Best RO/DI Unit for $100 or less

homer1475 said:
Under 100$.... Don't think there is a reliable unit under 100$, even used.

I used an aquatic life RO Buddie for a while, while it is under 100$, the cost of replacing DI cartridges over the course of a year will outweigh the initial cost of a decent unit.

In the 2 years I owned it, I replaced the DI canister at least every 3 months at 20$ a crack. I was only making 10G at a time with an incoming tap TDS of only 24ppm.

I have since switched to a unit from BRS and have made well over 500G of water and have yet to change any cartridges.
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that is crazy wow I've been using the ro buddy for a year and 4 months still pouring 2 tds out of the original membrane and only replaced the sediment and carbon twice at totaling $30 the di maybe every 6 months. I'm pouring 20 a week for w/c and top-offs I'm quite impressed with my unit my tds pour around 260 tap. even George(coralfish12g)gave the unit a shout-out not many I take advice from mouth might have been the pressure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7SvggbAte4
 
mcgyvr said:
mcgyvr didn't ask enough questions really... only the absolute basics IMO...
dang it.. now mcgyvr is talking in the 3rd person... mcgyvr stop it...

When you ask "best"... One cannot possibly answer that without details..
mcgyvr knows that you could go cheap now and just guess only to spend far more in the life of the product because you didn't pick the right system from the start..
mcgyvr knows this... mcgyvr stop talking like that.. :)
Click to expand...

Ok mr. wise guy and a future wannabe mod, how do you expect a newbie to answer all that question? He only have a 29g and looking for a good rodi for around $100 and you ask him:

Source water pressure?
Source TDS?
Chloramines used?
On a well?
What options do you want/need? Dual TDS sensors? ASOV? Booster Pump?

Isn't kinda overboard?:deadhorse1::debi:
 
It's not overboard if he hooks one of these dirt cheap systems up to a municipal supply that will filter out sediment and bacteria (that won't kill his tank) and dumps in a bunch of ammonia and chlorine (that will kill his tank).

OP, a simple way is to go to walmart and get the "Jungle Buddies ammonia test strip" not the 5 in 1 but the ammonia test strips. Test your tap water. It will react to chloramines.

So I just realized there are two people using this thread to buy a cheap RO...

ecarrillo046 - I don't know where you live or who you purchase water from so I cannot suggest IF you have chloramines in your water by looking at the quality report.

Gueeto - you get water from NOLA, you have chloramines.

Chloramines are ammonia and chlorine combined to create a disinfectant that is not easily removed. It takes a lot of activated carbon to break the bond. If you do not break the bond you trash your membrane quickly, you burn DI rapidly, and within short order are producing toxic water out of your filter that will kill your tank. A normal RODI may work for a very short period of time but you will get breakthrough before you know it. Likely within 50 gallons.
 
tkeracer619 said:
It's not overboard if he hooks one of these dirt cheap systems up to a municipal supply that will filter out sediment and bacteria (that won't kill his tank) and dumps in a bunch of ammonia and chlorine (that will kill his tank).

OP, a simple way is to go to walmart and get the "Jungle Buddies ammonia test strip" not the 5 in 1 but the ammonia test strips. Test your tap water. It will react to chloramines.

So I just realized there are two people using this thread to buy a cheap RO...

ecarrillo046 - I don't know where you live or who you purchase water from so I cannot suggest IF you have chloramines in your water by looking at the quality report.

Gueeto - you get water from NOLA, you have chloramines.

Chloramines are ammonia and chlorine combined to create a disinfectant that is not easily removed. It takes a lot of activated carbon to break the bond. If you do not break the bond you trash your membrane quickly, you burn DI rapidly, and within short order are producing toxic water out of your filter that will kill your tank. A normal RODI may work for a very short period of time but you will get breakthrough before you know it. Likely within 50 gallons.
Click to expand...



Could I just use the API freshwater master test kit to test ammonia?


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tkeracer619 said:
It's not overboard if he hooks one of these dirt cheap systems up to a municipal supply that will filter out sediment and bacteria (that won't kill his tank) and dumps in a bunch of ammonia and chlorine (that will kill his tank).

OP, a simple way is to go to walmart and get the "Jungle Buddies ammonia test strip" not the 5 in 1 but the ammonia test strips. Test your tap water. It will react to chloramines.

So I just realized there are two people using this thread to buy a cheap RO...

ecarrillo046 - I don't know where you live or who you purchase water from so I cannot suggest IF you have chloramines in your water by looking at the quality report.

Gueeto - you get water from NOLA, you have chloramines.

Chloramines are ammonia and chlorine combined to create a disinfectant that is not easily removed. It takes a lot of activated carbon to break the bond. If you do not break the bond you trash your membrane quickly, you burn DI rapidly, and within short order are producing toxic water out of your filter that will kill your tank. A normal RODI may work for a very short period of time but you will get breakthrough before you know it. Likely within 50 gallons.
Click to expand...

Heres a report of what is in the water in my city (I hope)

http://friendlyfortuna.com/DocumentCenter/View/2638
 
No, you need a "Total Ammonia" test kit. The API is just free ammonia. Since the ammonia is bound to chlorine it is not free for the test kit to measure. After extensive testing of many brands I use the Jungle Buddies ammonia test strips from walmart. They aggressively react to chloramines.

ecarrillo046, after looking at the water quality report you sent me it does not appear that your municipal uses chloramines, they are using chlorine. There has been a fair amount of time since that report so it is probably a worthwhile call to them to ask.

The refurbished unit from spectrapure is a great unit with quality filters from one of the best in the business. I would go with this unit or one from Buckeye Hydro. http://spectrapure.com/Refurbished-90-GPD-RODI-System
 
tkeracer619 said:
It's not overboard if he hooks one of these dirt cheap systems up to a municipal supply that will filter out sediment and bacteria (that won't kill his tank) and dumps in a bunch of ammonia and chlorine (that will kill his tank).

OP, a simple way is to go to walmart and get the "Jungle Buddies ammonia test strip" not the 5 in 1 but the ammonia test strips. Test your tap water. It will react to chloramines.

So I just realized there are two people using this thread to buy a cheap RO...

ecarrillo046 - I don't know where you live or who you purchase water from so I cannot suggest IF you have chloramines in your water by looking at the quality report.

Gueeto - you get water from NOLA, you have chloramines.

Chloramines are ammonia and chlorine combined to create a disinfectant that is not easily removed. It takes a lot of activated carbon to break the bond. If you do not break the bond you trash your membrane quickly, you burn DI rapidly, and within short order are producing toxic water out of your filter that will kill your tank. A normal RODI may work for a very short period of time but you will get breakthrough before you know it. Likely within 50 gallons.
Click to expand...

I have a BRS 4stage value 75gpd for $110 on sale 2 years ago.
My tap water TDS is 350 with chloramines and chlorine and ammonia around 3ppm and my 10mos color change DI have 50% left with 0tds, membrane
haven't change just the 2 prefilters is change every 6mos. I do 5g WC and 5g TO every week .
 
Color change has nothing to do with the actual capacity but is instead a dye that comes out over time and since chlorine and ammonia are gasses they do not register on a TDS meter. Cation DI resin absorbs ammonia and could be exhausted. You wouldn't know it unless you are specifically testing for it.
 
tkeracer619 said:
Color change has nothing to do with the actual capacity but is instead a dye that comes out over time and since chlorine and ammonia are gasses they do not register on a TDS meter. Cation DI resin absorbs ammonia and could be exhausted. You wouldn't know it unless you are specifically testing for it.
Click to expand...

Thanks I won't be going that far into it since I only have a small 45g sps tank and 0 tds seem fine to me since everything is thriving with no pest algae. I'm happy to bring my tap water from 350-400 tds to 0, if I was to buy a another one i'll go with 150gpd for less waste.
 
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MakomekTVN said:
Thanks I won't be going that far into it since I only have a small 45g sps tank and 0 tds seem fine to me since everything is thriving with no pest algae. I'm happy to bring my tap water from 350-400 tds to 0, if I was to buy a another one i'll go with 150gpd for less waste.
Click to expand...

150gpd still wants a 4:1 ratio. You can reduce the ratio but quality of water output is reduced and the life of the membrane suffers. If reduced waste is what you aim to do just reduce the ratio on your current system, you don't need to buy a new unit to do that. Also, going to 150gpd will cut your contact time in half making any breakthrough worse. I suggest not doing that unless you address the prefilters.

Also, next time you change prefilters you can buy the right filters. They go in the same housings and don't cost that much more. This is the one that BRS sells if that is who you like to buy from. http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/fx-chloraguard-chlorine-chloramine-carbon-block-filtrex.html
 
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tkeracer619 said:
No, you need a "Total Ammonia" test kit. The API is just free ammonia. Since the ammonia is bound to chlorine it is not free for the test kit to measure. After extensive testing of many brands I use the Jungle Buddies ammonia test strips from walmart. They aggressively react to chloramines.

ecarrillo046, after looking at the water quality report you sent me it does not appear that your municipal uses chloramines, they are using chlorine. There has been a fair amount of time since that report so it is probably a worthwhile call to them to ask.

The refurbished unit from spectrapure is a great unit with quality filters from one of the best in the business. I would go with this unit or one from Buckeye Hydro. http://spectrapure.com/Refurbished-90-GPD-RODI-System
Click to expand...



I know this is an old thread but I found a Ro/DI system that is similar to the one you linked and I'm considering biting the bullet on. Would you consider this one over the one you recommended?

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/75gpd-4-stage-value-ro-di-system-bulk-reef-supply.html


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I would think your getting more bang for the buck with the spectrapure unit.

You get 90GPD Vs. 75GPD, and the pressure gauge is a nice addition. The spectrapure unit is 10$ cheaper too.
 
homer1475 said:
I would think your getting more bang for the buck with the spectrapure unit.

You get 90GPD Vs. 75GPD, and the pressure gauge is a nice addition. The spectrapure unit is 10$ cheaper too.
Click to expand...



~$20 shipping so although the initial cost is cheaper overall the shipping addition makes the spectrapure more expensive >.< regardless I see why it's better. Going to check out some on Amazon that have a similar price but have better specs and get back to this thread


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I personally debated this for weeks. My biggest concern was waste water. I HATE seeing all that water just flown down the sink (don't have a collection system for it yet). Ultimately, I ended up with the BRS 150gpd system with the water saver thing. Cost me about $230, but I'm super happy with it. Makes water so darn quickly. Top quality. Least amount of waste water. Worth it IMO.
 
So I'm having a bit of a decision to make. So I'm debating continuing with buying RO water at my LFS or just getting a Unit. Its $4 per 10 gallons of water. I plan on doing 5 gallon water changes biweekly on my 40 gallon tank. Considering the price he water bill will be I still don't know if its worthwhile to get the RO unit price wise.


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Hey I got into the hobby a few months back and have researched and noticed a lot of members happy w eBay RODI units.
I decided to purchase this http://www.ebay.com/itm/191148504782

I have hard water. Over 550 ppm. W this unit it brought it down to 0 ppm. I am pretty impressed and thus far gas worked beyond my expectations. Plus it comes w a nozzle for you to also dispense drinking water.

I am not affiliated w this product just giving you my experience. Hope this helps
 
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