There are other options when it comes to saltwater quality without having to buy the water and salt seperate. If you dont have an RO/DI unit then why not try Natural Sea Water by Natures Ocean. It costs about 12 bucks for 5 gallonsand comes with natural sea water parameters and is phosphate and nitrate free. You can use this water as an alternative untill you get yourself a nice RO/DI unit.

Diatoms and algae will grow on all marine systems even with the best RO/DI unit on the market. Algae is just a part of nature and excess nutrients will undoubtly result in algae blooms. To be frank with you, good quality water will only serve as a non contributer to algae growth, but in the end, the food we feed fishes, and the nutrients released by the fish waste all contribute to a never ending battle with algae. The only true way to make a huge impact on the algae growing on your tank is via a UV sterilizer which I am thnking about buying soon.

As for the Natures Ocean Natural Sea Water, I used it on my first system for over 2 years and it is a great product. I used it mostly to eliminate having to mix the water and to eliminate having to buy and RO unit. Now that I have a 90 gallon, it is too expensive to get 3 or 4 of these every month for water changes. But on a smaller system such as my old 45 G, I would recommend it. I only bought one monthly for a water change which was equivalent to a 10% water change.

good points on water being only one contributor to the algae food chain ,....never really looked at it that way......................we always spend so much time dealing with water.............ever seen that eco-aqua thing ? sorry ill post a link for ya

lol...im not a reefer yet....im trying though

I have never used the Ecoaqualizer but have been reading on it quite a bit. In my opinion, I would wait it out a bit more untill enough people have used it to review it in detail as this product is fairly new.

If you carry the passion that most marine aquarists end up with, I guarantee you will be a reefer soon. I lasted about 2 years with a 45 gallon FOWLR tank and jumped the gun to a 90 gallon reef. The funny thing is that the most exiting part of this hobby for me was and will always be the live rock. I was amazed at the life that comes in good quality live rock and was mezmerized by the different critters crawling around the rock. I was hooked immediately. If you get bit by the saltwater bug as I did, a reef is on its way for you my friend.