The problem with this is that you’ll walk in for just rodi and walk out with more coral more fish more food more cuc and you’ll be broke bloke!
******* all those jugs of water will get old quick and you’ll quit.
Keep it simple!
I guess I have more self control than most. Most of the time I go for the specific item and just leave, occasionally I will pick up a few extra items (ie Chemipure Bags, Filter Socks, etc.) but all stuff that I am going to need at some point anyways. I have been doing this for about a year and I only have 4 jugs at most that I fill up at a time. Carry from the LFS to my car right outside the door, drive it less than 2 miles home and stick it in my garage. Bring the jugs in the house when I need it and bring it to temp and put it in my tank. I guess spending less than 5 minutes total hauling 40lb jugs, the short trip to my LFS and only needing to bring the water to temp is far less inconvenient to me than an RODI system and mixing salt. Conversely, I have no dedicated tap to hook the RODI system up to, so I would have to hook and unhook the system every time I needed it, would need to invest $120-$150 on said system, would need 2 $20-$30 garbage cans on rollers (one for salt premix and one for RODI top off water), a $30-$40 water pump to pump the water from the garbage can into the tank, a dedicated tank heater or 2, a place to store the big garbage cans when not in use (the only place I could do it would be my garage and there is a step up from the garage into my house, which would be lots of fun with a big garbage can full of water). I would need to prep my premix the night before and make sure the salinity was just right. I would also periodically have to replace the membranes on my RODI system, adding yet another maintenance cost to an already expensive hobby. If I had a massive 200 gallon or larger tank then I would agree that an RODI system would be less hassle than lugging 60-75 gallons worth of jugs around every week or other week, but for a tank under 100 gallons I only need about 25 gallons worth of pre-mix and RODI water to get through a couple of weeks and I need significantly less equipment and prep time.
My list of equipment is as follows:
5x 5 gallon jugs with screw top lids (About $35-$50)
($6-$10) A couple of 5 gallon buckets or long extension hose to go to bathtub drain
An $8-$13 drain/fill hose with plunger for suction
A 6 foot ladder to place the 5 gallon jug on top of and rotate as needed, if you have a house you probably have a 6 foot ladder already
A bathtub with warm to hot water to place the sealed jugs in and bring them to temp (takes about 30-40 minutes total to heat all the jugs up)
A thermometer $8
An RODI system's list of equipment and issues to deal with is as follows:
A $120-$150 system
A $30-$40 water pump
2 $30-$40 30 gallon or larger garbage cans on rollers (one for saltwater one for RODI water for top ups)
2 $20-$30 extra tank heaters to bring the water to temp
A thermometer $8
The right hookups for the faucet
A place to store the Garbage Cans
a $40 box of Instant Ocean Salt mix that you would need to buy about 3 times a year for a tank under 100 gallons
3-4 gallons of waste water for every gallon of good water produced (which can add a little to your water bill each month if you live in an area where water is pricey)
Every once in a while the replacement cost of membranes
Unless you have a really big tank, I just fail to see the hassle factor/cost savings
Incidentally this is the exact method I use for drain and refill:
