Ro/di

[PeterCip]

so i just bought a RO/DI filter, and it was supposed to produce 125 gallons per day. I just ran some water thourgh and it did 20 gallons in about 2 hours.

am i supposed to leave the return open or closed? the directions say that if the waste water valve is open, it will let water by the RO filter.
Should i bother doing a water change with this water? i fear that it isn't doing anything..
its plummed right, so i don't know what i could be doing wrong..
this is the link to a similar, but slower RO unti that i bought from the seller...

Is it not working? should i do a water change with this water?
thanks,
Pete

 

[this is me]

You have a tds meter?
getting a tds reading is the only way to tell if your water is good or not.
20 gallon in 2 hours is way too fast! I get 3 gallon in 2 hours!!
what your waste water output?

 

[PeterCip]

You have a tds meter?
getting a tds reading is the only way to tell if your water is good or not.
20 gallon in 2 hours is way too fast! I get 3 gallon in 2 hours!!
what your waste water output?

i nturned my waste water valve shut... was it supposed to be open?
i didn't know if this would bypass the ro di?

 

[PeterCip]

and i dont' have a tds...

 

[this is me]

Yes!! yes!! the waste water supppose to be open!!
Open it so that you get 4 gallons of waste water and 1 gallon of product water.

 

[PeterCip]

so i turns out that i was collecting waste water... i replumbe it the way it should be and now it appears to only be getting around 50 GPD.. does this seem more appropriate?

 

[smcnally]

You have a tds meter?
I get 3 gallon in 2 hours!!
what your waste water output?

Dude...that's only 36 Gallons a day. You need a booster pump or something. On a 125 GPD unit you should be getting around 5 gallons per hour. Mine puts out about 1 gallon every 15 minutes.

 

[this is me]

I know mine is wicked slow! I do need a booster pump.
its a 100gpd unit! I hate making RODI!

 

[ReeferMedic]

I get about the same, about 5 gallons in 3 hours. I'm getting about 70 psi though. Would a booster pump help me on this? Sorry, didn't mean to hijack your thread, just a question that popped into my head.......

 

[NateHanson]

If you have 70 psi, I don't think a booster pump would help. I think that's close to the max pressure for a membrane anyways. RODI never really get what they say they will. The water temperature and other factors probably cut down on the ideal output, but I'd say a couple gallons an hour is pretty good. If you don't like waiting for RO, then hook it up to a rubbermaid tub or trash can with a float valve. Then it'll always be full for you to pour some into a bucket for a water change or for topoff or whatever, and you won't have any more floods.

Nate

 

[PeterCip]

If you have 70 psi, I don't think a booster pump would help. I think that's close to the max pressure for a membrane anyways. RODI never really get what they say they will. The water temperature and other factors probably cut down on the ideal output, but I'd say a couple gallons an hour is pretty good. If you don't like waiting for RO, then hook it up to a rubbermaid tub or trash can with a float valve. Then it'll always be full for you to pour some into a bucket for a water change or for topoff or whatever, and you won't have any more floods.

Nate

Damn this thing is slow... I'm thinking i am gonna have to hook it up in my basement to a float valve.. its tough waiting a whole day for half a fish tank..

If i do two 50% water changes, should this be effective enough? this algea prob is killing me.. i want to get the tank stable enough to start adding something. People aren't wowed by an algea tank.(boston water stinks BTW)
any way, am i gonna have to do 3 50%s or should i do one big 90%? I wish i had gotten the RO/DI before i setup/cycled my tank..
I don't have much in there anyhow.
TIA,
Pete

 

[NateHanson]

What livestock do you have right now. A 90% change could be pretty stressful to corals fish and inverts, but i doubt your rock would care. I'd do 3 50% water changes. You'll get the same percentage dillution (about 85%), but less stress.

 

[Shallowwaters]

I live on a hill and get only 50 lbs. of pressure. My 110 g/day unit produces about the same rate as ReeferMedics, but I run it 24/7 into a float valve controlled 45 gallon container. I agree with Nate that if you're at 70 lbs., you probably cannot improve output it with a booster pump and you probably can't warm your source water. But, it was suggested to me that if you use a 5 micron sediment filter, you can get more throughput without reducing your quality since your membrane will still does its job. Of course, a periodic back flush is essential anyhow.

PeterCip, don't forget it does take a couple days for a new RO membrane to fully hydrate and disolve any airbubbles before you get full production.

 

[Pat H.]

My $.02 .... Don't forget to dump the first few gallons from a new unit. I'm not exactly sure why, but i think there might be an anti-fungal agent in the membrane that needs to be flushed out.

-Patrick

 

[PeterCip]

Thanks for all the replys!

NateHanson What livestock do you have right now. A 90% change could be pretty stressful to corals fish and inverts, but i doubt your rock would care. I'd do 3 50% water changes. You'll get the same percentage dillution (about 85%), but less stress.

When i moved, i lost everything.. the only live stock in there now are the zooanthids, mushrooms, a snowflake eel, and some star polyps(sp?).. I think that these guys will do just fine during that stressful change.

I am more than sick of this 8week algea/diatom bloom.. I am hoping that using RO/DI will reduce the amount of nutrients for these guys to feed on.

PeterCip, don't forget it does take a couple days for a new RO membrane to fully hydrate and disolve any airbubbles before you get full production.

I had no idea about this! Now i am hopefull that it will start making more water..

My $.02 .... Don't forget to dump the first few gallons from a new unit. I'm not exactly sure why, but i think there might be an anti-fungal agent in the membrane that needs to be flushed out.

I did dump the first 4 or so gallons, thanks for the advice!

I'm sorry if i am beating a dead horse with this subject.. I appreciate all of your help! its pathetic, after about a year in the hobby and i'm still a newbie..

-pete

P.S. dont ever move... it kills your fish tanks!

 

[NateHanson]

Peter, when you moved, did you keep the same sandbed? Did you remove it from the tank, and then put it back? This might be the source of your nutrient mess, and the thing that killed the fish.

 

[delta]

heat the water to 78 degrees
throw a roll of 1\4" tubing coiled in a bucket of water with a heater in it
between supply and your ro\di unit will increase you output

 

[CamaroJWeed]

It is the cold water like others have said. The membrane is less efficient and contracts at colder temps, what I have seen others do is connect hot and cold lines through a mixing valve and make the output about 75-80 degrees and that should increase the flow to get closer to the "rated" output.

Also I would do a couple of 30-40 pecent water changes, not a 90% JMO.

Jason

 

[PeterCip]

Peter, when you moved, did you keep the same sandbed? Did you remove it from the tank, and then put it back? This might be the source of your nutrient mess, and the thing that killed the fish.

I did keep the same sand bed, and it stayed in the tank. I would have taken it out, but since my muscles are soo big, i could just leave it in.
The sand bed was Flushed with fresh water...Probably killed every thing in it.


The fish actually died when i fell asleep working on the re-setup, and the airater tube detatched itself from the pump. dead fish in about 6 hours.

remind me again why you can't push hot water through the RO/DI? unfortunatley, i don't have the room in my apartment to have another bucket with a heater element in it.

 

[CamaroJWeed]

The hot water can cause some deformation and swelling of the membrane and damage it so that it no longer filters correctly, the bigger problem is that resin begins to break down at 130 degrees and this cause release of previously captured ions and also resin fines, which is small particles of resin which will end up in you tank...not good...

Hope this helps...

Jason