RO filter for x-mas Help

[afilter]

My wife made a significant leap for x-mas and bought me an RO unit for x-mas, which is great because she usually does not take much interest in the fish.

The only issue is she went to the high prices LFS to get one. What she bought is a coralife Pure-flo 50 gph unit with micron cartride and carbon block cartridge:

http://www.aquacon.com/rosystems.html

Unfortunaltely she also paid full retail ($150). Several months ago this would have been fine, but since I have been looking I know there are much better units out there for less $.

The other concern I have is that I will at most use 20-25 gallons per week and I have read that not using them to the fullest can also shorten the life of the filter cartridges.

I am thinking getting a unit that I can hook up and use as drinking water might be better. Additionally, I have read that getting a TDS meter is a must for some.

A quick search of E-bay produced this model:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4428935395&fromMakeTrack=true

It comes with all the plumbing plus the TDS meter. Otherwise the local Sam's has a similar unit for about $159.

At the same time I do not want to hurt my wife's feeling and I could just suck it up and use the one she gave me.

Thoughts?

 

[cmor1701d]

Take a credit at the lfs towards livestock and get a better RO/DI unit with a tds meter.

I got the Typhoon III from airwaterice.com a few years ago. It's a 4-stage 100 gpd with clear plastic housings, built n pressure gauge and flush kit. More expensive that what you see on eBay on these days. I'm not sure there's that much difference between the units other than gpd and who makes the RO filter membrane.

 

[afilter]

Update...We returned the Coralife system to the LFS for credit. My wife was fine with this.

It was my Birthday yesterday, so my wife agreed to the following:

I have decided to go with a 50 gpd home unit from the local water supply company. They will install including an extra 40g tank with float shut off just for my SW set up. It is RO only as opposed to RODI. The reason being is that you do not want to drink DI and my system will be plumbed to the kitchen sink as well as the ice maker which will make the 1-2 gallon a day top off easy.

Going this route will be a bit more pricy up front, but should pay dividends in the long run. The company I am getting it from has been local since 1952 and the replacement filters are only $4 for one and $15 for the other. The best part is the Membrane that I thought would have to replace yearly should only need replacing every 5-7 years. He said he has even had them last up to 12 years. It will come with a TDS meter as well.

Total cost is about $300 plus installation, but I can lease the first year for $16.50/month and apply that toward purchase at the end of the year. I am currently spending $20-25/month in fish water alone and we will now have drinking water as well not to mention the convience of not traveling.
I asked why the other ones do not last that long and his comment was that many of the online versions that you can get for $100-150 have membranes made in Mexico and the quality is just not that good.

As for not having DI I am not that concerned considering how much the RO takes out. It will be like 99% pure and I will just need to check my salt mixing each time.

They will even plumb everything so I can take it with me if we move some day. The guy spent about 30 minutes with me answering my questions and asking good questions so he can customize the setup to my needs. They have done several homes with aquariums with good results.

Installation is set for Wed, so I will let you know how it goes.