Where Can I Find RO/DI Water?

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Fade2White12

Small Fish
#1
Jun 24, 2007
19
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0
#1
Ok, I'm starting a smaller reef tank, so I am not looking to spend such a large amoung on an RI system - so I was wondering where I can get it from. The lfs's by my house are very expensive, so I rather not buy it from them. I know my choices are RO, DI, or Distilled water, but I have a few questions:

Which one is the best? I know distilled is very high quality, but I know it can't be made using copper pipes, but how would I find that out? I know distilled water is sold at larger retail and grocery stores like Meijer, but are the others as well?

Anyway, I guess that's it. Thanks everyone!
 

KahluaZzZ

KahluaZzZ

Superstar Fish
#2
Jun 12, 2004
2,778
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Montreal, Quebec
Visit site
#2
On the long run a ro/di unit is the best choice. Can have a decent 5 stages system for about 130$, cartridges included.
The cartridges cost about 30$ for 4 ( the 5th, the membrane you change it every 5 years or so ) that last..well depend how big or messy is your tank, but here i change it every 8 months approx.
Wow...juste checked on ebay..split the unit price by 2. My unit is an aquasafe, it's very good for the price. If you get the 6 stages..remove the last one for odor and taste...it's a phos leacher, useless for your tank.
eBay - aqua safe, Kitchen, Personal Security items on eBay.com
 

Joe Fish

Joe Fish

Superstar Fish
#3
Apr 21, 2006
2,126
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Penn State
josy.isa-geek.com
#3
Distilled water will work fine, but it doesn't have any elements that your tank could benefit from. RO/DI is the absolute best water you can use. If you don't want to get a RO/DI unit usually lowes sells 5 gallons of culligan water for $12 I think. You get $5 off the next one when you return the empty jug. Just call the local culligan place and see where they sell.

I used distilled until I purchased a RO/DI until from thefilterguys.biz.
 

Lorna

Lorna

Elite Fish
#5
Mar 3, 2005
3,082
4
0
NE Indiana
#5
I used to buy my water at Meijer for .25 cents/gallon before I got a ro/di system. The only issue with the bulk water is you have no idea what the tds reading is and it usually is fairly high as the water is probably only ro ......but it will do until you can get something else.....
 

shift_9k

shift_9k

Large Fish
#6
Jul 5, 2005
345
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39
Chicago
www.duderick.com
#6
I just get RODI from one of the better LFS's around here. Close to .50 a gallon for SW mix, and .25 for fresh.

Where are u located? Oh and I got your IM the other day, I wasn't home and my aim doesnt go on idle due to stalking issues from the lady. Where were you? You told me you were home, blah, blah, blah.... sorry for the tangent.
 

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Fade2White12

Small Fish
#7
Jun 24, 2007
19
0
0
#7
It's all good, lol. I'm located in northeastern Michigan. First off, I really can't afford and ro/di water system, so i need something until I can. Also, there are only a few lfs's that sell marine livestock, and they are small and very overpriced. Their live rock would have cost me almost $250 for my 14 gal Aquapod.. so I haven't even tried asking them. Anyway, I already ordered a huge bucket of IO salt mix, so that would just go to waste. But if Meijer and Walmart sell those types of water, then that will surely do for now. I assume they are down the same aisle you'd find jugs of distilled water?
 

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Fade2White12

Small Fish
#9
Jun 24, 2007
19
0
0
#9
Wow, I've never seen one of those at my local meijer, plus that'll be pretty difficult to do for all the water I need for my initial setup, but definetly doable for when I need refills. I dunno then. I'll be going there tomorrow, so I guess I'll just see what they have.
 

C

CoolWaters

Superstar Fish
#10
Dec 10, 2006
1,028
1
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Milpitas
#10
u know that the storage tank that RO units have gets pretty bad after a while?
they should fix that or change it...my friend used to use a RO unit as drinking water but later the storage tank started to build up dirt or wasted over the years and made some people sick...my dad replaced it with a filter instead.
we have to change it every 6 months or so which gets pretty bad...its about $40 a filter o_O
 

Joe Fish

Joe Fish

Superstar Fish
#12
Apr 21, 2006
2,126
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Penn State
josy.isa-geek.com
#12
How often you change the filters depends on your water quality and the quality of the unit. I feel if you are in this hobby for the long haul it makes more sense to get one. I don't use a storage tank. I got the bypass valve and when I want drinking water I make it in 5 gallon batches and store it in a empty culligan jug.
 

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Fade2White12

Small Fish
#13
Jun 24, 2007
19
0
0
#13
I am definitely in it for the long run, but this is only a temporary residence, as I'm probably moving to Florida next fall - so investing in a ro/di unit isn't necessary right now. I'm pretty excited though - according to FedEx, all my equipment is coming in today, and I ordered it all on the 26th.
 

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Fade2White12

Small Fish
#15
Jun 24, 2007
19
0
0
#15
I'm just having a hard time now finding some cheap Live Rock on the internet, with shipping that isn't overly high. eBay stores have some great deals on there, has anyone had any experience with getting it off of eBay?
 

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Fade2White12

Small Fish
#19
Jun 24, 2007
19
0
0
#19
Yeah, there are two that I found. One looks very credible, but the shipping is very high compared to the other - so I dunno if I should take the gamble on the cheaper one (both per lb and shipping) or what.

This is the cheaper one: here
This is the seemingly more credible one: here
 

Joe Fish

Joe Fish

Superstar Fish
#20
Apr 21, 2006
2,126
1
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Penn State
josy.isa-geek.com
#20
The 2nd one looks like it has better rocks. Shipping is usually the kicker with live rock, but the quicker you get it shipped the more beneficial stuff will survive. When I got my 2nd batch of rocks I picked the cheapest shipping, and luckly it came in 3 days, but you are paying for the good stuff.
 

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