ro water purchase vs buying a filter

[aberfitch]

I am looking at buying a ro di filter the setup will run around 250.00. I can buy ro water from the pet store or use gallon ro water in my tanks but that is a lot of lugging water around. Any advice from the shrimp keeper pros?

[Neonshrimp]

If you go with the filter set up you will be paying for the convenience of having the water when you want it at home. However I prefer to make a weekly trip to the vending mchine when I make my rounds, take care of errands and visit people. I guess it is just a personal preference issue

[Newjohn]

aberfitch

The big question is
How many tanks do you have now ? and will it be cost effective for you to purchase a filter ?

A R/O unit will be fine, and it is a little cheaper than a R/O DI unit.

If you have anymore questions ?
Just post them
John

[Neonshrimp]

What Newjohn said is also correct, I don't have too large of RO water requirements, just in my 10 gallon shrimp tanks so 5-6 gallons a week is all I need to do water changes.

With RO or DI you may want to add back some elements, I have Electro-Right and Water Renewal to help with replenishing when I need it. Please let us know what you decide and keep us updated on your shrimp.

[badflash]

R/O filters have their uses, but you generally need to mix minerals back in, or dilute it with conditioned tap water.

I have an R/O unit, but it mostly gets uded for my wife for washing her hair. I do use it to make up for evaporation when I don't have time for a water change.

What I am using now is a great contaminat filter. It is a Kold Ster-il 3 canister unit. It provides a full 3.5 gallons per minute flow and removes chlorine, chloramine, hydrocarbons, and reduces hardness a little. It is good for well over 5000 gallons and cost about the same as an R/O unot, but the filters are cheaper to replace. Check the adds on aquabid if you want to check them out.

R/O units are very slow and produce only around 30 gallons per day, so you really have to plan ahead. I tried re-constitution of R/O water and was never satisfied with the results using R/O right or Electro-Right. Since using by Kold Ster-il 3 my shrimp have been doing much better, as have my crayfish.

[thief]

Ohh thanks Badflash for letting me know about this. I was going to buy a R/O Unit but the Kold Ster-il 3 canister unit is much more pricey than a R/O unit. If I were going to get an R/O unit what would I put in it so add the vitamins and such? does the Kold Ster-il 3 canister unit run the same way as a RO unit does?

Thanks

[aberfitch]

what I am doing is setting up a tank for crs. They need filtered water so i was thinking about a ro filter but I am seriously taking all the wonderful advice everyone is giving me. This is the only tank that is going to need the water and it is a 20 gallon.

[Neonshrimp]

I think your situation is alot like mine. You have one main tank that has shrimp that require soft/RO water and you will be doing a set amount of water change a week/days. So you are back to deciding either to buy from the vending machine or getting a RO filter system. Again it comes down to paying for the convenience or not. badflash's system is great if you want filtered water in bulk amounts and/or any time you want it. I might move to that system when I am settled down and have that tank room I always wanted

[aberfitch]

yea I am leaning toward buying 5 gallons. The grocerie store next to me sells ro water and it is only 1.75 for 5 gallons. It is not out of the way, it is just a lot of lifting but I'll give it a try. if it becomes too much of a hassel I will just buy the filter system.

[Neonshrimp]

I have 3 gallon bottles I use for my RO water but they come in all gallon sizes.

[badflash]

If you have naturally soft water, the Kold Steril is the way to go. Hard water like mine, stick with hard water shrimp. I tried for a long time fighting my water, re-constituting with R/O right, constant water monitoring to be sure it stayed good. It wasn't any fun.

Now I pick animals that like my water and everyone is happy. I can drain out 50% of the water any time I need to, then just refill straight from the hose. I love it.

I'd love to be able to grow soft water critters, but I don't have the time to fight it.

[aberfitch]

I have been or am being bitten right now by the crs shrimp. I have been reading for about a month now and will probably give it a whirl in about a month. I just want to say I tried.