Membrane nightmare

nitrox36 · Sep 21, 2015

hey just thought I would give a heads up on the Brs, RODI systems. About 6 months ago I bought 2 membranes for my 150 RODI, along with new carbon and di resign. Make a long story short, all the tanks in my system went to grab a!!! Brown algae dead corals and fish, did multiple tests with zero ideas. So I went back to the basics, I went throug 2 lbs of di resign along with 6 carbon blocks, in a 2 week period ,called Brs went through 2 hours of service and did a test by taking whole RODI systems apart and testing each membrane and thanks to buddy and the service guys at Brs and A tds meter, outside the inline one, it was found that the 2 membranes were simontaniously bad...which Brs said was nearly an impossibility....lol. They couldn't believe it, the odds of having 2 of those go bad at the same time was unheard of.. But as they said they were bad. So.......after a bit the holding tanks were drained and water changes of access of 600 gallons in 3 months. ( since it's a 1400 gallons system by the way), I had a lot to do. All filters and socks were gone through and changed, I was so glad I have (2) 200gallon cylinder vats, ready for war!!!! Lol. Water changes are quit easy and only takes a few minutes. Now I am back to coral explosions and fish doing great!! Back to normal, actually better. So if you are going through carbon, di resign and it's not at a normal rate, check membranes cuz mine were a bad batch and only lasted 1 month...so hope this can help if any other questions just let me know...happy reefing everyone.

Dustin1300 · Sep 22, 2015

Do you flush the membranes regularly? Unless the membranes fouled both being bad simultaneously is unlikely

nitrox36 · Sep 22, 2015

every time i use the system or since there is auto top off, I do with my weekly (end of week) maint. and yes that's what BRS said. And it was them that said they were both bad, after i sent them back per their request.

nitrox36 · Sep 22, 2015

That is what i like most of Bulk reef supply, Their staff is awesome!! and very knowledgeable.

Engloid · Oct 5, 2015

So, how do we know if our membranes are bad? I know I have two of them right now that are putting out about 126ppm, but I am just doing a slow cleaning/rinse of all that rock I had. All this water will be drained again and disposed of at some time. I just bought two new membranes and some of the flush valves they sell now. I want to try and find the problem before putting in and trashing two new membranes and more DI resin.

nitrox36 · Oct 7, 2015

simple handheld TDS meter will do the trick. After the water is collected, test that water as soon as it is made. If there is 2 membranes, UN-hook one at time and test separately.

Engloid · Oct 7, 2015

Ok. I didnt know if there was something more that I didnt know. Were yours defective or went bad? Btw, the flush valves are nice....fewer joints to leak and easy to use.

nitrox36 · Oct 7, 2015

Ya I have a flush valves, use em every week. And yes per Brs , they were manufacture defect

Engloid · Nov 23, 2015

I'm betting I had the same problem you did. I was never able to get down under 10ppm. Before I set up this livestock tank, I swapped out all media and both membranes. It took a few minutes to flush out all the crap in the lines and stuff, but within 45 minutes I was at 0ppm!!! I bought a couple of the flush valve/restrictor combos. Pretty neat.

ngvu1 · Nov 23, 2015

Good to know information. At a first glance at the title, I was not able to comprehend the level of difficulty you have to deal with

; I only do 5 to 10 gallons of water change on a less than 100 gallon tank. There is no comparison LOL. Glad you got it figured out.

Battlecorals · Nov 23, 2015

Sorry to hear about your troubles. I had a similar experience yeas ago. Dual membrane systems that piggy back, are ticking time bombs. In an effort to increase efficiency the waste ratio is squashed to 2:1 and sometimes even 1:1 using a booster.

This is not how tfcs are designed to work and using them this way will only result in shorter life at best, and total membrane failure and pollution at worst. Proper 4:1 wast ratio is the key to membrane longevity . Far more so than flush kits that essentially accomplish nothing. A very well educated member on this forum named AZ desert rat helped me to get to the bottom of my issues back then, and I have been passing along his wisdom ever since

I Honestly do not understand why companies sell these dual membrane systems still