Tropical Fish Forums

[Barby Girl]

I started shopping around today for the RO/DI. I found something that was just a deionizer, but the package claimed it removed 99.9% of all the nasties (it gave the full list, same things the big RO/DI units claim to remove) from tap water. Would a unit like this be acceptable? It was $60, replacement filters (reccommended replacement 6 months) were $30. What I liked about it was it was small (my biggest concern on the RO/DI is they're so big!). I'm not trying to be cheap, but the package made it sound like it was all I needed, opinions?
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Barby Girl

[SoS]

could give this a try

http://www.petsolutions.com/Tap+Water+Filter-I-17101175-I-C-44-C-.aspx

saves a lot of space
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150 Gallon (567.811768 liters) community tank, 50 Gallon African Tank, 7 reef tanks, 6 FOLR, 28 freshwater tanks

[Barby Girl]

That looks like the exact same one I saw in the store! The package did not mention reverse osmosis, only deionization which is why I was wondering if it was good enough. Thanks! It's cheaper through that website.
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Barby Girl

[sirreal63]

The main problem with a filter like that is it will get used up too quickly and the long term expense will be higher than a real ro/di filter.
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Out on the road today...I saw a DeadHead sticker on a Cadillac...
Jack
110 Gallon DSA Pentagon

[Barby Girl]

If it will provide the proper water, I would perfer the small size versus higher cost. I will use this one if it is acceptable and then go full out RO/DI after hubby and I get into a house which will be (if everything goes to plan) two years from now.
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Barby Girl

[sirreal63]

It claims to filter 50-150 gallons, at roughly 35-40 bucks delivered you will not save anything to make questionable water. A decent ro/di is 120 bucks delivered, so lets say that little faucet filter makes 100 gallons of clean water before it is exhausted, after you have bought the third one you would have already paid for an RO/DI that will make a lot more water that is pure. I seriously doubt that faucet filter will give you pure water. If it relies mainly on a DI resin, that resin will be exhausted long before you make 100 gallons of pure water. You are looking to make water that is 99.99% pure with practically no dissolved organics in it. Currently there are only a couple ways to make pure water, distillation and reverse osmosis followed by a DeIonization resin. Distillation is impractical for home use and even if you find distilled water on the shelf, a TDC check on it will show dissolved organics because of the collection and processing methods are not as exacting as reefers require. 95% pure is acceptible for most applications, but we are shooting for 100% pure. Anything you add to the tank must be dealth with, so why add anything that you do not have to?
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Out on the road today...I saw a DeadHead sticker on a Cadillac...
Jack
110 Gallon DSA Pentagon

[SoS]

How big is this tank gonna be?

I ran my 55 reef using water from that portable and it worked great. I had zero unwanted algae or slime, and my corals flourished. I used a few big 7 gallon jugs to hold the water and a timer. Got the timing down on how long it would take to fill the jug and it worked very well. I never got 150 gallons out of it, but I would say I got a 100 from each cartridge easy. If your running a nano-reef 20gal or under it will work fine.
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150 Gallon (567.811768 liters) community tank, 50 Gallon African Tank, 7 reef tanks, 6 FOLR, 28 freshwater tanks

[Barby Girl]

It's a 46g. So might not necessarily be cost effective, but I think I'll deal with the cost. And don't the filters last longer the better your tap water is? As I said before, my apartment manager made a big deal out of the apartment buildings water source being very very good, so maybe I'll be able to get closer to 150g. I'll try it out, with the cost of everything else, it's really not a large expense comparitively even if I only use it for a year.
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Barby Girl

[sirreal63]

Initially it will work if it is just DI resin but DI is not effecient and will become used up too quickly requiring replacements sooner than you want. It will work, but with a tank your size you will discover it doesn't last long enough. My RO/DI is about 14" long and 16" high and it hooks on to temporaily to a kitchen faucet, after I make a weeks worth of toposs and water change water I unhook it. It couldn't be easier or more economical.

I guess I am a purist and a cheap one, I wouldn't trust just DI to work for very long. I run a double DI cartridge on my RO and it only lasts about 6 months. If you do get the filter, make sure you also get a tdc tester as well so you can monitor the quality of the water coming out of the filter. It will tell you when it is time to change the resin.
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Out on the road today...I saw a DeadHead sticker on a Cadillac...
Jack
110 Gallon DSA Pentagon

[Barby Girl]

Sirreal... The RO/DIs I saw online seemed much bigger and more complicated then yours. Can you tell me the brand/model? I trust the knowledge and personal expirience from you guys and if you say this is the only way for me to go, then I'll do it, but it needs to be space practical which it sounds as if yours is, so I want one like yours. Maybe I wasn't searching correctly, but everything I seemed to be finding was either huge or installed permanently as part of your kitchen sink, neither of which I can do. Again I say, thanks for putting up with my stupid newbieness. On a bright note, I hope to be picking up my tank Sunday, I still have some work to do rearranging the space I want to put it in. I still won't be anywhere near ready to put the water in it, but it will be one step closer.
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Barby Girl