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Ecoscape Reef Rock
$13.00 is pretty step for a 5 gal jug. I remember when they were about $6~$7... You could also comb your local board and see if anyone may be selling some..
 
Nutramar Foods
Ill take a car wash and detail for frags.. LOL. cookies too but I cant eat them cause I am on a diet (lost 23lbs since memorial day! GO ME).

anyways, I dont know your living situation but if you are renting and cannot install a RO/Di system, you can rig them to hook to a hose spigot and make your water. a DECENT 4 stage Ro/Di will run your around $130 initially. My resin lasts all year easily, and I make ALOT of water each year. monthly I make about 50 gallons of top off water. I dont water change on my system so this is all i usually need.

Go look at the BRS systems. For our water around here a Simple 4 stage works just fine IMO. you need a sediment, carbon Ro chamber and cartridge and the Di chamber and resin cartridge. thats it. get you a tds meter as well.
 
Onebaldman said:
I use this unit and I know of many people that have bought it as well. For the price, you can't beat it...
MAXPURE MPDI SYSTEM
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I think people are trying to suggest that the smart more cost effective decision is purchasing an RODI unit. ;) +1 for spectrapure. I have one, not this model, but the housings are high quality and the customer service is excellent.
 
OH, and I don't buy buckets. I just use the buckets my salt comes in. Soon you will have buckets out the ears.
 
WWC
You could try asking an LFS if they have any used jugs they're willing to sell...that's how I got mine. $13 multiplied can add to be a bit, and I know how I am...that money could buy a few frags lol I've got a BRS RODI and I love it, works very well!
 
I use the 7 gallon water jugs from walmart in the camping section that are PBA free. Unless I'm missing something don't you still need jugs even if you have a RO system? I think the jugs are like $10-12 but they stack at least 4 high in the corner of a closet. I bought a portable RO system on amazon for about $110.
 
SO many good suggestions, guys! Thank you! I'm going to talk to the hubby & see what he wants to do. I know for a fact by this point, I'm leaning towards buying an RO unit. I'm sure he will be on board, too. It's time to start more research! : )


pickupman66 said:
Ill take a car wash and detail for frags.. LOL. cookies too but I cant eat them cause I am on a diet (lost 23lbs since memorial day! GO ME).

anyways, I dont know your living situation but if you are renting and cannot install a RO/Di system, you can rig them to hook to a hose spigot and make your water. a DECENT 4 stage Ro/Di will run your around $130 initially. My resin lasts all year easily, and I make ALOT of water each year. monthly I make about 50 gallons of top off water. I dont water change on my system so this is all i usually need.

Go look at the BRS systems. For our water around here a Simple 4 stage works just fine IMO. you need a sediment, carbon Ro chamber and cartridge and the Di chamber and resin cartridge. thats it. get you a tds meter as well.
Click to expand...

Ugh. I wish I could lose 23 pounds. I probably could if I'd stop eating like I'm still pregnant LOL!

We just bought a brand new house in February, so I don't think we would have any issues with a hookup.

I want one that can just hook up to our faucet & work... Is that realistic?
Sorry, I'm about retarded when it comes to new equipment. I need small words & pictures.
 
Deltec
Tabasco1 said:
I think people are trying to suggest that the smart more cost effective decision is purchasing an RODI unit. ;) +1 for spectrapure. I have one, not this model, but the housings are high quality and the customer service is excellent.
Click to expand...

+1000 to this. I've been very happy with mine.
 
I know that the spectrapure I suggested comes with a faucet tap. Granted I took mine off and plumbed it under the sink with it's own shutoff valve. Trust me, it's so much easier to do that because you are most likely going to store it under the sink anyways. May as well hook it up and use the nice 4-6 foot output line that comes with it to fill up you bucket.
 
Emily, Yes, that is very realistic. you can just take it outside and hook it to the faucet on the side of the house where the garden hose is. of even where you hook your washing machine up. With a little ingenuity and teh correct fittings, you could even put it permanently under the sink, in teh garage by your water heater or by the washer. M yold one was hooked to the supply line of my water heater in the garage. the new one is connected to a fitting under the house. put hubby to work getting it done.

All that said, I have three plastic water jugs in my attic. They are missing the lids, if I remember correctly, but if you need them, come up to Winchester and ill let you have them. I dont use them. I have 5 total only keep 2 full for an emergency. they are the square water jugs with handles on the top.
 
Nutramar Foods
I have mine hooked into the washer faucet and the waste goes down the washer drain. I have 50ft of hose that runs to a 55 gallon drum and a float valve. So I always have 55 gallons of RODI on tap :)
 
EmilyXLC said:
I am not being cheap at all. I am being reasonable. Don't you think $13 is a bit steep for a 5 gallon plastic jug when I'm going to need at LEAST 5 of them? By that time I've nearly paid for half of an RO unit. I realize how expensive the hobby is. I am trying to stretch my dollar, not skimp out & be cheap. It isn't a matter of me not knowing how to 'budget & save a little'. I am trying to figure out which would benefit me most in the long run when factoring time vs money spent.

I have a 3 month old baby at home that I have to consider, so just because I'm not openly throwing money absent-mindedly at the hobby doesn't mean I am 'being cheap'. That is one of the last things I would ever consider myself being. There's a difference between being 'cheap' & making a well-informed decision based on which will pay for itself quicker so that I can have more money for other things. If I were being 'cheap' I would just put conditioned tap water in my tank.



I am probably going to splurge & get an RO unit. I have always wanted one & maybe the difficulty I'm having on finding proper jugs is a good excuse to get one. It may take a little while to pay for itself on a 46 gallon, but it sure would be nice to not have to lug big heavy water jugs around & having to make multiple trips to & from the store. Besides, if all goes according to plan, there will be another aquarium added this time next year, so it would definitely pay for itself by then.

Thanks for your input.
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Well, $13 over the life of your tank is practically nothing and carrying water is one of the hardest, most important and most repetitive jobs you have in taking care of your reef - so yes I do think that is being too cheap. $13 is not too much to make that job better/easier. After all, the better/easier that job is, the more likely you (or any of us) will be to do it regularly.

Now whether those plastic jugs you are talking about are actually worth your hard-earned $13 is a whole other question! :-) And I don't think they are as I said, so I'd never ever buy five of them.

You just want regular buckets for this role, and if I were you I would still get some, whether now or later on. Just too useful not to have some.

In the long run, if you are going to be carrying water back from the store, I would look at the carboy from U.S. Plastics that I linked to above. There's no better way to carry water - nicer handle, better features. (I've worked at a LFS that sells water in the past and been in the hobby since the early 90's, so I've carried a lot of water in a lot of different vessels...these are the best.) They cost a little over $12 each (+ shipping) and IMO are completely worth it. I've had two of them forever and just bought six more (discount level!) recently.

Now if you need a way to pinch a penny, here's the way to do it: Go to (or call) Subway, Dunkin Donuts (and if needed every other food place around like them) and ask if they have any extra buckets they can give you. They get things like condiments and icing by the bucket so they almost always have some. This is how I initially got all my buckets and as a bonus it's good for the environment as it promotes re-use! :-) Pickle buckets were my favorite cuz they were 7-gallon buckets, but they kept that dill smell so out of paranoia I only used them for draining water. ;)

Use the money you save on buckets to buy an RODI filter - no need to be out on the road every week for water changes when you have a baby at home!!! :-)

Seriously...a filter at home is probably the right move based on that fact alone. (Sooner or later the water errand will take a back seat to baby and the tank may suffer, so why not just avoid that eventuality? Smart spending!!) Hook it up to a reservoir like this (something with a float-valve installed) and you'll be all set: Aqua FX - Aquarium Water Filters - 40 Gallon Storage Tank

Can't remember if it's been said already or not, but all RODI systems are standardized and use more or less the same fittings (push-fit), tubing (1/4" PEX), housings and filter components (10"). Because of this, the filter units themselves are all pretty similar between brands. All of them can be hooked up to your house water supply in a number of ways....typically all brands come with a so-called garden hose, hose-bib, or garden hose connector (all names for the same thing) for hooking to a utility sink or an outdoor-type faucet. (You only want to connect your cold-water supply....never hot.) Other types of connections are available after-market if you should need to (e.g.) connect under a sink or behind a toilet or directly to a bare cold-water pipe. There are some differences between brands in filter components (membranes, carbon blocks, DI resin, etc) but primarily the differences you are paying for - after features like TDS meters and pressure gauges - is (hopefully) the quality of assembly (no leaks upon installation) and quality customer service (someone to take care of you when there is a leak or other issue) provided by the company. I've had good experiences with all of the companies listed in this thread so far, including Coralife, FWIW. Definitely shop used before you buy new - these things don't really wear out. Be warned though that a new set of filter components is what makes up a lot of the cost of a new RODI system though - as much as 50% of the cost. Around $70 for a new, complete set of filters wouldn't be too high, depending on the system - could be more. Remember this when negotiating for a price on a used RODI filter as their filter components may be partially or totally worn out...you can't tell until you measure the output water with a TDS meter. It's possible that buying new could be a better value on this basis.)

Good luck! :-)

-Matt
 
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Top Shelf Aquatics
We talked it over last night & we will be investing in a RODI unit.
 
I've narrowed it down to these three...

Coralife PureFlo II RO/DI (50 GPD 4 Stage)
Bulk Reef Supply RO/DI Economy System (75 GPD 4 Stage)
Spectrapure Refurb RO/DI (90 GPD 4 Stage)

Thoughts?
 
I have one from spectra pure and it has worked very well and the resin has lasted a long time.
 
spectrapure all the way...,u wont even know its a refurb..

sent from my iphone slayer
 
You want to go for the most GPD you can get, so definitely the spectrapure from that list.

Also, if your water pressure isn't the best, you may also want to look into a booster...just something to think about.
 

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%

  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%

  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%

  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
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