R/O Filter Care

[jhoss]

I have had a fish take for 6 months now and I am tired of buying water at $7.50 for 5 gallons it's killing me. I have been looking at the R/O filters and I'm still confused with the TDS and the cartridges. My questions are: How often do the cartridges need to be changed? What is a quality R/O filter for a reef tank? And what is the importance of removing all of TDS?

 

I want to make my own water but not if it costs a ton to change the cartridges.

 

PLEASE HELP! I am tired of buying rip-off water for almost 8 bucks for 5 gallons worth when i can get water out of my faucet.

 

 

I forgot ti say I have a 29 gallon biocube with just stock everything.

[Lotus222]

I have had a fish take for 6 months now and I am tired of buying water at $7.50 for 5 gallons it's killing me. I have been looking at the R/O filters and I'm still confused with the TDS and the cartridges. My questions are: How often do the cartridges need to be changed? What is a quality R/O filter for a reef tank? And what is the importance of removing all of TDS?

 

I want to make my own water but not if it costs a ton to change the cartridges.

 

PLEASE HELP! I am tired of buying rip-off water for almost 8 bucks for 5 gallons worth when i can get water out of my faucet.

 

 

I forgot ti say I have a 29 gallon biocube with just stock everything.

 

Dude... with a 29 gallon tank, a good RO filter can last a long time in between cartridge changes. At least a year, I would expect. Bite the bullet and get a filter. It saves you a ton of hassle. I couldn't imagine picking up 5 gallons from the store all the time, and I only have a 12 gallon tank.

[AZDesertRat]

Prefilters and carbons should be changed out every 6 months regardless of usage. At the same time it is wise to disinfect the system while you have it down for replacements, its a simple 5-10 minute process and keeps the system in working order.

The RO membrane itself depends on how well you do the above, the quality of the replacements you use, the quality of the tap water and how much water you make. Other things like the waste ratio and how and where you install the unit also have some bearing on membrane life.

The DI resin is entirely dependent on how well the RO performs and how much water you make, 300-500 gallons per DI refill or replacement is not unusual and can be higher or lower. The better the system the longer it will last so its sort of a pay me now or pay me later thing. Cheaper lower performing RO/DI systems cost less but have a higher long term operating cost since they usually are not as efficient while better RO/DI systems may cost more up front but save you money on replacements from then on. I prefer the better systems myself.

A very good system is on sale for $145 right now. it comes complete with a 0.5 micron absolute rated prefilter so it protects the 0.5 micron carbon block so it can do its job of protecting the 90 GPD batch tested and treated RO membrane which feeds the 20 oz vertical refilable DI. It also has a dual inline TDS meter and inline pressure gauge so you can judge how well the system is working and when DI or the membrane needs replacing.

http://www.spectrapure.com/email/customer-...eciation.html#1

 

It comes with a hose thread adapter but you can purchase faucet adapters or many other adaptions depending on how you plan to install it, permanent or portable.

[jhoss]

I was looking at some more RO/DI filters and I found this small one.

It is just a small RO filter

 

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/the-en...-ro-system.html

 

Any thoughts?

 

If u look at the spec sheet on the page it says it says water above 250 TDS may decrease filter use.

I was thinking of just adding water conditioner to the water i was going to use, then run it through the filter.

I am going to purchase a TDS meter if I buy this filter.

 

I was also wondering how much the di-ionization part really does. I know it helps clean the water even further but if I run conditioner through the water first will it still bring the TDS down to 0.

 

I have never tested the TDS in my water, What is the TDS in the water where you live before running it through the Ro filter?

 

Thanks for the help.

[coolwaters]

why arent u getting water for 25 cents a gallon? i go to safeway and get their water. i tested it and came out 0 TDS.

 

the 5g jug cost me $7 at walmart

 

im only running a 20g and i fill up about once a week. its a pain though. i want to switch to filter too. tap water in my area is around 35 TDS which is over 150 TDS better then most places.

 

i can imagine my filter lasting a lot longer if its filtering 35 TDS.

[jhoss]

I'm in the same situation and I still can't drive for another couple weeks so for the past 5 months I have been relying on my parents to take me places which is a pain in the butt. I have to find a job and buying a filter seems cheaper than buying RO water at the grocery store. I'm researching and I really like the small RO filter I found but I'm worried the TDS will be up in the 500's or above. If the TDS is in the 500's or above I doubt the conditioner I use will bring the TDS below 250 which is what the RO filter needs.

 

I alo am not wating to buy a big RO filter because I don't know if there are any stores around me that I can buy replacement filters parts. I don't want to be spending a bunch money to ship tiny filters to me. There is also the problem with buying resin for the DI part of the filter, I have looked online and no stores near me have the resin for the filters.

[AZDesertRat]

Conditioners don do anything for TDS, not sure where you got that from. RO membranes remove TDS as does Deionization.

You run tap water through the RO/DI system under household pressure and it comes out somewhere between 90 and 98% better after the RO and 0 TDS after the DI regardless of the incoming tap water TDS. My TDS is around 800, my RO takes that to between 5 and 6 and the DI makes that 0.

Higher tap water TDS readings is why we buy quality RO/DI systems such as the Spectrapure MaxCap or CSP-DI, they are designed and built specifically for high TDS water.

[jhoss]

So do you recommend just getting a big RO/DI system rather than the small RO system I found?

 

If the TDS is still at 5 or 6 is it still ok to put in the aquarium or does it still have a lot of extra nutrients etc.?

 

And the conditioner would take out some of the chlorine that is in the tap water. I stated it poorly earlier. The smaller RO system's membrane wears down slower if I ran conditioner through the water first to take oput chlorine.

[AZDesertRat]

Small RO/DI systems usually end up costing more in the long run and often do not deliver the same water quality as a full size unit. Add to that they are not much smaller, they share the same top bracket and membrane housing so the footprint is the same, they are just 4-5" shorter in height since they do not have the vertical 10" canisters and use horizontals on top of the membrane housing instead.

 

Smaller throw away replacements do not come in many of the micron sizes preferred for reef use, they are harder to find, cost more to replace, do not last as long and as i said before some do not perform as well. I don't see the advantage myself. Now to go even further, most do not come with a TDS meter or inline pressure gauge, the DI is not refillable and some even come with encapsulated RO membranes meaning you cannot replace the membrane once it is wore out, you have to buy a new housing and everything.

 

A TDS of 5 or 6 is not the end of the world but could be better. The problem is you have no idea what that TDS is comprised of, TDS only tells you something is present not whether its phosphates, silicates, nitrates etc. It is probably one or all of the above since all three are hard to remove with RO only and even with low end DI systems.

 

Conditioners are not needed if you have fresh carbon. I am not sure how you would add conditioner to the water before a membrane anyway since tap water is under pressure and RO systems require pressure to force the water or osmose through the membrane. You would have to draw some water, condition it then use a high pressure pump to get it back up to 60 psi to pass through the RO membrane. Not an easy task and an unnecessary one for sure.