Question: I have a Kent Marine RO/DI 3 stage filter and am wondering why people dont use the RODI units from like Lowes, Home Depot, ect. If you read up on them, appears they pull out more 'bad stuff' than some of the "fish" appointed untis do. My main deal with the Kent marines and such are the filters are so expensive. Any suggestions?
RO Unit question
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AquaReefer
Aquarium Advice Freak
Yeah I was at Lowes yesterday Looking at them. They Are pretty much the same thing I was actually going to make a post asking if they would work. TIA
Yeah the main difference I see in them is not the price of the actual unit...its the difference in price of the filters. AND most of the filters they have LOOK like they would fit in my Kent RO unit. I just think when you order items from a LFS or on line and its a pet or fish store, the markup is huge for most items..now there are some things I know have to be different such as the VHO lights and such...you have to have ones that are meant for tanks
seaham358
Aquarium Advice Addict
You can use the filters that HD and Lowes sells. You want to make sure your getting the right micron size that your running now or read up and change up on the micron size to get the max out of your membrane. No need to buy Kent products there is a HUGH mark up on them. Membranes only 2-3 companies make them and they are all about the same. I run HD micron filters and I still buy the carbon form AWI. I probably will be going to all HD filters soon if they carry the right micron size on the carbon. You can also up your membrane GPd also if you want, you just need to get the right restrictor and your good to go. Lets say you have a kent 35gpd and you want to run a 75 gpd.. You need to get the new membrane and then take out the inline restrictor that came with the kent unit and then add the after market restrictor. Its an easy upgrade. Not sure what the HD prices are now but ebay has some real good prices that HD could never match.. And does the HD unit have DI or are they just RO? I have never seen a DI unit at HD. RO/DI is the best.
Seachem
I misled you on the RODI part - the unit at HD. What I meant to say was they have RO units and really you could take their unit and add a DI to it. Still would be cheaper than what you would spend on Kents stuff.
Ok so I have a Kent 65 GPD. I dont really care about upgrading at this point as I all I have is a 140 gallon tank. Can you post me where you buy your filters from off of Ebay? Is it the same person each time? Or what do you search by as you seem to have done this a lot in the past. Thanks for all the info. I did find one company off of the internet for filters but still pretty spendy. The main one filter I go through is the DI one..guess this is normal.
I misled you on the RODI part - the unit at HD. What I meant to say was they have RO units and really you could take their unit and add a DI to it. Still would be cheaper than what you would spend on Kents stuff.
Ok so I have a Kent 65 GPD. I dont really care about upgrading at this point as I all I have is a 140 gallon tank. Can you post me where you buy your filters from off of Ebay? Is it the same person each time? Or what do you search by as you seem to have done this a lot in the past. Thanks for all the info. I did find one company off of the internet for filters but still pretty spendy. The main one filter I go through is the DI one..guess this is normal.
seaham358
Aquarium Advice Addict
I have get most of my stuff from airwaterice.com and resindepot.com has some great resin. I buy the micron filters at HD.
Ebay sells all the filters and ro/di units cheaper then HD does, I have not bought any filters from ebay so maybe someone else can help out there.
I will be looking at them soon for filters depending on what the prices are at AWI now.
Kent and spectra pure IMO are very over priced, your paying for the name.
Ebay sells all the filters and ro/di units cheaper then HD does, I have not bought any filters from ebay so maybe someone else can help out there.
I will be looking at them soon for filters depending on what the prices are at AWI now.
Kent and spectra pure IMO are very over priced, your paying for the name.
cmor1701d
Aquarium Advice Addict
I was about to order new filters last week when I saw the filters at Lowes. I got a 2 pack of the Whirlpool sediment and a pack of the carbon. I picked those because the micron size (5) was clearly noted on the box. They work
I have decided to go with a 50 gpd home unit from the local water supply company. They will install including am 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 convientent.
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.
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.
seaham358
Aquarium Advice Addict
If you have phosphates, silacates and nitrates you will need to add on a DI for the tank. I hope it works out for you.
demodiki
Aquarium Advice Freak
Wow...that seems very expensive for Ro only.
Seachem and others
Thanks for all the info. I looked at the website Seachem gave and the prices are good. I have one that I have used in the past called waterfiltersonline.com. They are almost the same price except for the the micro and its $4 cheaper.
I will check out lowes and HD for the microns. I am only able to use the DI cartridge for about 3-5 months. The water here seems to really wear them out. My carbon block and micron appear to last longer.
Afilter I think I will check into my local water company and how much they charge for a set up like yours...that sounds nice and convienent!
Thanks for all the info. I looked at the website Seachem gave and the prices are good. I have one that I have used in the past called waterfiltersonline.com. They are almost the same price except for the the micro and its $4 cheaper.
I will check out lowes and HD for the microns. I am only able to use the DI cartridge for about 3-5 months. The water here seems to really wear them out. My carbon block and micron appear to last longer.
Afilter I think I will check into my local water company and how much they charge for a set up like yours...that sounds nice and convienent!
seaham358
Aquarium Advice Addict
All the major brand membranes last3-5 years depending on your water quality to start. AWI sells membranes and I bet there the same quality your water company uses. If it works for you then the water company is the way to go. But don't fall for that line that we have a far better product then any online store can get you.
Did he tell you that if your water pressure is low that will effect the water output and the length your membrane lasts?
And at $300+ I can get a unit from ebay and have money left over to buy replacement filters, membrane and a fish or 2. JMO.. Sounds like the Water company should open a LFS.
Down side I had to heek ot up myself... which was not a mahor project .. Hope it woeks out for you.. Post some picks when there done..
Did he tell you that if your water pressure is low that will effect the water output and the length your membrane lasts?
And at $300+ I can get a unit from ebay and have money left over to buy replacement filters, membrane and a fish or 2. JMO.. Sounds like the Water company should open a LFS.
Down side I had to heek ot up myself... which was not a mahor project .. Hope it woeks out for you.. Post some picks when there done..
We will see. Yes he did explain water pressure and I am fortunate that the city has good pressure. Considering I am getting an extra 40g tank plumbed with auto shut off just for fish water it seems like a good deal. Quite frankly for me installation is a good thing as I prefer not to deal with that.
I will get some pics when it is done.
I will get some pics when it is done.
Brenden
Aquarium Advice Addict
Good investment. I love my new SW mixing tank.
Seaham
Went to Lowes today and bought a variety of things. I picked up a 2 pack of the basic Micron filters for $7.17 which is better than what I can get them off the internet for. However they are "string" filters which I have used before. They are 5 Micron which is perfect.
I also picked up a 3 pack of 1 micron prefilter and 2 carbon blocks. However the carbon blocks are 15-20 Micron and the ones that I have used previously are 10 mircon. Do you or anyone else think this is not good enough to use?
Lastly I bought an inline filter (figured it cant hurt) that filters sediment and chlorine out of the water. Its like a polisher...going to put this as the last stage. Or do you think I should do is as the first stage?
Went to Lowes today and bought a variety of things. I picked up a 2 pack of the basic Micron filters for $7.17 which is better than what I can get them off the internet for. However they are "string" filters which I have used before. They are 5 Micron which is perfect.
I also picked up a 3 pack of 1 micron prefilter and 2 carbon blocks. However the carbon blocks are 15-20 Micron and the ones that I have used previously are 10 mircon. Do you or anyone else think this is not good enough to use?
Lastly I bought an inline filter (figured it cant hurt) that filters sediment and chlorine out of the water. Its like a polisher...going to put this as the last stage. Or do you think I should do is as the first stage?
seaham358
Aquarium Advice Addict
I use the string filters as a pre filter on my water systems, I run a ro/di and kold - ster-il system. ONe for the reef the other for fowlr system. I would run the extra for the pre filter that way the difference in the carbon micron won't make much of a difference. i went to airwaterice and read up on his opinions on what micron to run where and I have been real happy with filter life following his advice.
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