[150EH]

I keep having problems with silcates, I'm not sure if they build up after a lot of water changes or if our well water is just full of silicates but every 2 or 3 months my tank has a diatom outbreak that just ruins the plants.

I would like to talk to an expert that sells the units but it seems the pure water club and other sites I'm familiar with don't answer questions by phone.

Does anyone know a good retailer that can answer my questions?

 

[jnelson]

Might want to talk to Air Water Ice and Bulk Reef Supply if you haven't already - they are both big sellers of RO/DI units.

Are you currently using a RO/DI unit? If so, how often are you changing out your filters? Have you ever checked your well water's TDS (total dissolved solids) before?

 

[150EH]

Air Water Ice didn't have a phone number unless I missed it but I'll look again and you gave me some other ideas so thanks.

Don't know the TDS and no RO/DI unit yet, we do have a water softner that reduces are liquid rock to about a 3 dgh and 5 dkh so the water is fairly soft but I'm always having diatom problems after months of no problems

We also live a 100 feet from the Chesapeake and I notice a trend with folks near the water from Florida to Nova Scotia it seems folks near the water are always complaining about Diatom outbreaks on established tanks.

 

[jnelson]

COMMUNICATIONS: We are open Monday to Friday from 9 AM to 4 PM Eastern Standard Time. **Starting May 6th we will be operating on our Summer Schedule. Hours of operation will be Monday through Thursday 9 AM - 4 PM, and Friday we will be open from 9 AM - 1 PM.** E-Mail is preferred for inquiries. We review e-mails several times each day. Our e-mail address is [email protected],. Please include your telephone number in your e-mail. Our telephone number is 772-461-0256. Feel free to leave a message if we are unable to answer.

A RO/DI unit will definitely help to get rid of phosphates/silicates, and will therefore help to cut down on outbreaks.

 

[150EH]

Duh.........thanks, just talked to them and I'm ready get on their site and buy with my new info, plus a free tds meter with $50 purchase.

 

[bsmith]

You could also contact Bulk Reef Supplies cust svc. They talked me through the process when I got my RO system and were very prompt and informative.

[email protected]

 

[150EH]

I really liked the videos and attitude at Bulk Reef Supply, but I also like Air Water Ice with the DI unit having bulk refills that were cheaper and good customer service over the phone. So far The Pure Water Club has not answered my email so even if they do have the cheapest price, no customer service is a big draw back for me.

I am most definately going to get a 5 stage unit and have a gravity fed storage tank in my garage, no pump required but it will need a float shut off to end the fill cycle of the storage tank.

Any suggestion or comments are welcome, I have no idea what I'm doing!

 

[bsmith]

You can get refills from BRS. Are you just saying that from AWI you can get a larger portion of the DI resin?

 

[Craigthor]

Hit up the http://www.thefilterguys.biz/index.htm they are super helpful, phone number is on the bottom of the home page.

 

[150EH]

You can get refills from BRS. Are you just saying that from AWI you can get a larger portion of the DI resin?

I'm not totally sure, but at a glance AWI seemed to have a good savings on DI resin at $45 for a bag that does 4 refills and a housing that allows it. I'm not sure if they can all be filled by bulk and some are cartridges, I think. And the resin changes color to let you know it is spent, this may be common but I'm just getting started.

TPWC has a 4 time refill package on the total system for $118 but I can't get any good info or even some feedback from them.

I'm trying to get the best system I can with fair prices on refills with a company that cares about what it sells and knows how to use it, thus far both BRS and AWI fit the bill but I haven't narrowed the field by knowledge or price as of now.

 

[150EH]

Well they all look good, but I will still have to call and get help building a system with well water I don't need to worry about chloramines, etc. but could use a second DI unit for silicates. The free TDS meter seemed a good deal at first but it really doesn't do it for me now.

Thanks for all the good sites

 

[bsmith]

Here's the bomb system.
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/75-gpd-ro-di-5-stage-plus-system.html

A bit cheaper but everything anyone would really need.
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/75-gpd-ro-di-5-stage-standard-system.html

And the refills...
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store.../5-stage-standard-replacement-filter-kit.html

 

[2in10]

I had a unit from the Pure Water Club. It lasted about 18 months before the internal housing for the membrane cracked.

Check out Spectrapure. They have a silica buster DI cartridge.

 

[Craigthor]

That or this:

Only puts out about 12.5 GPH though.

If you have a storage tank the one B linked to would work jsut fine aswell.

 

[bsmith]

I had a unit from the Pure Water Club. It lasted about 18 months before the internal housing for the membrane cracked.

Check out Spectrapure. They have a silica buster DI cartridge.

I had a buddy that purchased a unit from an ebay seller and about 8-14 months after hooking it up the whole system started leaking and wouldn't hold pressure.

 

[2in10]

I had a buddy that purchased a unit from an ebay seller and about 8-14 months after hooking it up the whole system started leaking and wouldn't hold pressure.

I think they are designed to be purchased annually. :icon_mad:

I bought a Spectrapure MaxCap and am very happy with the quality and effectiveness of the unit. Build quality is much better than TPWC. I suspect the replacement cartridges will be much better also. I always had to seal one of the DI cartridges when I change the cartridges on the TPWC unit.

 

[150EH]

The BRS people seemed to be bent on high quality pieces that are made in the US, so that goes a long way and their prices a good too!!

Let me ask you guys, how different is your water quality after installing your RO/DI unit?

 

[bsmith]

The BRS people seemed to be bent on high quality pieces that are made in the US, so that goes a long way and their prices a good too!!

Let me ask you guys, how different is your water quality after installing your RO/DI unit?

You are correct. BRS is a really good US company that tries to only sell high quality products that are made here.

My water is absolutely perfect. Normally, from the tap I get a TDS reading ~300ppm and the pH is in the high 7's to low 8's. After filtering my TDS is 0ppm and pH is absolutely neutral at 7. :biggrin:

 

[2in10]

The BRS people seemed to be bent on high quality pieces that are made in the US, so that goes a long way and their prices a good too!!

Let me ask you guys, how different is your water quality after installing your RO/DI unit?

My reef tank says vastly better. I can't tell much difference for the planted tank. The one thing I like is that I don't have to test PO4 and NO3 weekly with the water change to see how much is in the water that day. My water comes from wells in the winter and fall in drought years and from run off water in the spring and summer.

 

[bsmith]

Probably my favorite thing about using RO (other than bring able to grow whatever I want) is pretty much what was said above. I know exactly what's in my water because if there is anything in there it's because I put it there.