Switching salts and getting a new RODI system, need some thoughts

[Andresnyc93]

Hello fellow reefers,

I finally got my hands on a booster pump to get my own RODI and was wondering what you guys recommend or use at home and how many stages would be best for my 85 gal tank.
I’m currently using boxed saltwater by two little fishies and would also like to have some insight on which salt I should be mixing as well. I’m keeping mostly LPS and Anemone’s but would like to keep come SPS somewhere down the line.

Any insight would be appreciated!

 

[FishTruck]

Adding more stages can prolong the life of your membrane (by adding an extra carbon stage before the membrane), and, add time between DI changes.

If you find the you are burning your DI media too quickly, I recommend adding two stages DI and using the pro media from brs - which separates the cation and anion. Then, you may find that you only burn one type of DI media at any significant rate and can save money and time buy replacing just the DI that you need.

Finally, make sure you have an inline TDS meter. Ideally, measuring the house water tds, the tds out the membrane, and the tds if the final product. This can alert you ahead of time before you start putting bad product into your tank - like when your membrane suddenly fails you can pick that up before your DI gets eaten suddenly.

Regarding salt, find one that mixes at the Alk that you want so you don't have to adjust it. I am having good luck with instant ocean plain - with SPS and Nems and some SPS too.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

Hello fellow reefers,

I finally got my hands on a booster pump to get my own RODI and was wondering what you guys recommend or use at home and how many stages would be best for my 85 gal tank.
I’m currently using boxed saltwater by two little fishies and would also like to have some insight on which salt I should be mixing as well. I’m keeping mostly LPS and Anemone’s but would like to keep come SPS somewhere down the line.

Any insight would be appreciated!

RODI: I have several stages and high silicates tds and Chlorine in my city water. So depending on your source water your gunna want set up you rodi unit to match.

SALT MIX: I currently use red sea blue bucket salt, I have used instant ocean for a very long time but the past 2-3 years I have been using redsea blue bucket and I will more than likely stick with it as its a perfect salt mix for me. But that will depend on the parameters you are trying to keep your system at.

CORALS: IMO the corals tend to not like to mix even though a mixed reef is all the craze, and looks awesome I wouldn't have Anemone’s with any sps(acros 4 sure) in the chance it moves. And the lps tend to have sweeper tentacles and don't get along good with sps, but when kept well separated the chances are better, but placing small frags to close in the beginning could be troublesome later down the road, I like to keep mostly sps.

 

[BanjoBandito]

I use reef crystals cause it's cheap. Mixed reef, keep my ALK around 8.5, dose kalk. Pretty straight forward setup. I'd go for a 4 step around 75-100 gph to start. I have mine hooked up to a tub sink with a bypass. Getting a TDS meter first and checking would help...if you have low TDS then you could prob get away with a smaller unit. BRS is doing 10x points today on RODI systems though.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

I use reef crystals cause it's cheap. Mixed reef, keep my ALK around 8.5, dose kalk. Pretty straight forward setup. I'd go for a 4 step around 75-100 gph to start. I have mine hooked up to a tub sink with a bypass. Getting a TDS meter first and checking would help...if you have low TDS then you could prob get away with a smaller unit. BRS is doing 10x points today on RODI systems though.

Thats true the 10x points on the rodi system helps if your going to get it anyway, they have decent enough units thats what I use and would buy again.

 

[Andresnyc93]

I ended up going with a 5 stage filtration from BRS with TDS meter on the last membrane. Also picked up a Red Sea blue bucket. The boxed water started to get too expensive long term. I was getting 4 boxes weekly of 4.5 gallons each so I was spending around $100 weekly on WC’s. Glad I was able to get the RODI and save some money.

 

[rtparty]

Looks like you got it handled

RODI units are completely dependent on your source water. Some can use 4 stages, others need 7. I don't NEED 7 on mine but it made financial sense long term and gives me the best filtration possible.

For salt, regular Instant Ocean is plenty good and cheap. I much prefer ESV but the rising costs of everything makes it harder to justify.

 

[BanjoBandito]

I ended up going with a 5 stage filtration from BRS with TDS meter on the last membrane. Also picked up a Red Sea blue bucket. The boxed water started to get too expensive long term. I was getting 4 boxes weekly of 4.5 gallons each so I was spending around $100 weekly on WC’s. Glad I was able to get the RODI and save some money.

Blue bucket is good salt, you'll be good with that. Enjoy the savings!

 

[Andresnyc93]

Looks like you got it handled

RODI units are completely dependent on your source water. Some can use 4 stages, others need 7. I don't NEED 7 on mine but it made financial sense long term and gives me the best filtration possible.

For salt, regular Instant Ocean is plenty good and cheap. I much prefer ESV but the rising costs of everything makes it harder to justify.

I figured I wouldn’t need a 7 stage either. I live in New York and we have pretty good clean water. The guy helping me said if I got higher stages wouldn’t really make a difference so I took their word for it. I was going to go with tropic marin pro salt but seeing as so many people complain about it I went with a safe general salt that comes from a company I’ve been using for a while.

 

[PatW]

For RODI, I use a BRS 5 stage deluxe that I have added a second DI stage to which I guess makes it a 6 stage deluxe. It has a sediment filter. And that is handy because the sediment filter will visually become sort of yellow from the gunk in the water but that takes some time maybe 1000 gallons worth of RODI. I have 2 carbon blocks. I change the carbon blocks and sediment filter when the sediment filter looks nasty (and that is clearly a rather fuzzy notion). Than I have the RO filter. After that I have an inline TDS meter. Then I have a DI canister. Followed by another TDS filter. Finally I have the second DI canister. I buy DI in bulk and pack the DI canisters when needed. When the water from the first DI canister reads greater than “0”, I remove the canister. I switch the #2 canister to the #1 position and put the repacked #1 canister into the #2 position. This way, I insure that I am always producing 0 TDS water and I waste relatively little DI resin.

As far as salt goes, I have used both reef crystals and instant ocean. But I found that the mixes seem to have gotten a bit erratic lately. My last batch of instant ocean had 0 DKH alkalinity. And that is rather hard to take.

I have switched to Red Sea Blue Bucket and I test each batch I get for Ca, Mg, and ALK and so far they have all been spot on. The Blue Bucket also mixes cleaner than Instant Ocean (but that was not the deal killer). There is still a little brown sludge after mixing but it is about only 10% of Instant Ocean.

Of course, Red Sea is about 25% more expensive maybe 33%. But for me, the fact that it is consistent (for the major parameters, I do not know about trace elements) is good enough.

 

[Andresnyc93]

Blue bucket is good salt, you'll be good with that. Enjoy the savings!

It’s going to save me so much, got tired of also carrying around 5 gallon boxes up the stairs.

 

[Andresnyc93]

For RODI, I use a BRS 5 stage deluxe that I have added a second DI stage to which I guess makes it a 6 stage deluxe. It has a sediment filter. And that is handy because the sediment filter will visually become sort of yellow from the gunk in the water but that takes some time maybe 1000 gallons worth of RODI. I have 2 carbon blocks. I change the carbon blocks and sediment filter when the sediment filter looks nasty (and that is clearly a rather fuzzy notion). Than I have the RO filter. After that I have an inline TDS meter. Then I have a DI canister. Followed by another TDS filter. Finally I have the second DI canister. I buy DI in bulk and pack the DI canisters when needed. When the water from the first DI canister reads greater than “0”, I remove the canister. I switch the #2 canister to the #1 position and put the repacked #1 canister into the #2 position. This way, I insure that I am always producing 0 TDS water and I waste relatively little DI resin.

As far as salt goes, I have used both reef crystals and instant ocean. But I found that the mixes seem to have gotten a bit erratic lately. My last batch of instant ocean had 0 DKH alkalinity. And that is rather hard to take.

I have switched to Red Sea Blue Bucket and I test each batch I get for Ca, Mg, and ALK and so far they have all been spot on. The Blue Bucket also mixes cleaner than Instant Ocean (but that was not the deal killer). There is still a little brown sludge after mixing but it is about only 10% of Instant Ocean.

Of course, Red Sea is about 25% more expensive maybe 33%. But for me, the fact that it is consistent (for the major parameters, I do not know about trace elements) is good enough.

75GPD is the amount the 5 stage filtration I got was. I had a problem with water pressure so getting my hands on the booster pump was definitely a peace of mind.
So many salt mix choices but I went with a company that makes such good tanks and has a great reputation in the hobby.

 

[Andresnyc93]

Also quick question to everyone that replied on thread, would a brute garbage can by rubbermaid be a good mixing station for the mix? There’s not much else available near by me and I’m doing water change today.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

Also quick question to everyone that replied on thread, would a brute garbage can by rubbermaid be a good mixing station for the mix? There’s not much else available near by me and I’m doing water change today.

Plenty of people use them without issues

 

[homer1475]

Brutes are perfect for mixing stations, or just plain mixing and storing.

 

[FishTruck]

brute cans are the classic

 

[Andresnyc93]

Thank you all! Will get back on progress