Hi guys

I'm contemplating on getting a cost effective RO system for shrimp tanks. For example, do I need 3 or 5 stage system? What brands should I stick to? Running costs like changing membranes?

All help is appreciated.

Best to contact a few suppliers.

The one you want is for aquarium use. Not human consumption.

The unit could be for human consumption, but it has to have manual control to turn off the alkalizing cartridge.

Drinking mildly acidic RO water will ruin your teeth and other negative health impacts, but its perfect for aquarium use.

The alkalizer obviously raises the pH to approx 8 or above, which is not what you want for shrimp use.

 

Mine is a 4 stage unit with the alkalizing cartridge, which can be manually turned off.

It's from FSA (www.FilterSystemsAustralia.com). Model GT1-70DIALK. $270.

 

<edit> - you don't need anything more than a 4 stage. 

Edited November 24, 201411 yr by jayc

I have a Filter systems australia aquarium unit love it :) brought it second hand and still works a treat aside from slight leak on occasion.

I've got an FSA unit too, talk to Ian & he'll give you the best advice for a system to suit you & your needs.

Thanks Squiggle. At $270 how much is the running costs?

Zero power, all RO units are heavy on the waste water & the filter media isn't too expensive, just replace them when the TDS starts to rise. The membrane only need to be replaced every two years or so, I've had mine longer & it's still going strong.

Zero power like Squiggle said, it uses your tap water pressure to push water through the filter & RO membrane.

Just collect the waste water for watering plants, or what I do sometimes is feed the waste hose into the washing machine to wash clothes.

 

Indicative prices of replacement cartridges.

 

Replacement RO Membrane is about $80 (roughly every 2 years) <--- could be more have not replaced this myself.

Replacement Carbon filter is from $20 (depending on which type you get)

Replacement Sediment filter is from $6.60.

Replacement alkaliser don't know (never use it, so never needed to replace).

 

Carbon and sediment filters are your prefilters before the RO membrane, they need to be replaced more regularly (every 6-12 months depending on the TDS of your tapwater).

 

^^^ that makes up your 4 stage.

Edited November 24, 201411 yr by jayc

I only have a 3 stage but i noticed they dont have them on their website anymor, was alot cheaper then their current one on there

Yeah contact fsa cant remember the guys name but i picked up my 3 stage for $150

I just went through an old post and his name is Ian (cheers Jay)

I'm using a 4 stage (sediment-carbon-RO-carbon) RO unit for human consumption. I had choose those for human consumption type. It is because of for the same quality, you only pay half the price. Like some of the folks mentioned, avoid those that mess around with the chemical content, such as increase alkalinity.

 

If you are getting those for aquarium, don't get those with DI. It is more expensive and freshwater tank don't really need it.

If you are getting those for aquarium, don't get those with DI. It is more expensive and freshwater tank don't really need it.

Isnt the DI resin cartridge what removes all the minerals from tap water to make TDS around 0 so we can reminerlise with shrimp salts to get our desired TDS? Without the DI how do we get TDS 0?

Edited December 1, 201411 yr by CNgo2006

WIthout the DI, you will be getting 1 to 5 TDS. With just 1 to 5 TDS, it will not make any differences. 

 

Depending on the size of the cartridge and the how much is your usage, potentially you will need to change cartridge every few months. It is will increase both your upfront cost and ongoing cost.

IME when I didn't have the DI stage my TDS was 30-40, which is low but not low enough for me. The TDS of my tap water in Brisbane starts out between 400-800ppm, so I would rather remove all of the potential nasties in my water.

IME when I didn't have the DI stage my TDS was 30-40, which is low but not low enough for me. The TDS of my tap water in Brisbane starts out between 400-800ppm, so I would rather remove all of the potential nasties in my water.

Yep me too I can't get under 10 tds thats for sure without the DI stage...guess its because shrimpy daddy is from OS?

Edited December 2, 201411 yr by CNgo2006

800 TDS water is very hard. I think it is may be too hard for human consumption. Is this a Brisbane thing? I remember when I lived in Sydney and Melbourne, the water is not this hard; should be around 200 to 400.

 

Yes, luckily for me. My water is much softer. However, I'm surprise that your RO is unable to get the water to lower TDS. In theory, it should. My friends in US and EU who are having hard water are able to bring down the TDS to around 10 even without DI.

Yeah, Brisbane water is very crap! 800ppm is the extreme end of the scale, the bright side is I don't need to drink much milk or dairy to get my calcium & it's great water for African Cichlids, lmao.

 it's great water for African Cichlids, lmao.

 

Or Sulawesi shrimp if we ever get them 

Edited December 3, 201411 yr by jayc

Yeah, Brisbane water is very crap! 800ppm is the extreme end of the scale, the bright side is I don't need to drink much milk or dairy to get my calcium & it's great water for African Cichlids, lmao.

 

I guess you guys don't even get bubble from soap when shower. LOL!!!

In this sun burnt and drought ridden country of ours, we are lucky to even get ... water!

If it's not enough water, we sometimes get too much and then it floods.

At least the air is clean. 

Or worse, forest fire and fire storm....

I guess you guys don't even get bubble from soap when shower. LOL!!!

Yep, I do the washing up & there's barely any bubbles & it definitely doesn't last long! Lol