Overstocker
Aquarium Advice Freak
I can get saltwater at .35 cents a gallon and plain RO at .23 cents at my lfs. Is an RO unit worth the money and what are the hidden costs (filter replacements etc...) :?
Thanks,
David
Thanks,
David
Is and RO worth it?
- Thread starter Overstocker
- Start date
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Well I can say what made me want an RO system was paying $1 per gallon for SW and .50 for top off water!! In your case you have it good. If I could get it for that price I would buy it for sure!! Plus not to mention the cost of filter cartidges for the Ro system....
BillyZ
Aquarium Advice Addict
i have a 55 gallon and I top off about 5 gallons of water once or twice a week and do a 5 gallon water change about once or twice a month.
so for fresh water your spending about .50 a week or about $2 a month. add another buck in there for sw for changes and you're lookin at an average of $3 a month for water. in a year you'll spend about $36. Thats really not too bad... until you consider the "uh ohs" that come up. Something has gone haywire and your nitrites are spiking. you need to do a water change ASAP, but it's friday night and the LFS isn't open this weekend cause this is the fourth of july weekend. You see where I'm going? And if your like me... the LFS isnt just down the street... it's a 20+ minute drive. Your buying piece of mind and convience. I like the fact that I can have a 30 gallon rubbermaid full of fresh RO water on hand at all times.
JMO, if the LFS is close and you have the means to get extra water from them to keep on hand in case of an emergency, then maybe you don't need one. Up to you
so for fresh water your spending about .50 a week or about $2 a month. add another buck in there for sw for changes and you're lookin at an average of $3 a month for water. in a year you'll spend about $36. Thats really not too bad... until you consider the "uh ohs" that come up. Something has gone haywire and your nitrites are spiking. you need to do a water change ASAP, but it's friday night and the LFS isn't open this weekend cause this is the fourth of july weekend. You see where I'm going? And if your like me... the LFS isnt just down the street... it's a 20+ minute drive. Your buying piece of mind and convience. I like the fact that I can have a 30 gallon rubbermaid full of fresh RO water on hand at all times.
JMO, if the LFS is close and you have the means to get extra water from them to keep on hand in case of an emergency, then maybe you don't need one. Up to you
revhtree
Aquarium Advice Addict
I use Tap water. :?
lando
Aquarium Advice Addict
The convience factor is worth it for me. I loose about 7-10 gal. per week due to evaporation and do a 10 gal. water change every other week. I like having water to go when I need it. No planing and no trips to the LFS. Plus, I always have water on hand for any emegencies. You can get RO units on beay for pretty cheap, a great investment IMO.
Biggen
Aquarium Advice Addict
I agree with the above as far as convenience goes. Besides, I like having water on hand incase of an emergency. I wouldn't like having to run down to the LFS to buy water if something should happen.
I also like the fact that I know the condition of my filters in my unit. The LFS goes through a ton of water a day. I would bet that most LFS don't replace their filters in a timely manner so you don't really know the quality of water you are getting out of their filters without a TDS meter.
I also like the fact that I know the condition of my filters in my unit. The LFS goes through a ton of water a day. I would bet that most LFS don't replace their filters in a timely manner so you don't really know the quality of water you are getting out of their filters without a TDS meter.
ellisz
Aquarium Advice Addict
Not sure if this is good or not but I have been using water from the water machines at the grocery. I have 3 5 gal containers and seems like I am filling them up way too much. I got a TDS meter yesterday and did some testing. My tap water came out 182 and the RO water came out 31. This is better but I hope to get better than 31 with a RO/DI filter at home.
I will be getting one soon. Alot of people buy the RO units from Ebay but do you buy the filters on Ebay as well? I have been looking at an aquasafe unit and a case of filters and a case of DI will run $100 shipped. Should I get this up front or can you get them cheaper elsewhere?
I will be getting one soon. Alot of people buy the RO units from Ebay but do you buy the filters on Ebay as well? I have been looking at an aquasafe unit and a case of filters and a case of DI will run $100 shipped. Should I get this up front or can you get them cheaper elsewhere?
brndfrb
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Definitly worth it!!!
Are you prepaired to transport all that water all the time? Remember you need top off water and if your tanks of any size thats at least 5-7 gal a week in just topoff water and then you have water change water.
Dont look at a RO unit as an expense but as an investment. You can not only use the water for your tanks but you aswell can benifit from clean water for drinking. There are costs of replacing the membrane and the filter cartrages and the frequency of doing that will depend on your quality of tap water. As you can expect dirty tap water will need more filter changing than cleaner tap water.
Your saltwater tank expepcially if you have a reef will benifit from the purer water being used.
Dont look at a RO unit as an expense but as an investment. You can not only use the water for your tanks but you aswell can benifit from clean water for drinking. There are costs of replacing the membrane and the filter cartrages and the frequency of doing that will depend on your quality of tap water. As you can expect dirty tap water will need more filter changing than cleaner tap water.
Your saltwater tank expepcially if you have a reef will benifit from the purer water being used.
SquishyFish
Aquarium Advice Addict
I'll give you a situation that I found myself in night before last.
I work a lot of hours the last week of the month, and a lot of times my tank is slightly neglected during that time. I thought I had a jug of water in the garage waiting incase I needed to top off. Turned out I didnt..I had used it and forgotten about it. The tank was blowing bubbles and I had no top off water...and its 9:00 at night. My tank will not go all night with out the pumps on and still have the fish alive in the morning. Luckliy, I had a large extra pump that I put at the top of the water and ran, agitating the water a lot, to oxygenate the water. Everyone did fine. But I would not have had that problem if I had hooked up the R/O unit that was sitting in the living room.
My point...its worth the investment.
I work a lot of hours the last week of the month, and a lot of times my tank is slightly neglected during that time. I thought I had a jug of water in the garage waiting incase I needed to top off. Turned out I didnt..I had used it and forgotten about it. The tank was blowing bubbles and I had no top off water...and its 9:00 at night. My tank will not go all night with out the pumps on and still have the fish alive in the morning. Luckliy, I had a large extra pump that I put at the top of the water and ran, agitating the water a lot, to oxygenate the water. Everyone did fine. But I would not have had that problem if I had hooked up the R/O unit that was sitting in the living room.
My point...its worth the investment.
Overstocker
Aquarium Advice Freak
Thanks for the info!
I will probably be hit with the laziness of it all. I keep 5 gal for top off and have two 6 gal containers that I fill with saltwater for change out of water. Right now I am pretty good about keeping the jugs filled up but a few months from now when the novelty wears a bit...
I will probably be hit with the laziness of it all. I keep 5 gal for top off and have two 6 gal containers that I fill with saltwater for change out of water. Right now I am pretty good about keeping the jugs filled up but a few months from now when the novelty wears a bit...
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