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i was thinking about getting a RO device and i want to know all about them. but what i really need to know is:

what do i do i hook it up to: my tank or to my water faucet?

how much would one cost me (i have a 55 gal.)

whats your favortie type of RO device

and finally

will it help purify my water so much better itll be worth the money?

thnx !


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pnh

You hook it up to your water faucet.

I got an aquasafe unit 100gpd 6 stage RO/DI from ebay, and it cost 150USD shipped.

This is the only type I've had, but it works really well. I've had it a few months and I still get 0 TDS.

It's worth the money to me. Tons less algae is only a good thing.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Would using distilled water be better then RO water?

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pnh

RO and DI are similar in purity to each other, DI being a little more pure than RO water. However, using just DI is more expensive than using an RO unit. With only a DI unit, you have to replace the resin(filter media) after a short while. Sometimes 100 gallons. If based on 5 gallon a day usage (I use about 2 a day - 5 a week topoff and 10 for a water change) RO membranes need to be replaced after several years if their prefilters are replaced often enough, say every six months or 1000 gallons or something like that.

The best thing to get is a combined RO/DI unit. You usually end up with 0 TDS(100% purity) or thereabouts. The RO unit does most of the work, so you don't have to replace the DI resin as much.

Initially I used a DI unit, because it was cheaper start up, but I ended up getting an RO/DI unit, because it is cheaper long term. Looking back on it, I should have just got the RO/DI in the first place.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

However, using just DI is more expensive than using an RO unit. With only a DI unit, you have to replace the resin(filter media) after a short while.

Not entirely true...a straight DI unit will actually cost you less money in the long run. There are a lot of people ditching ro and ro/di units and going with straight DI because the cost in the long run is so much cheaper. No more buying RO membranes, carbon filters, sediment filters, etc. A company in Germany is making straight DI units and the resin can be recharged using Muratic acid...the initial cost invested is a slight bit more than a ro/di unit, but in the end it will save a ton of money.

I plan on ditching my ro/di unit and going with a straight DI unit within the next year...

Oh and another benefit of the straight DI unit...No waste water!

Oh and DI is different than distilled...to answer the question, you can use distilled, but its not necessarily better than ro or ro/di

Hmmm...I've heard of those, but they have 2 seperate "beds" of resin, one for positively charged ions, one for negative. You have to keep them seperate because each requires a different method of recharging.

No waste water would be a good thing, but how often would you have to recharge (or is that de-charge) them, and how much does that cost for the amount of acid necessary? And how safe are these acids to be using?

I was referring to the more commonly available "mixed bed" DI units that need their resins replaced entirely, those are more expensive in the long run.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

the cost for the acids and the safety of the acids is pretty cheap and very safe...

You are correct, they have two seperate chambers and the amount of water you can pass thru them before needing to recharge them depends on the size of the unit...

They are great units...one of my friends/reef club members is the US distributor for them and currently has Steven Pro and Anthony Calfo pushing them for him since they both use them and love them