RO units??

[jgentry]

I have been thinking about getting back into some of the softer water fish for sometime and wanted to do it correctly with an RO unit. I have looked at them quite a bit on ebay but wanted to see if any of you suggest a specific unit. Or if not specific unit just what features I should look for in a good unit.

I was hoping to put a unit in my garage next to my fish room with something around a 100g holding tank? Should I just buy a plastic drum? What do you folks normally use for a water holding tank? I assume all I need to do is run a ball valve so it doesn't overflow? Any extra info on the setup or if any of you know any good articles on how to do this please point me in the correct direction.

[oldcarbuff]

I doubt there's much difference between brands, but the key is to pick a unit with sufficient output (gallons per day) for your needs. I have a 100 gpd unit and two plastic 55 gallon barrels that I picked up many years ago from a fellow general fishclub member whose employer was discarding them. I believe they originally held something edible. I picked up tubing and a shut off valve to use with it some time ago, but have never gotten around to installing them. So...I have to manually switch the output tube from one barrel to the other. As you may imagine, I have had several accidental floods as a result of not monitoring things often enough.

Because I have many different types of fish, I preheat one barrel for discus, angels, and others needing warm water. I don't heat the barrel for my killies or long-finned white clouds. I also reconsitute the water in the barrels. I drain my tanks with an ordinary syphon hose into a plastic garbage can on wheels, but I refill the tanks with a submersible pump and hose in the barrels.

I don't know if any brands use proprietary (unique to their brand) replacement cartridges, but you would want to avoid those brands. Most use the same size replacement cartridges, so you can buy them from the cheapest place.

Another factor is whether you want just an R/O unit or R/O DI. R/O alone pretty much turns out water with the same pH it started with; a unit with DI significantly drops the pH.

[dstuer1950]

I have used a Nanopure RO/DI unit at work in the lab for years, it has been very reliable. Takes yearly maintenance, ie changing of cartridges and occasional electronic parts.
Not for a light wallet.
If I were going to do soft water, I'd set up a rain barrel or 2.