How often do you change the Filters in your RO Machine?

[that Reef Guy]

How often do you change the Filters in your RO Machine?

 

[Eienna]

From what I've been told, the filters need to be changed every six months or so, and the membrane (especially if you flush it regularly) should last at least a year. Keep in mind that will vary depending on your source water quality.
When your TDS starts creeping up from 0 to 3-4, and won't come down even after a good flush, it's time to replace something. Exactly what needs to be changed can be determined by testing the water at different phases (RO only, normal with DI bypass, source water, full output.)

My inline meter seems to have malfunctioned, so I failed to notice my TDS coming up. It is now 24 and I'm changing the filters and DI asap.

 

[that Reef Guy]

Really change it when it hits 3-4?

I thought most people changed at 30.

That is like 50.00 a week in new RO Filters!

Does everyone else agree on this?

 

[larcomak11]

Really change it when it hits 3-4?

I thought most people changed at 30.

That is like 50.00 a week in new RO Filters!

Does everyone else agree on this?

50 a week?? how much water are you making with the RODI a week? I can run mine for almost a month before it even hits .01 TDS....

 

[that Reef Guy]

50 a week?? how much water are you making with the RODI a week? I can run mine for almost a month before it even hits .01 TDS....

Maybe 64 Gallons a Week.

How do you even get a measurement of 0.01?

The lowest my TDS Meter reads is 1 PPM.

It does increments of 1 it does not do decimal points.

It reads between 0 to 999 with increments of 1.

 

[RacinRevo0818]

I'm sure he meant 1ppm. All depends on how much pressure your running, incoming tds, quality of ro-di unit. I change out first 2 filters and get well over a year out of di. But most the time my tds is reading zero going into last stage of di with water pressure around 40 to 50. Brs 5 stage setup. I am making at least 30 to 50 gallons a week.

 

[Eienna]

Mine have lasted at least 5 months (kinda lost track) and buying a replacement pack (minus the membrane) from the manufacturer or my unit is something like $23...might have been $32...and I seem to have forgotten what the shipping is.

If you're getting TDS over 0 that fast, I say get a flush kit. Let it flush the membrane for about 20-30 minutes before each use. The number will jump and then slowly come down.

 

[Chrissy]

I think the water in my town is really bad, because I have to change mine once every 1-2 months! I change them out when the TDS meter says 1.

 

[Eienna]

I think the water in my town is really bad, because I have to change mine once every 1-2 months! I change them out when the TDS meter says 1.

Do you ever flush your membrane?
And is the DI resin packed tight, with a vertical canister? If it's not, you're probably depleting your resin prematurely.

 

[Chrissy]

I have the BRS 5 stage. We just changed out the membrane a few months ago. I'll have to ask my husband about the DI resin...he's the one who changes them out for me. The filters turn nasty pretty fast and the line coming in is now brown, would changing that line help any?

 

[trido]

In North Seattle the incoming Tap water reads from 28-35 depending on the time of year. My Cartridges last about a year and my last DI membrane lasted six years before I sold the unit because I picked up a better one. My DI resin lasts over a year as well.

 

[that Reef Guy]

In North Seattle the incoming Tap water reads from 28-35 depending on the time of year. My Cartridges last about a year and my last DI membrane lasted six years before I sold the unit because I picked up a better one. My DI resin lasts over a year as well.

I was told that RO Water was good until 30 PPM then bad things start happening.

So if you are getting 28-35 out of the Tap you do not even need an RO unit Tap Water would be fine. Right?

 

[Eienna]

TDS is not a measure of a single element. If it was, I might say you're right. However, total dissolved solids includes metals, some chemicals...it could include everything from sugar to arsenic, the way I understand it (though there's not really supposed to be arsenic in drinking water...beside the point.) You don't know what that "TDS" you're reading could be. If you want to keep your livestock truly safe, do not allow those possible nasty contaminants to pass through any more than necessary.

As for the subject of tap water...it was fine for months...and then one day completely destroyed my fw tank. Fish were dying one after another (within seconds, not even minutes). I KNOW I used my conditioner as usual. Only way I saved any of them was by shoveling them as fast as I could into a QT which had not had its water changed yet. Come to find out this has happened to others that used tap, as well - and this was hardy freshwater.

I will NEVER use tap water again. It's too unpredictable.

 

[Genesis Corals]

A few tips to get longer life:

-PSI between 65 and 80 (booster pump if need as was my case)
-Flush regularly
-Pack DI resin as tight as you can
-Change out sediment filter as soon as it begins to turn colors (cheapest filter)

Like has been said, lifespan is dependent on where you live and those tips I posted.

 

[larcomak11]

Maybe 64 Gallons a Week.

How do you even get a measurement of 0.01?

The lowest my TDS Meter reads is 1 PPM.

It does increments of 1 it does not do decimal points.

It reads between 0 to 999 with increments of 1.

yes 1ppm lol my bad...

 

[trido]

I was told that RO Water was good until 30 PPM then bad things start happening.

So if you are getting 28-35 out of the Tap you do not even need an RO unit Tap Water would be fine. Right?

No, Tap water is full of Chlorine, Chloramines, Phosphates and plenty of other trace minerals I don't want in my tank. In eight years of reef keeping I have never heard of a TDS of 30 being acceptable.

 

[reefwiser]

When talking to another Hobbyist at a LFS the other day after an employee had told them what to do to "fix" their aquarium. I asked do you have an RO/DI unit for your water they said yes. I then asked when was the last time you changed the filters? Their answer never in the 4 years they have had the filter. I told their go change their filters and write down the date and so You know when it was done and change them at least once a year or every 6 months to be really good about it.

 

[that Reef Guy]

I was told that RO Water was good until 30 PPM then bad things start happening.

So if you are getting 28-35 out of the Tap you do not even need an RO unit Tap Water would be fine. Right?

Wow, what was it that killed the Freshwater Fish?

I have never heard of this before.

Everyone I know that keeps Freshwater Fish uses Tap Water not RO.

I also heard that RO was a big No No in Freshwater since it takes out all the Good things in the water as well as the Bad.

 

[that Reef Guy]

When talking to another Hobbyist at a LFS the other day after an employee had told them what to do to "fix" their aquarium. I asked do you have an RO/DI unit for your water they said yes. I then asked when was the last time you changed the filters? Their answer never in the 4 years they have had the filter. I told their go change their filters and write down the date and so You know when it was done and change them at least once a year or every 6 months to be really good about it.

Did the LFS test the Water ever with TDS?

I assume that they were selling Bad Water.

 

[Eienna]

Wow, what was it that killed the Freshwater Fish?

I have never heard of this before.

Everyone I know that keeps Freshwater Fish uses Tap Water not RO.

I also heard that RO was a big No No in Freshwater since it takes out all the Good things in the water as well as the Bad.

I will never know for sure exactly what it was about the water. I know it wasn't something in the tank, because I filled another thinking it might be. I picked three of my hardiest fish and tried it. Same problem. They freaked out and started swimming in loop-de-loops...I tried to get them all out right away, but one of my test fish died. T.T The survivors recovered relatively quickly when they were placed in the "good" water of the tank I'd already had up with no water change.

Nobody experienced (at least in my area, I hear) uses unfiltered tap water in their tanks. They've pretty much all had the same experience at one time or another.

You would have been correct about not using RO a couple of years ago. However, there are now "reclamation" solutions available (such as Seachem's Replenish and Fresh Trace) to replace the needed elements.