brita water filter...

[churnee]

i was just sitting here thinking about how i could get the money for a RO system, right now times are tough. I was wondering if using the brita water container would be better than tap water? has anyone ever tried it? it is just sitting in the cabinet not being used. i am having problems with algae and today i checked my nitrates and they were 60ppm or higher! i know that i have ick and im just waiting for the QT to cycle so that i can put the fish in there. it was just a thought about the brita thing. wondering if anyone has tried it.

Jon

 

[skennelly]

It would be better then tap water, but not by much. I could only imagine using it for a nano reef it would take forever to produce enough water for a larger tank. RO membranes are so fine that only H2O molecules are allowed through. Brita's use a resin similar to DI units for removing things that make your tap water taste funny, but that's about it.

Brita replacement filter cost in the arena of $30 to replace. You can find a good RO unit on ebay for $69.00.

You should also look into other things that could be causing the nitrates to rise....overfeeding, additives...ect.

good luck!

 

[Phyl]

Have you tested your tap water for nitrates? I second the ebay RO/DI unit. Well worth the money. 60 is pretty high for nitrates but it is more likely that they were introduced via feeding/detritus build up rather than purely from your water source.

Good luck fighting the ich. Not a fun battle to be in.

 

[BillyZ]

tap water is also the source of many other nutrients and chemicals that you really don't want in your system. A brita filter is relaly only a basic carbon trickle filter and pulls out a few bad tasting chemicals but still leaves a lot behind.

I would suggest an RO unit. you can also get RO water from many LFS and even some grocery stores.

 

[srgetz]

Brita replacement filter cost in the arena of $30 to replace. You can find a good RO unit on ebay for $69.00.

Exactly! Buy that, not the brita! My R/O water tests at 0ppm, my tap water at 160ppm and my tap water with the faucet filter on (like brita) gives 146ppm. The faucet filter does very little to remove what we don't want in water! Our R/O unit has paid for itself already as we no longer buy bottled water. We make our own!

 

[flanque]

What specifically does the RO unit do to the water? The same question for DI to the water?

 

[EJS4]

RO filter is a membrane that can filters out particulate material down to the size of bacteria and viruses. The carbon filters as stated removes chemicals most importantly chlorine but also removes sediment (large particles). DI removes ions (phosphate for one) by reacting to them as they pass through the filter. For more info on filters and what they do check out www.airwaterice.com