RODI units...

[Skeptic9962]

i just bought the five stage RODI unit from the filter guys with built in TDS meter and my question was how long do the RODI filter media last i know it will be different for how big the tank is and how many water changes but for me all i have is a 29 gal. and a 32 gal. both are open tops so quite a bit of evaperation..also will be doing a 5-10gal. water change every week on each... so i probably will be using 20-30gal. a week at most...guessing they last around 6months?

any input even just a guess would be nice i just have no clue on how long they will last never used one before kinda relieved so i dont have to go to the fish store and lug all those jugs around anymore =P that a BIG plus and definatly will pay off in the long run =P

thanks for input

Dan

 

[Shane and John]

Hey Dan...great Question...I just got mine and ran i t today for the first time.....I Love it...but was curious how long the filters will last for as well..!

 

[danno14]

Well, you aren't going to like my reply, as it doesn't reall y give you a timeline, but here goes: The time they will last/gallons they will proccess is dependant more on the quality of the water from your utility or well than most anything else. With your system size, you won't likely need a lot of water. If the water going in is high in TDS (Dissolved solids), they will last less than if the water is "clean" of those TDS's. Figure that the less the filter system has to "work", the longer it will last. Measure the TDS going in = if less than 100ppm, count your blessings. If 300+, plan upon changing cartridges more often
Rgds, Dan

 

[jeffnewt]

Here is a question I have been pondering: My TDS reading for my tap water here in ballard is 30-45 last time I checked. Some fellow reefers here have made some good arguments that RO water is really not neccesary. Feedback?

 

[burning2nd]

i have the ocean reef II.... i went 8 months and changed the Di and filters.... i went another few months and replaced the Ro and the di once more..


i just did the ro friday night

its really gonna depend on the tds of the input water...

you will also notice a change in color of your filters and di's

thats when its time... the filters should stay white... and once they get a yellow tint its time to change... the di if its color changeing will go from black 2 grey... then its time also..
the di will ware out fast if your ro is smoked... so you can judge that by the amount of time it takes between di's

good buy you will be happy..

my tds are anywhere from 175ppm to 35ppm intake and 0-1 out only seen 1 once

 

[Holygral]

Just figure how much water you are going to put thru it and what your TDS is going in and give The Filter Guys a shout and they will be able to give you a prett good time table.

 

[Sherman]

Is nobody using the RO flush kit? I've only had my 5-stage for a few months, but a close friend has had his for years. His current RO membrane is 4 years old, and still working as good as when it was new. Perhaps this is credit due to the flush kit. Either way, the inline TDS meter should be able to tell you what's going into the DO, out of the RO, and out of each DI. I'm used to seeing 30:2:0:0 on my pretty new unit.

You can tell when the carbon and sediment are going bad because the pressure gauge in the RO won't be reading as high, which points toward clogging upstream (in the mechanical media).

You can tell when the first DI is going bad when it reads any TDS at all. Having a second DI will pull out any straggler TDS, certainly, but it's a safe assumption that the second DI should last through three first DIs.

As stated above, this will all depend on how much "work" your filtration is doing. I don't consider 1TDS to be an acceptable measure out of the unit myself. Jeffnewt, I would consider RO/DI to be mandatory no matter where you live. 30TDS is still a lot of junk, especially since some of it is chloramine, fluoride, and whatever else your municipality treats their water with.

 

[Reefbound]

my current ro membrane is 2 years old and counting. our city water coming in has a tds reading of 47, thats really low so my filters will last a long time but as stated above if you have a tds of 300 then you will have to change more often.just watch your tds meter when it stops reading zero its time to change. whats your tds coming in?

 

[burning2nd]

what is the proper flush valve procedure?

 

[Reefbound]

what is the proper flush valve procedure?

On my unit there is one of these http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~idproduct~RO1313.html

not the exact one but its a couple of tee's and a valve that bypasses the flow restrictor and flushes the membrane... I do mine once or twice a month.

 

[kimo4848]

If you test ph comming out of the ro will that tell you if it needs changing? I was getting a reading of 7.0 now I'm getting a reading of 8.2. I did not test for hardness yet, i't only about 4 months old.

I look forward to your replys.

 

[kimo4848]

I believe it's a must, I thought the same thing and didn't start with it. My tank was looking okay and stuff was starting to build up on the rocks then I switched over to RO and over night a complete change. Fish and corals were very happy. I couldn't believe how much color came out on the corals. Algae completly gone.

Here is a question I have been pondering: My TDS reading for my tap water here in ballard is 30-45 last time I checked. Some fellow reefers here have made some good arguments that RO water is really not neccesary. Feedback?

 

[Sherman]

Kimo, the pH of RO/DI isn't a reliable measure of anything. Unfortunately, the water is so stripped of anything solid, there isn't a way to measure pH. The pH will fluctuate greatly even with something as simple as agitation.

 

[kimo4848]

Thank you for the info

 

[jeffnewt]

My main issue in switching over to non-ro/di water for a while is the huge $$ cost of all that rejected water. It takes 6-7 gallons of waste water to get about 1 gallon of r/o water on my system, which is about 6 months old. I haven't worked a day in 2 months and have less then 100 bucks to my name. Salt and additives alone are a luxury at this point.

The other reason I am starting to question the need for r/o water is the fact that all my tank has in it right now are shrooms, zoas, 1 milliphora and countless other hitchhikers, my eel and one fish plus crabs and snails. Everything seems to be really tough, and I treat the water before I add it. There is some excess nuitrients however, and I am seeing a huge surge in hair algea beacuse of that. I just wish I could get r/o water without wasting so much water. Intergrating my unit into a huge holding tank for the toliet would be awsome...

 

[Holygral]

you may want to discharge your waste RODI water into your washer to help save $.

 

[kimo4848]

That would be nice to use the waiste for something good.

 

[jeffnewt]

After looking in the sump today, I have decided that even the little bit of non-r/o water I used in the last 2 weeks made a huge increase in the hair algea. I guess the only thing that really made the r/o water overly expensive is when I left it on overnight. At about 100 GPD, that makes it about 50 gallons of R/O water in 12 hours, plus 5 times that in waste,(250 gallons) thats about 300 gallons of wasted water. yeah, thats expensive.

 

[Sherman]

Jeff, are you behind a water meter, I take it? Luckily (and strangely), we don't have that in my area, so it's easy to deal with. Nonetheless, I still took the responsible route and plumbed my waste water into the garden. My father in law lives in Montana, and his water is metered, but only inside water. All outside water is free. If I were in that situation, I'd find a way to plumb from the outside lines. Since that's where all the waste water is going anyway, I don't even have a legal issue with it, personally.

Just a thought, in case that's your situation.

 

[danno14]

30TDS is still a lot of junk

Here here! That "junk" is also cumulative.... once you put it in the tank via top-off or water changes, it simply adds up and provides a food source for that scourge- algae. Limit what you put in and skim the excess out.

what is the proper flush valve procedure?

I use one and flush for the last 2-3 minutes before shutting off the unit. I also flush for the same amount of time when starting to run water. Note- My RODI does not turn on/off automatically, just so I can flush it each time.

I treat the water before I add it

What do you treat with? I would evaluate if the treatment costs you more than a clean water, and if said treatment really supplies you with what you need. From the animals you listed, you do have predominantly hardy stuff. The junk that goes in also sounds like it is building up and giving you the algal issues I spoke of. Perhaps a reefer more local to you with an RODI can help by donating water until you are more solvent. (Karma is good for both parties involved )

If you HAVE the RODI, by all means use it! The stress and aggravation alone will outweigh the $$$, and these critters get expensive to lose.

Best of luck, D