How Does Reverse Osmosis Work?

Novice fishkeepers out there might well think that starting an aquarium is as easy as getting a tank, filling it with water and putting a few little fishies in there… but, in reality, it’s a little more complicated than that and there’s actually a lot you need to think about if you want to keep your new marine environment in fine fettle, with lots of happy little critters swimming about.

Not all fish are created equal and, although they do all live in water, they don’t all live in the same kind of water - some like fresh, some like salty, some like hard, some like soft… and research is absolutely key if you want to be successful when it comes to your aquarium ambitions.

However, there is a solution out there that can help you keep all kinds of different fish at once - and that’s a reverse osmosis aquarium water filter system.

These units work by driving the water molecules through a selectively permeable membrane, which then purifies the water without any hardness or pollution that you'll find in tap water. And this means happy fish! 

The membrane serves as a super-fine filter, only letting water molecules flow through. These systems also often feature a flush valve, which bypasses the flow restrictor so that deposits can be cleaned from the membrane, improving its lifespan. The flow restrictor is a valve that allows pressure to build up so that reverse osmosis can take place.

These units are also easy to install and you shouldn’t need to call out a professional plumber. Just fit a screw-in saddle tap to your cold water mains pipe and a drain clamp to your drainpipe to get rid of any wastewater.

Pollutants in your fish tank can lead to algal blooms and even kill all that beautiful coral you have in there, so it’s important to make sure you’re purifying the water if you want to keep marine fish.

However, something else to bear in mind is that when you remove the hardness of the water, the water you’re then left with is too pure to be used in an aquarium, so you need to put some minerals back in if you have freshwater fish - which is where remineralising powders or liquids come in very handy, doing all the hard work for you so you don’t have to.

Make sure you mix your water separately from the aquarium so you know you’re getting the conditions right. Once you’re done, fill the aquarium and away your fish will go! If you’d like to find out any more about reverse osmosis and how it works, get in touch with us today. The Kraken Corals team really does know its fish!