Can you/have you justified the purchase of an RO Unit for your RSM 130?

[Dash10]

I love the look of a sparkling clean tank, but I have recently been guilty of doing water changes only once a month or so. As a result, I spend lengthy hours (about 3 or 4) every month cleaning undesirable contents out of my tank and then carrying out a 25 - 30% water change.

I'm deciding to step it up a notch and commit to weekly water changes (we'll see how long it lasts!). In any case, I purchase RO/DI water from a local grocery store and cart it back and forth between my house in 3, 5 gallon jugs which costs about $10. I dread this trip on a monthly basis and now that I want to step water changes up to about 5g per week ($3 or so per week), I want to pose the following three questions to you knowledgable folks:

- Can you/have you justified the purchase of your own RO unit for your RSM130?
- If so, how much did the unit cost?
- What are your estimated annual/monthly costs for operating the unit?

Any decent three stage RO unit seems to cost at least $250.00, and then you need to replace the filters regularly beyond that. Excluding things like gas (which is very minimal), if I step up water changes to 5G a week I'll be forking out about $175 annually for water.

I have had my RSM130 for around 3 years now... I didn't anticipate keeping it this long as I wasn't sure how I'd fair with the hobby. And as much as I hate to admit it, I have a very strong attachment to my tank and fish now and would like to make an informed decision about effective/efficient maintenance moving forward.

Thanks for the help gang!

 

[jpsika08]

I couldn't for my RSM250, but it would be nice having your own home made water, still at the end, can you justify having a tank? guess not so go ahead and get that unit just my .02 cents

 

[magicmann]

I purchased my RO Unit beforeand made sure it was all working before my 250 was delivered. I don't want to rely on anyone else for my water.
In my opininiom giving the money spent on fish corals and all the addon an RO Unit is a bargain.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Here my unit... even top-off water will pay for it in about a year or so... my lfs sells ro/di 1$ gallon & sw $1.30 - weekly 15% water changes will help your tank greatly

75/150 GPD 4 Stage RO DI Water Filter
Retail Price: $144.95 Free shipping - RS Sponsor & Owners a nice guy.

75/150 GPD 4 Stage RO DI Water Filter [RODI75GPD] - $144.95 : TB Aquatics - Top Quality Aquarium Products, Aquarium & Drinking Water Filtration, Amazing Service!

•Lifetime Warranty! Buy with complete peace of mind.
•Each unit is built and tested to order in the USA!
•4 Stages
◦1 Micron Polypropylene Sediment Filter
◦1 Micron CTO Carbon Block for chlorine and VOC removal
◦75 Gallon Per Day Filmtec RO Membrane or 150 GPD 98% RO Membrane
◦Refillable DI Cartridge with nuclear grade mixed bed DI resin
•Includes your choice of a faucet adapter, hose adapter or saddle valve
•Includes ball valve to shutoff unit
•Includes drain saddle valve
•All fittings are John Guest and include locking clips
•Includes cannister wrench to assist changing filters
•Includes complete instructions
•All tubing is color coded
•Please send us an email with any questions and see how responsive our support is
•Lifetime warranty on unit gives you peace of mind

 

[Reefmack]

I bought mine to avoid making trips to buy RO/DI water at my LFS - the hassle and the time and gas money savings were worth it to me. I think the unit was less than $200. I have very soft water so my filters/DI resin doesn't need changing very often. I'm over a year on the filters/DI and just bought a new set of 3 filters and a DI cartridge for $39. The membranes should last a few years before needing replacing. For me it made sense.

 

[Dash10]

Thanks for the responses guys.

Glenn, you have an RSM130 and carry out regular water changes - how often do you change the filters on that thing?

Any other RSM130 owners purchase an RO unit?

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

You are very welcome - Steve (Shamus) bought one like this too... I think Steve bought one model up, with TDS meter

I have only had mine about 6 months... don't think I will have to change cartridges but every couple years.

I think a large % of the RSM Club has ro/di units... I bought my water ro/di & sw from lfs for over 12 months, I still buy my sw from lfs just convenient for me

 

[Dash10]

Terry, out of curiousity, what 4 stage unit did you buy?

Everything is more expensive up here in Canada, so this is why I'm debating the investment.

On the plus side, apparently Toronto has some of the highest quality water in North America.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

If it helps... another great company & quality ro/di $144 5 stage on sale

Reef Aquarium Filtration – Reverse Osmosis Water Filter Systems | BulkReefSupply.com - English

 

[Reefmack]

I got a 5 stage to be sure I was removing as many impurities as possible. I think this is the one I got (it's been a while so it's hard to remember):

Aquarium Water | Reverse Osmosis | RODI Water | ReefKeeper Water | TYPHOON III AQUARIUM RODI 75 or 100 GPD

it may have been this one:

Aquarium Water | Reverse Osmosis | RODI Water | ReefKeeper Water | Typhoon 5 stage RODI Reefkeeper 75 GPD

Surprisingly it came with a water pressure gauge, although it wasn't expected or really needed.

It was on sale at the time, plus Air Water Ice is a Reef Sanctuary sponsor and I think this code for 10% off still works:

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums...-air-water-ice-all-rs-members.html#post490884

If you have good water quality, and soft water (mine is 20ppm), that extends the cartridge life. I'd recommend getting one that has a DI cartridge - the DI removes things that the RO alone won't.

 

[oakleyx]

I bought this one from P U R E W A T E R C L U B for 98 bucks.

Aqua Reef RO DI Reverse Osmosis water System ROH-6BB-100
[ROH-6BB-100] $98.00


I'm happy with it.

-Dan

 

[Reefmack]

That's a nice price Dan!

 

[tnwillia]

Here is mine, been going strong for 19 months. I make about 30 gal a week between water change ant top-off refills. It paid for itself a long time ago. Have fun!

The Optima Vision

 

[Reefmack]

Nice one Tom and also a nice price.

 

[tnwillia]

Price had gone up a few months ago but now it's lower than when I got mine. Thanks Terry!

 

[jpsika08]

If interested Foster and smith has some Summer Sales on RO/DI units:

Water Purification: Aquarium Reverse Osmosis Systems

 

[clownfishheaven]

My back says it is justified :LOL:

 

[jpsika08]

Lol

 

[jpsika08]

Glenn, I think I'll go with your unit when times come to take the decision, one question though, what would be the difference between this and the Kent Maxxima Hi-S 35GPD?

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Juan not sure... I will have to look at that one some more... but I don't think you want one as slow as 35 gallons per day - mine is 100 gallons per day.