- Alright today, the RODI buyer's guide
we all know that reverse osmosis, deionized water
is the right solution for reef tanks.
But how do I get the cheapest one?
How do I get the best one?
Or even the easiest to use one? Let's find out.
- And spoiler alert.
It's the five stage water saver plus, but today you'll find
out why that's Ryan and I's top choice for a vast majority
of reefers out there.
You'll also find out what the other ones do
and why they might be the right choice for you
instead. So let's dive in.
- At the first system is the four stage system
and straight to the point, this is the number one seller
meaning the system that most of you actually pick up.
And that's probably
because it's the most affordable option with a four stages.
And it's the most portable as well.
I mean, if you live in a condo, apartment
or even have limited space in your house
it's a great option
because I can actually just go put it away under the sink
go put it wherever I need to do it
and then pull it out when I need it.
And it's ready to go and I can put it away afterwards.
So most portable and most affordable.
- So this four-stage stage RODI
is that attractive entry point
for those first time reefers who are looking to
do this 95% better than they were before
with that balance of cost and effort,
we'll create zero TDS water
and it's upgradable in the future
which is why we call it an entry point
because you can add on down the road.
- Our next up is the five stage system.
This is the one that Randy and I recommend in a vast
vast majority of cases, simply because it works better
on a wider array of disinfectants that are put
in municipal water supplies.
And even some of the chemicals that may end up even
in just your well water, particularly
if you're near agriculture.
So the only real difference with the five stage over four
is they added on another carbon block.
There's two of them here.
And they're that universal carbon block,
which actually pulls
out a wider array, contaminants heavier.
You can just see right through it.
It has more carbon than most carbon blocks out there.
And because of that, you don't have to worry about
whether you have chlorine or chloramines or any
of that stuff.
You don't have to call it the city or test the water.
You just know that you're covered in this case, regardless
of what your city uses for a disinfecting your water.
And that's why the five stage system is just
actually probably the best value covers the most cases
and just the easiest to use
- So up next is the sixth stage is the least popular
of what you guys are picking up.
But that's probably because we don't understand the value
of the six stage, here it is.
If you have the tendency to be lazy
about your filter changes specifically the DI resin,
the sixth stage has you covered
with a second stage of DI resin.
So when my first one's depleted, I have a backup.
- Yeah. So the way that this will work
is it will get depleted from the top up,
or the bottom up to the top, meaning it will change color.
So it's really easy to see when the DI resin
is getting depleted because it changes
from a blue color to like this a golden Brown color.
And when he gets to the top
you just swap out the resin.
However, what if I'm not around
or I'm a little lazy about changing it out?
Well, now when it's totally depleted
it's going to add some of those contaminants
into my water bin, which I obviously don't want.
That's why the second stage is actually so valuable
because you can let it deplete the whole way
if you want it to.
Ideally you would do a change out
just before it hits the end.
But what if you're not around
or you make a mistake? Well with the second one,
You know, you really don't have to worry
about it because you're covered.
And then once it's depleted
go ahead and take out the depleted one, put the old one
in the first spot and our brand new one in here.
And you're always covered.
You have redundancy and you really don't have to pay
that a close attention to when the DI resin runs out.
Also with the six stage
you're now getting some more fittings as well
in the whole package, which is probably valuable
to some people you're a little bit more committed
to your reef tank
probably when you pick this up, you understand.
And because of that
you might want to install it permanently.
So both the four and five state systems come
with the most common connections being a laundry hose
or a garden hose attachment.
So, or a laundry faucet rather
and you can screw right on your laundry tub and provide
provide water to the system, but also for a common kitchen
or bathroom sink, there is a little adapter.
You can just shoot it right out from there,
just change your aerator
There's some even adapter rings that come with it.
Well, what if I want to permanently
attach it like underneath my sink?
- Yes.
- Now with the six stage, right at
a couple other things in here
you're going to get a ball valve
so I can turn it on and off.
I also have a little connection for the lines
underneath the sink, so it can connect it permanently.
And I can also connect the drain your waste line right
into the trap under the, underneath the sink.
So along with all the redundancy advantages
of two stages, you also get some more fittings to
make that permanent connection as well.
- Now we get to the seventh stage, we call it the pro series
because if you want to know you have the best
the most efficient, the lowest cost filter changes, and
that you just have this RODI question permanently solved,
This is it.
The big deal with the seven stage pro
is the three stages of DI resin here.
- And it's not just
the same type of resin run in redundancy.
It's actually different types of resin for specific purposes
in here running series to produce a better result.
One of the ways that it does that is it operates
at a different pH in each canister here
which changes the form of some of the contaminants
into forms that are actually easier to remove ammonia gas
and silicone are prime examples
but also it's more efficient meaning
that the entire canisters optimized
for negatively or positively charged ions.
And it has a way higher capacity
for those things now as well.
So you're going to get more use out of it.
It saves a lot of money specifically
for those of you that are looking
for a solution for high CO2 in your water,
changing out just the Anion resin
will absolutely do that for you.
And again, it doesn't visually
you can just see when it's time to change it out
because it will get to the top.
And that last one is always that buffer here.
So it doesn't really matter if one
of them went just a little too far.
- Yeah
- And man, you know what, you're going to change
out these canisters much less frequently.
- Yeah
- So probably do half the filter changes, half the work.
So the seven stage pro really the end game for like
Hey man, I'm going to be reefing for a long, long time.
This is probably for me.
But note that while it may be end game
you can still start with that four stage system
and just add on canisters as you go and grow into it.
- So that's the breakdown of the different RODI stages
but there's three other considerations
that really do matter
starting with the flow rate of your membrane
or gallon per day rating.
There's a 75 gallon per day option
in a hundred gallon per day option.
And the difference is speed
of water production versus DI consumption.
- I think a good rule of thumb here is to think
about how much water can I produce in a about 12 hours?
And looking to do like a 30% water change on my system.
And I say that because I'd like to come home
and turn the thing on a at night
and do my water change in the morning.
And so in that case with the 75 gallon per day system
they'll go up to about 120 gallon per day system.
Now, if you're willing to wait a little longer
then of course, you know, in a 24 hours
you'll produce a 30% water change
on multiple hundreds of gallons of tank
- Right
- So, you know, really it's just about speed.
There. Isn't a perfect answer to that.
But I will say
that I recommend the 75 gallon per day membrane
or systems over the hundred, hands down every time.
And the reason for that is the 25 gallons extra a day
really doesn't matter that much to me,
I'll wait a little longer if I needed to
because that hundred gallon
per day membrane works faster, but not as good.
It's only a couple percent extra contaminants
are making it through.
And ultimately you'll still be zero TDS water
coming out of the DI resin
but I'm going to burn my DI resin maybe twice as fast
which makes it more expensive.
And I'm going to have to change out filters more often.
So unless that 25 gallons a day is really
really important to you, the 75 gallon
per day option is just a way, way, way better option.
- The second consideration are the water saver options
which doubles the flow rate.
So you add two 75 gallon per membranes together
on the same unit.
You're now making 150 gallons per day.
And if you add 200 gallon per day RO membranes
to the same unit.
Now making 200 gallons per day.
So you're making water faster
and you're actually reducing the wastewater.
- Yeah. So by running them in series like that
I now have two membranes, both doing 75 in my case.
And I'll get that 150 gallons a day, which means now
I can produce that water and half the time
or the system is more applicable to a much larger tank, but
because I'm running in series like that, these systems do
produce some amount of wastewater to produce that
purified water, but running them in series means I
can actually cut that wastewater in half, which is not
only a greener way to run the system.
But if you live in an area that has a lot of drought
or where water's really expensive, the water saver option
not only will produce water twice as fast
but it'll be cheaper and like greener as well.
- Third thing to consider
are the plus options or the accessories that come
on the plus RODI units.
First thing is the TDS meter.
This thing will tell you if your unit is working.
So what good is a RO unit
If I can't tell that it's actually producing the
ultra pure water that I want?
TDS meter will keep track of that for you.
Eventually everybody should get a TDS meter.
- TDS is probably the number one most common add on
to any system right after that, though, pressure gauge.
So the plus systems come with a pressure gauge as well.
Pressure gauge not only will be able to
help you troubleshoot your system if you have any problems,
they'll tell you it filters are clogged,
if your home's pressure went down, but the number
one thing they perform affects the performance
of the membrane is pressure.
So it's also one of the ways
to increase the performance of your system
because you may have 50 PSI, I mean, optimal
but it actually the performance, the flow rate
and the rejection rates even go higher
as you go up and up and up
we have investigates a series all based just on that.
- Oh yeah.
- The third thing you get
with the plus is actually the flush kit here.
The flush kit will help flush
off the little particles and stuff in the membrane.
The membrane should last like three years.
So if every time you produce some water, you open it up
and flush off some of the particles off of it.
You're probably going to get that three years out
out of the membrane before you have to replace it.
So all of the systems come in a standard model as well
as when this has plus, and if you get the plus one
you'll get the pressure gauge the TDS meter
and the flush kit installed already.
All right, so you can probably see
why that five stage water saver plus
was our recommendation of that right.
Mix of features and costs
and hits the widest array of probably features.
And you can check it out right here
but really you can find all of the systems that we talked
about right on the bulk reef site.
So come check it out.