Salt Mixes--is it Ford or Chevy?

[dkeller_nc]

Aquatic Life RO Buddy. Like everything else, it's a get what you pay for sort of thing, and with chloramines the carbon cartridge might not last as long as you want.

I cannot comment on the cost of replacement cartridges, either. It may be a thing like printer ink - you can buy the printer for next to nothing, it's the ink that will cost you.

But if you have a small tank, I'd personally say that getting the AL 4-stage RO buddy beats the stuffing out of hauling buckets back and forth to the LFS, and possibly taking a chance on whether they maintain their system or not. And the gas and time to go to the LFS is, of course, not free.

And, btw, the 5-stage BRS systems aren't that much - they're $200. That's without a TDS meter, which is something I'd recommend, but if you're cash constrained, it's possible to just monitor the resin - when about half of the canister changes color, change it.

Full disclosure - I use the BRS system (custom configured), but I also make a fair bit of RODI water, and take extra steps to ensure that there's nothing (and absolutely nothing) in the water. But that's a bit of overkill; I'm a chemical engineer, so purifying water is a "thing" with me.

 

[lpsouth1978]

I use RO water for everything in my life. The water where I'm at is GARBAGE, so we have to have RO units in the home just for drinking and cooking. I recently picked up a 400GPD light commercial RO system, with a 20g storage tank, and added the BRS dual canister DI to it. I currently only have a 40g reef, but I LOVE that I can have almost 15g of 0TDS water virtually on demand. I feel like this was the best $600 I have spent on my "Oceanic" hobby.

I was one of those that learned the hard way that not starting with the best water possible, will only lead to problems later. Can it be done without an RO? Sure, but it is SOOOO much easier with one.