RO Unit Question

My husabnd helped or neighbor move a couch yesterday and he notcied our tanks. He used to do salt but stopped awhile ago. He still had his Ro unit and gave it to us for free! I was wondering if anyone had used this type before? It's a corlalife. Any info on it would be great.;D

 

Never used a Coralife RO unit Tropical Addict

bumping this for you in case someone else on here has

good score though -IMO

Steve

 

Can't you replace the membrane and filters with a BRS or spectrapure filter?

 

they look standard size so i would say yes, i would measure it first to see.

 

I had a Coralife, then just bought a Spectrapure since it's a POS. You're going to need to replace the membrane, both prefilters, and buy a TDS meter, and a DI addon to use that unit. They are standard, but it wasn't worth it IMO.

 

What you have is a basic Coralife RO unit which includes a prefilter, carbon block and RO membrane, probably a 24 or 50 GPD.

Coralife is pretty low end and receives more more than it share of complaints. It can be upgraded and modified into a reef quality RO/DI though as the filters are all standard size and readily available. You would be looking at about $60 plus shipping to replace the filters, membrane and flow restrictor which I would recommend since you don't know the history of the unit. If you wanted to add DI thats another $30 or so for the fittings, canister and refilable cartridge. Either way you need a TDS meter as that is the only way to tell if it is working or not and thats about $20-$25 for a good handheld meter.

You add it all up and you will have about $110-$115 invested. Thats not bad but a new system with a warranty and everything is $145 so you need to weigh the pros and cons.

 

The main difference between different brands of ro units is the filters. Many companies make ro's that are exactly the same, especially your type. You heard me right exactly the same. The only difference is that they put their own membrane in them. If the membrane is cheap the water will be cheap. A quality membrane will cost over $100. I get mine from Applied Membranes. They sell membranes from 36gpd all the way past 10,000gpd in comercial units. They sell membranes and prefilters that will fit all ro units. Measure the membrane and prefilters you take out and see what they can offer you. Also make sure you take out the filters that are already there and sanitize the ro with bleach. I used to work for Culligan, a company that sells ro's, and I've seen people get hospitalized because their cat was drinking out of the ro faucet after cleaning itself. The entire ro was filled with green oozy looking stuff. I'm not sure what it was because they never let me see the lab report. You never know how clean people are so I wouldn't take any chances. Good luck. Also, be sure to dump the first few tanks of water that you make, new membranes are covered in chemicals to keep them from drying out before use.

 

AZ is spot on with his advise as usual.Based on the the size and number of tanks listed in your signature,a good ro/di unit rated at 90gpd or more would seem like a good addition.

 

There are only a handfull of residential membrane manufacturers in the world, none of the RO units you see commonly available in this hobby uses their own membrane. Chances are the membrane comes from Dow Filmtec, GE Water, or Applied Membranes which uses Dow fabric to wind their own. There are a few others but they are not as common or are imported knock offs not tested or certified by the ANSI/NSF.

The best membrane you can buy for our purposes is on sale right now for $40. It is treated then hand tested and guaranteed in writing unlike any other.
SpectraPure Customer Appreciation SALE! 20% - 50% off

Even dry off the shelf untested Dow Filmtecs are only $40-$60 most places at regular price.
http://www.buckeyefieldsupply.com/showproducts.asp?Category=225&Sub=153
RO Membranes

The reason you waste the first 3-5 gallons is membranes are treated with an antimicrobial agent which needs to be flushed out, not something to keep them from drying out. Spectrapure is the only company that treats their membranes and ships them wetted in a special solution which increases their performance.

 

Thanks guys for all the advice! After reading it may be cheaper just driving to Scripts to get free ocean water.lol