Inexpensive/simple RO/DI system?

[dejaknu]

I've been buying water from my LFS for my nano but with covid reduced hours, it's been harder to get there. It's also a pain to go back and forth when I have big water changes to do.

Does anyone have recommendations for an RO/DI system?

Criteria:
-doesn't need high capacity
-simple installation & removal
-worth the cost trade-off for a 13.5 gallon tank over a few years (I might move in 2-4 years and might not be able to bring it)

Thanks!

 

[andrewey]

RO Buddy. Probably best bang for your buck on a nano and filters can be easily purchased cheaply from most RO filter sources. If you ever get a larger tank, go with spectrapure, airwaterice, BRS, etc.

 

[Cory]

Just buy a new ro unit. 100 bucks isnt too bad.

 

[creativeballance]

RO Buddy. Probably best bang for your buck on a nano and filters can be easily purchased cheaply from most RO filter sources. If you ever get a larger tank, go with spectrapure, airwaterice, BRS, etc.

I have an RO buddie that I use for my 125. Pretty much always have 0 TDS as long as the resin looks good.

 

[ahiggins]

RO Buddy. Probably best bang for your buck on a nano and filters can be easily purchased cheaply from most RO filter sources. If you ever get a larger tank, go with spectrapure, airwaterice, BRS, etc.

Yep-I has an ro buddy for a few years and I only ever had to change out the di canister every year. That was for 2 10 gallons. Then I got bigger tanks and went with the brs one. Expensive but easy and gets the job done. Plus I can use my faucet with it hahah

 

[ahiggins]

Worst part...if you’ve been buying lfs water this whole time, you’ve probably paid for half the unit at least

 

[dejaknu]

Awesome, thank you all! RO Buddy looks great. I'm in Canada so the cheapest RO from the local supply stores has been almost $200 and stuff from BRS, etc, has a lot of shipping costs (which might not be reliable right now). Didn't realize one this cheap that's actually good existed and it's available on amazon canada. Definitely been paying my LFS around half the cost since starting the tank 4 months ago.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Since it’s such a small tank, just wanted to throw out the thought of an RO unit for your kitchen. I’ve been growing softies with this RO water for years; drinking it, too! Lol.

 

[Cbones1979]

I have an RO buddie that I use for my 125. Pretty much always have 0 TDS as long as the resin looks good.

For some reason my tds comes out at 8 tds with the buddy. Is this too much?

move noticed gha since I stopped using distilled and used the buddy

 

[Fink]

RO Buddy. Probably best bang for your buck on a nano and filters can be easily purchased cheaply from most RO filter sources. If you ever get a larger tank, go with spectrapure, airwaterice, BRS, etc.

I second this, I have a 32g Biocube and the Fluval 13.5. Ro Buddy works for me. I let it run for 2 hours and i can do my weekly 10% water changes. Only took me like 20-30 minutes to figure out initial setup.

 

[Fink]

For some reason my tds comes out at 8 tds with the buddy. Is this too much?

move noticed gha since I stopped using distilled and used the buddy

Have you checked TDS before the it runs through the RO?

 

[Cbones1979]

Have you checked TDS before the it runs through the RO?

In have the rodi buddy. My water is 153 ppm before going through. Just got the buddy in April so all the filters are pretty new

 

[creativeballance]

For some reason my tds comes out at 8 tds with the buddy. Is this too much?

move noticed gha since I stopped using distilled and used the buddy

Do you have the RO resin? It should come out at 0 tds...

 

[Cbones1979]

Do you have the RO resin? It should come out at 0 tds...

I do. Next time I run it I’ll let it run for a few minutes before collecting it. Then I’ll test it. (I wasn’t doing that before)