"using distilled water" or "reverse osmosis water"

[brandon429]

I wouldn't be good at that or house plumbing in general either, but azdesertrat would then save the day with a detailed post and it wouldn't matter heh

 

[melypr1985]

Holy crap – this is completely over my head and overwhelming. I bought an RO system which I have no idea how to install… So I've been lurking around here reading the recent posts and I am pretty sure I'm going to screw it up. SWELL.

Dont let all this technical talk scare you. They are just talking about what types of filters and how many to have on a system. Not that you or I can understand any of it lol. They are pretty easy to install and there are lots of videos to show you how. Water goes in, and water goes out. It's intimidating but after you do it, you'll go "wow, easier than it looked".

 

[jsker]

your local hardware store or big box home improvement store will be your friend incase you need fittings to hook the system up. Myself I used a Y hose shut off adapter were my washer is located and used a 1/4 in sink water line adapter to hook mine up.

 

[twilliard]

I see another write up in my future!

 

[twilliard]

Thanks Mel
On my next filter change and di packing I will write it up.
A lot of people like to "see" how stuff works or goes together.
I will be on top of it!

 

[trahelyk]

I've got the Spectrapure that was mentioned earlier in this thread. I worry about it sitting there with residual water all the time between water changes. Seems like bacteria would grow in there and foul the filters. Does anybody else worry about that? I bought the flush kit for the RO membrane, but I haven't installed it yet.

Also, I have this thing installed in the (detached) garage. Should I move it inside before winter comes?

 

[Harold Green]

Justj in case you haven't figured it out yet it's a good idea to buy a tds meter. They can be bought for less than $20 and will tell you when your resin is exhausted or ro membrane is stopped up. There are different hook up options, from a simple hose bib fitting up to a water line tap, all depending on your plumbing and skills. There are float switches that can automatically shut off the filter when a container is full so you don't have to stand there waiting. There are filter companies like filter direct where you can call and get advice from a person if need be and they have a website where you can view accessories available. You'll need to mount the ro where you not only have water available but also a drain to run the reject water to. They may seem pricey up front but there's little doubt that they are necessary for the majority of us to have good water quality in our tanks. The reduction in nitrates and phosphates alone make it worthwhile when you consider all the effort you would likely have to expend removing algae from your tank.

 

[BkReefBaby]

I wish I saw this article earlier I use to have an Aquabuddie RODI unit 50 gallon per day I bought it from Amazon for 50$ it basically comes installed it's cheap and it gets the job done it's great for a small tank

 

[justjes45]

Dont let all this technical talk scare you. They are just talking about what types of filters and how many to have on a system. Not that you or I can understand any of it lol. They are pretty easy to install and there are lots of videos to show you how. Water goes in, and water goes out. It's intimidating but after you do it, you'll go "wow, easier than it looked".

Lol thank goodness! Thank you!

 

[AZDesertRat]

One issue is everything you place in front of the RO membrane has an associated headloss or pressure drop which reduces the efficiency of the RO membrane. The fewer, good filters the better you are. I try to either match my sediment and carbon block micron ranges as in both 1 micron or better yet both 0.5 microns or best of all and what I run myself is a 0.2 micron absolute rated pleated sediment filter with 10x the filtering surface and a 0.5 micron carbon block. By protecting the carbon block as I do I can easily get 18 to 24 months useful life from one set of filters with no evidence of either headloss or chlorine breakthru. I do take the time to occasionally test for chlorine in my RO only or finished water and I have two liquid filled pressure gauges on the system, one on the incoming tap water and one after the carbon block so I can see headloss or pressure drop at a glance.

Coming from a water and wastewater treatment background I thought the more the better too but after spending time with the founder of Spectrapure, who is an absolutely brilliant scientist by the way and has several other very sharp people on his team as well as a nice test facility I saw the advantages of fewer, better filters and have been using that configuration for over about 8 years now on my current RO/DI and the 0.5 micron sediment and carbon configuration on my previous system for 7 years. It really does make a difference.

 

[tomstrange]

I always learn so much coming to this forum... personally, I just went with BRS because of the 'one stop shop' feeling. Everything I needed came with the 6 stage. All the fittings, etc.

Anyway, good luck, it's easier to install/put together than it looks.

And if you haven't already, sign up to get the daily emails from here... there's always something to read that will expand your knowledge and soon your non-reefer friends will look at you like your speaking Martian when you describe things that have become second nature to you!

 

[Fishinwall]

Good stuff

 

[AZDesertRat]

Not a fan of the one stop shop method, you compromise on everything.
I buy RO from people who specialize in RO, lighting from people whose bread and butter is lighting, chemical from those who specialize in chemicals (ie Bulk Reef) and pumps from someone who is pump savvy. When you buy RO from someone who specializes in chemicals you don't get the same knowledge or dedication to research and development of filters, membranes and resins and so on.

 

[BryanD]

Ok- holy cow-
That is a bunch of equipment ! I have only a 30 gallon Nano-
Is there a small version I can get?

Check out Aquatic Lifes RO Buddie, usually about $55-65. I went years using tap, as long as I kept it simple it was OK. I had a huge colony of mushrooms (see Avatar pic, thats from the tank when I was using tap), a nice colony of radioactive dragon eye zoas, and 2 different colonies of Montipora the size of dinner plates plus 2-3 fish. But I was constantly fighting hair algae. When I moved my tank in Nov. 2013 began buying distilled water and could quickly see the difference, at least I wasn't fighting hair algae constantly. After doing that for a year and a half realized I was just wasting money and bought the RO Buddie. The TDS of my tap went from 128 down to 40. So I bought the add-on DI unit and now TDS is zero. Plus you can buy the resin for the DI Unit from Aquatic Life, $40 for 5 pounds, and replace it in the DI cartridge (which is around $27) when its spent. Its small, can be put under a bathroom sink, though I made a little portable stand for mine out of some scrap wood and just hook it up to the shower head when I need water. My water pressure is kinda low, only about 45 pounds, but I'm getting like a gallon and a half in an hour, with about 5 gallons waste water. I've only run about 30-40 gallons through it, but have no problems or complaints. With a tank your size (mine is 65 gallon) should be more than enough.

 

[justjes45]

Well I bought an RO And it is on its way! Had some spare time yesterday so I tested my tapwater with the solution test kits that I have, and now I'm frustrated because it tested perfect on everything. My test kits cover pH alkalinity nitrite nitrate and calcium.
What is a TDS?
This could explain my hair algae…

 

[AZDesertRat]

The RO Buddie is a very low end system at best. You confirmed this when you state the RO took the TDS from 128 down to 40. A good RO membrane will take that 128 down to 2-3 or less so DI will not have a lot to do and last seemingly forever. I would never recommend this system to anyone as it ends up costing much much more to own and operate than a real reef quality RO/DI that only costs $125-$140 initially, uses standard size replacement filters that cost less, last longer, filter better and are much easier to find in the preferred micron ranges.
TDS is total dissolved solids, a measurement of everything in the water that is electrically conductive and the best way we as hobbyists have to test the purity of the water. You cannot own a RO or RO/DI system without having a good temperature compensated handheld TDS meter such as the HM Digital TDS-3, TDS-4TM or AP-1. All can be found at any legitimate RO vendor for $25-$30. Please tell us you didn't waste your money on a portable style RO or RO/DI. If so I would cancel the order while you still have time and do some research on sites such as Spectrapure and BuckeyeHydro as well as read many of the good threads and articles on this and other reef forums so you can make an informed decision and not a snap judgement.

Saltwater test kits are not designed to test tap water in almost all cases.

 

[Turbo's Aquatics Verified Sponsor]

My RO membrane from BRS is a Dow Filmtec, that's top of the line as far as residential use goes if not on par for commercial uses, why would I need to go to any specialty place to get anything else? That membrane takes my 500ppm TDS input water down to about 10-13ppm. I agree that 128->40 is ludicrous.

 

[AZDesertRat]

The membrane from BRS is a dry, untreated and untested Dow Filmtec so you get what you get and there are no guarantees. The average rejection rate most users report is around 97%.
For only a few $$ more you can get a specially treated and individually hand tested Spectrapure Spectra Select 90 GPD high rejection rate membrane guaranteed to be 99% rejection rate.
What most users don't realize is for every 2% you can improve your rejection rate you double the life of your DI resin. The difference between 97% and 99% ends up a huge cost savings over the life of the membrane and most find the initial cost difference in membranes pays for itself at the first DI replacement.
http://spectrapure.com/spectrapure.com/frequently-asked-questions-p2#99percent
http://spectrapure.com/frequently-asked-questions-p2#UNDERSTANDING

There is also a big difference in off the shelf DI resins versus Spectrapure's custom blended SilicaBuster and MaxCap resins which last much much longer and give you a true 0 TDS or 18.2 megaohm pure water.
http://spectrapure.com/FILTERS-MEMB...-DI-Cartridge-Non-Indicating-Standard-10-inch
http://spectrapure.com/FILTERS-MEMB...S-RESIN/MaxCap®-DI-Cartridge-Standard-10-inch

I have found by using the Select membrane and MaxCap SilicaBuster combination my resin is lasting over 8 times longer than when I was using bulk resins or cartridges from any other vendor. Another big savings.
My tap TDS is around 560 right now and my RO only TDS is between 2 and 3 using a handheld COM-100 TDS meter and my MaxCap cartridge lasts over 1000 measured gallons with the SilicaBuster going over 3000 gallons before I start to see even 1 TDS. When I was using a normal Dow Filmtec 75 GPD membrane, (I tried 3 of them and even had Watts Premier which is close to my house bench test them for my peace of mind), my tap was similar but the RO only TDS averaged between 13 and 15 and my normal nuclear grade or semiconductor grade mixed bed resin lasted less than 150 total gallon before the finished RO/DI water was up to 2-3. There really is a difference.

 

[Turbo's Aquatics Verified Sponsor]

Dang man, you just sold me

 

[AZDesertRat]

am a convert myself. If I had not had the opportunity to test things side by side, I have owned 6 RO/DI systems over the last 15-20 years, I wouldn't have believed it myself. I was lucky, Spectrapure is an Arizona company and they helped sponsor some of the local reef clubs and events so we had the chance to test some of their products as they were being developed as long as we kept records and gave them feedback through the process, beta testers. I even got my hands on a lab grade benchtop conductivity/resistivity meter to check my TDS meters accuracy and to test the RO/DI water down to the gnats butt if you know what I mean. I sold my old RO/DI system and bags of bulk resin I had vacuuum sealed and stored in the refrigerator as recommended and bought my first MaxCap system. Would never even think about going back now. I'm 8 years on the original Select membrane in 550-850 TDS Arizona waters and its still at 99.43% rejection rate and going strong. My old systems required a new membrane every 18-24 months but that was also due to the coarse, nominal rated sediment and carbob block filters versus the Spectrapure 0.2 micron absolute sediment filter and 0.5 micron carbon block. Its not just a membrane or DI, it takes quality, well thought out filters and components from start to finish, if you don't protect the carbon wit ha good sediment filter it will fail and take the membrane out which ruins the DI and so on.

I see you are from Iowa, I have lots of relatives, cousins and such around Mason City and Hampton Iowa. Only visited once several years ago but had a good time there.