Tap Water Filter

If you want to go cheap in the short term but end up spending more on filters in the long run, go with a ZeroWater filter/pitcher. It comes with a free TDS meter. However, you'll find yourself spending all of your time filtering one pitcher at a time.

 

Thanks for all the input

 

This was fine when my first tank was about 10 gallons. However, one I added a 29 gallon too, I was using 2 of these per month. This product is only acceptable if you live somewhere like Seattle that has 10 TDS. If you live in the Midwest with high TDS or you have a tank bigger than a nano, the resins wear out so fast that this is by far the most expensive type of filter you're ever going to buy.

 

That was pretty much the same experience I had with the deionizer.

 

so is this one better then Portable Mini Reverse Osmosis DI/Ro Water System 4stage - eBay (item 280500946732 end time Jan-26-11 13:22:22 PST)

 

You get what you pay for and often keep paying and paying and.....

Note the ebay unit says the prefilter and carbon block are good for 1500 gallons. Thats only 300 treated gallons and 1200 waste gallons. Not much water and quite expensive at that. Ad to that it does not use a normal full size 20 oz DI filter so will not work as well nor last as long, does not have a TDS meter which is another $25+, no pressure gauge which is almost a must for troubleshooting, another $15+ and is only a 50 GPD system under perfect conditions. The replacement filters will not come in the preferred micron ranges for reef use such as a 1 micron or less prefilter to protect the carbon block and membrane or a 0.6 or 0.5 micron carbon block good for 20,000 gallons, thats 4,000 treated gallons and 16,000 waste gallons. The replacements will cost more money, will not last as long, will be harder to find and you will end up with a much higher long term cost of ownership. Look at the total cost over time, not how much you pay initially as you should plan to own it for years.

The API Tap Water Filter is a total waste of money, I have yet to see one last over 15-30 gallons per cartridge which is ridiculously expensive. Those who say it lasts for 100 gallons or whatever almost always do not have a TDS meter so really have no idea how well it is working.

With a good RO/DI, not ebay quality, the cost ends up being less than a nickel a gallon to make water. That includes replacement filters and resin as well as water and sewer rates so the cost of ownership is very cheap.

 

:thumb_up:

And that's why I always wait for his posts

 

Pay now or pay later. You do not need the top of the line stuff to haver a SW tank, but a SW hobby is not a cheap one regarless of the route taken. The cheaper you are up front, the more you pay in the end.

All fish stores have RO/DI water and salt water for sale. My LFS was right down the street and RO/DI was cheap and SW was .25. You can get RO/DI at the grocery store... not too sure how cheap that is. You can get water from PetCo. I never got a RO/DI only because It was not going to be much more convinent to me with where I had to put it and I knew and trusted the LFS water service guy... however... it would have paid for itself in a year.

You don't want some cheap unit that will have you replacing propietary filters often that you can only get at one place.... you want regular Joe stuff at bulk prices that use commonly available filters.... those are the Bulk Reef Supply, Spectrapure and the like. Pay now or pay later.

 

yeah AZDesertRat is da man when it coms to ro/di units

 

Hey Tom,

I gave you this filter Aquarium Water | Reverse Osmosis | RODI Water | ReefKeeper Water | Mighty Mite 50GPD with DI Added It was a great filter and if you have been using it, it should still have a few months of life left on it.