# Reconstituting RO/DI water



## flashbang009 (Aug 6, 2009)

Hi all,

I'm getting an ro/di unit this week, and had a few questions about reconstitution. I have an equivalent to GH booster, with Potassium Sulfate, Calcium Sulfate, Magnesium Sulfate. Eventually I'd like to sell some ro water, and give people the option of reconstituting their water to a certain GH/KH. So in short, I'm looking for a formula or table that would allow for choosing water amount (1 gal, 2gal, 3gal, etc) and desired GH/KH to finally give you the amount of GH Booster to add. I can then come up with a price/gram or something of the sort for GH booster. Just a little project to work on, so any help would be appreciated.

Also, is there anything else I should be adding to the water for reconstitution (besides NO3 and PO4 once it's in the tank)?

Thanks


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

I would also add some baking soda for KH. IME 1 teaspoon of baking soda added to a 29 gallon tank raises the KH by 2 German degrees of hardness. You might research calcium carbonate, or other sources of carbonate without the sodium. 

Formula for your GH Booster ought to be on the label. 

Seachem Equilibrium:
1 tablespoon per 20 gallons will raise the GH by 3 German degrees of hardness. 

Since your product may not be this brand name, YMMV. 

Also, if you are wanting to sell the finished product I would suggest you get very particular about weighing the material under the same conditions (especially humidity) every time. Do not measure the powders by the spoonful. 

Test each batch you make to be sure it is as precise as possible. 

Test a few batches to get an exact recipe for each of your clients. Then make it that way every time. 

I would also invest in better testing equipment than is available on the shelf of the average pet store or even most aquarium stores.


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## flashbang009 (Aug 6, 2009)

Thanks for the advice diana. I came up with the table below, just don't know how to fill it in. The values i'm looking for in the table are grams of GH booster to add. (This is for RO/DI water) Could this eventually be added to the fertilator via an equation? 

EDIT: If anyone has some really nice equipment that can see how much gh booster is needed to raise to raise 1 gallon of ro water one dH, that would be great.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

I have not clicked on that link. Excel sheets seem to lock up my computer.

I would not make this any harder than you can. 
Here is what works for me. The overall concept, followed by some examples.
Set up one formula for each product and use it for all your mixes. 
Write it down as simply as possible. 
Use the same volume of water in each recipe. 
Make it in terms of 1 degree of change. 
Then all you need to do is multiply the basic formula. No need to make a chart.

For example:

To Raise KH by 1 degree:
add 1/6 teaspoon baking soda per 10 gallons RO water.

Then if you need to make 20 gallons of water with a KH of 3 degrees you will multiply:
To get from 10 gallons to 20, double it. 
To get from 1 degree to 3 degrees, triple it. 
double x triple = 6 times as much baking soda:
1 teaspoon in 20 gallons RO will create a KH of 3 degrees.

Also set up your GH booster in units of 1 degree per 10 gallons. (Using lots of 1s and 0s makes the math easy!) From the Seachem label, with a little bit of math:
To raise the GH by 1 degree add 1/2 teaspoon per 10 gallons.

Then lets say someone wants to set up a 20 gallon tank for Shellies. Goal is GH and KH of 10 degrees. 
Plug these into the basic formulas:
The tank is double the size in your formula, and the goal is 10 times your basic formula. 
10 times multiplied by double = 20 times the basic formula quantities.

1/6 teaspoon x 20 = 3-1/3 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon x 20 = 10 teaspoons Equilibrium

As I noted above, use weight, not spoonfuls. You will have to do the research on these. 
(Seachem Equilibrium says on the label that 16 grams = 1 tablespoon.)

I have a similar note on all the dry ferts I use:
How much of the fertilizer to add to 10 gallons of water will give what result. (Thanks, fertilator!!). I have noted these in ones or tens to make the math easier. 
Then I figure out what result I need and what size tank I am dosing, and just do the math. 
Example: On the KNO3 I wrote:
1/8 teaspoon = 10 ppm/ 10 gallons
[Actually, the fertilator says 10.53 ppm. But tank size is often misstated, anyway (The thing called a 15 gallon tank really only holds about 12 gallons, and that is before substrate, driftwood and so on). Using the nearest spoon size and rounding up or down works for me, but you will need to be more careful if you are looking to market your results]

So if I want to raise the nitrate level by 5 ppm in a 45 gallon tank I would think:
To get from my recipe to the tank, I am moving from 10 gallons to 45 gallons. This means multiply by 4.5.
To get from my recipe to the change I want I am moving from 10 ppm to 5 ppm, that is, divide by 2. So...

4.5 x .5 x 1/8 teaspoon. 
I break it down this way:
4.5 x (.5 x 1/8)=
4.5/16
4.5/16 is so close to 1/4 that I will add 1/4 teaspoon KNO3.


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## flashbang009 (Aug 6, 2009)

Thanks for the info and calculations. That really helps in terms of getting everything straight. I'll definitely do the calculations for the baking soda and kh. As for gh, i'll be using gh booster, not the seachem stuff so i still need to find out that data.

You said to try to keep the math simple and always do the same amount of water and nutrient, but the problem will occur when people bring 4 gallon water jugs to fill up, and they want a certain gh (which i want to offer them). Then i'll have to know how much to add for 4 gallons, hence my need for a formula or table. I guess I'll find a formula based of of the amount per 10 gallons i need that i can use for all amounts of water.


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## TonyVideo (Aug 11, 2010)

I would get some 5 gallon water containers and always use that as your base and then just pour what you need out into other containers. This will ensure your dosing is correct as you always do it in the 5 gallon containers. This will make your life a lot easier as you only will need to know one formula.


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## flashbang009 (Aug 6, 2009)

That's a good point, i hadn't thought of that...

So if i wanted to be complicated, couldn't i take the amount of gh booster needed to raise 5 gallons to say 4 dH, and make a proportion to figure out 4 dH for other amounts of water?

Then I could do the same for x dH and apply that to other water amounts. Basically that's how i'd "complete" my table correct?


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

Yes, if you figured out what you needed for a 5 gallon bucket, but the customer brought you a 4 gallon bucket, then multiply your formula by .8. 

Try it:
5 gallons x .8 = 4 gallons. 
so
(whatever you need for 5 gallons) x .8 = (What you need for 4 gallons)

I still like working in units of 10 gallons, because I think of my tanks that way:
Multiples of 10, then round up or down a bit. 

But I an sure see the point in using multiples of whatever your standard bucket is going to be. 

If your standard bucket is 5 gallons, then every gallon is .2 as much.


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