants have just kept on going. My tap water is high in NaCl and it caused me a prob about 1/3 way into veg. Got RO water and flushed, followed that a couple of days later with a feeding of RO with my canna A+B and the problem was history. The plants need some trace minerals that your tap water will provide. If you go with RO, buy some supplements as the RO has an ec of 0.0. Mix it like I said and your C++ will be cut in half and the plants will still get some of the trace minerals. good luck on the grow.
 
Last edited:
G

Guest

reading a supple catalog like Fosters and Smith may help you, they have an on -line site also, their main purpose for selling RO units are for keeping fish.

They sell additives to correct the minerial content of water that fish and water plants need.
 
G

Guest

I'm in the same boat,its the last thing I have to do.I made it the last thing,bacause although my water is highly calcified(as apparent by my dogs bowl)the plants I've been finishing have been great,but I think they can be better.Remember when liming your soil and using "hard" water,as soon as it hits the soil it turns to CAC03 the same thing in dolomite lime so dont overdo it.I'm going to get a unit shortly,maybe today if I can get something I want and can install.They say plumbing is just electrical using water,BULLSPOOPIES I can wire anything but plumb nothing.I'm going to need help when I get it.I'm thinking of a 150GPD unit with maybe a large resevoir.I have the money just havent a clue.I have a lot invested and it probably would be a mistake not to do this.Good point about nutes in the tapwater if you're growing in soil and using RO water,you're going to need some cal-mag and maybe some microblast typa stuff.I've been wanting to just get this done for some time now,I need it to be done.
 
B

betterboy

Member
I've got a 6 stage RO+DI and have used it for the last 2 years, good results, my water is 375ppm with out running through the RO system. With using My RO water I know what the the true PPM is in my res. I keep a constant 55 gal. of RO water available.
 
G

Guest

Thats the resevoir I need,a 55 gallon drum.Yea if I was hydro this wouldv'e been done years ago,there are actually benefits to using tapwater but if you start with 0 PPMs or close,you have total control of what goes in,I like that.I get 2 gallons a day from my 45 pint dehumid,but its not even enough for my vegging plants.Someone hits me with the right link today and I'm waiting no longer,despite my lack of confidence in my plumbing skills.Thats all thats holding me back really lol.I'll work 277V hot all day long,but dont make me try and plumb please lol
 
Ono Nadagin

Ono Nadagin

Active member
Gaius is a smart guy and he is right it does require you add calcium and Mag back in the ro water or you will have lock out problems. I use Cal Mag+ to add them back in to the RO. I prefer straight RO water as it in the past made it much easier to diag nute issues... until you use a stable platform(R/O water) to mix your nutes in you can not be 100% sure of what is going on with your water and plants chemistry... I dont like unknowns... so RO is a must for me, many ppl do very well with out it.
 
marx2k

marx2k

Active member
Veteran
I was using RO water for hydro last year and yes, it was becoming a problem with the lack of calcium. But a very small amount of addec Cal+Mag was all it needed. I mainly use my RO unit for drinking water and water to boil stuff in (stuff that absorbs water... say, like... sausages or pasta) but with a little Cal+Mag, it's perfect for hydro. You can't really beat starting with a pH neutral, near 0 mineral base for your hydro endeavours.

My RO unit takes me from 225-240ppm to ~12-14ppm and hasn't lost it's touch in about a year
 
B

betterboy

Member
I got my 6 stage off ebay, just bought another one a couple weeks ago(spare), My PH went crazy,Thought my filters needed changed but it was my ph meter but in the mean time I had already ordered the 2nd ro+di filter but their cheap, like $95.00 on filter direct , and their easy to hook up I bought one of their valves so If I use 5 gal. it will refill auto and always have the 55 gal full.
 
G

Guest

Ono Nadagin said:
Gaius is a smart guy and he is right it does require you add calcium and Mag back in the ro water or you will have lock out problems. I use Cal Mag+ to add them back in to the RO. I prefer straight RO water as it in the past made it much easier to diag nute issues... until you use a stable platform(R/O water) to mix your nutes in you can not be 100% sure of what is going on with your water and plants chemistry... I dont like unknowns... so RO is a must for me, many ppl do very well with out it.
Click to expand...

My sentiments exactly Ono! How much Cal Mag do you add to your RO water - and do you add it after you get the ec and pH where you want them? I've been growing in coco - ec of 1.6 using canna A+B and I keep my pH at 5.6 to 5.8. Like you, I don't like using water that brings with it problems. Using ro with an ec of 0.0 makes diagnosing ailments a whole lot simpler.
 
G

Guest

mojo thats not a bad idea man,half tap half dehumid water but its still not going to be enough,betterboy shoot me a link to those 100 dollar RO units please.
 
SpacedCWBY

SpacedCWBY

Active member
Veteran
I use a RO 4 stage that I got at the local home supply store. Works very well, but only puts out 2 gallons every 3-4 hours. Kinda sucks if you're doing hydro, but I keep enough jugs of Ro water on hand to take care of my soil grows. So that would be my suggestion - get one with a high output.

Good luck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Latest posts

Top