sea horse RO?

[jsl6v8]

I called my local fish store and they say they have a sea horse RO system I' ve looked this up or tired to and found no RO units by a seahorse company nor a seahorse company at all, I'm pretty sure he means seachem but thats a pretty common name and wouldn't think he would screw that up. So basically have any of you heard of seahorse RO systems if so can you give me your take on them or send me a link to where I can check them out or check out reviews on them

[mhurley]

This thread has been moved to the current forum.

[AZDesertRat]

Never heard of them but there are literally thousands of people buying imported components and assembling units or buying shipping container loads of preassembled RO units so thats not unusual. I can almost bet it will be much more expensive through a LFS than what you could purchase a better unit for from lots of the vendors here on RC. I am all for supporting my LFS but by the same token they specialize in fish and corals and not water treatment.
Check out the sponsors here on RC that specialize in RO/DI, most of whom are saltwater hobbyists themselves.

[jsl6v8]

well I'm getting a 50 gpd RODI for 89, all parts included and that seems to be a pretty good price from what I understand

[AZDesertRat]

Before buying it make sure it is truly an RO/DI and not just RO. Also make sure it has a Dow Filmtec RO membrane, uses solid carbon blocks instead of granular activated carbon, includes an autoshutoff valve, has all the hardware to install it and most of all uses a vertical refillable DI and not a throw away low quality DI filter.
Sometimes these look attractive at first glance but once you look closer it costs a mint to get the quality where it should have been to begin with. In my experience most sub $100 units never see a final product water of 0 TDS, the construction of the unit and the components used just can't do it.

With RO and RO/DI you almost always get what you pay for and if it seems too good to be true it almost always is. There are lots of members here that can attest to that.

Let us know how it works out if you do buy it.

[jsl6v8]

going to write down all that stuff to find out, when I first got my 55 gal nobody mentioned an RO and then all of a sudden I'm setting up my aunts 120 and everyone is telling her are you nuts not using an RO the city is going to kill your fish.

[AZDesertRat]

It may not kill the fish but it can make your life miserable due to its inconsistency. Algae blooms and die off are greatly reduced if not eliminated when using good husbandry along with good consistent water.

[jsl6v8]

oh why a dow filmtec membrane? and you mean that the DI is vertical like the other canisters and not horizontal on top like on some of the models I've searched and seen?

[jsl6v8]

Also, what kind of lighting should I be using on the refugium? Any other things I should be putting in there, that could help my tank other than chea and copeopods?

[jsl6v8]

go ahead and ignore that last post, unless you have suggestions.

[AZDesertRat]

Dow Filmtec membranes 75 GPD and below are rated at 98% rejection at 77 degrees F and 50 psi incoming pressure. Other brands are anywhere from 90 to 96% stabilized rejection rate at 77 degrees also but require 60 to 65 psi pressure to produce the same amount of water. Yes the DI I am speaking about is a standard canister type just like the prefilter and carbons are in and preferrably with a refillable cartridge in it. They hold 24 oz of resin compared to 6 to 12 and occasionally 16 oz like the horizontals. Not only do they hold more but they are more efficient due to the bottom up flow pattern. Bulk DI resin can be had pretty inexpensively.
On my fuge I use a 2x32w PC fixture with 6500k freshwater bulbs and get great macro growth. You can use a clamp on Home Depot light with a cheap screw in type compact fluorescent and they work just as well for most people. I keep live rock rubble, some southdown sand and 2 or 3 different species of macros in there.

[jsl6v8]

it seems most of my LFS don't carry live macros, well petsmart does but thats freshwater. and I must say you are a wonderful help and quite to respond and I really appreciate it. What kind of macros would you suggest? Also do I have to put in cops and stuff to get them to start breeding or will they just appear one day? Also you have any other stuff in yours? I've heard of putting cleaner clams in to reduce ammonia levels

[AZDesertRat]

Most of mine is chaetomorpha but there is a little caulerpa and others I don't know the name of. The very best way to get pods established is to trade cups of live sand and macroalgaes from friends established tanks, its usually crawling with good life in an established tank.
Make contact with a local reef club or find people with tanks in your area, I much prefer trading and bartering to buying retail any day!

[jsl6v8]

emailed the guy I bought the tank from, local guy found on craigslist and he suggested I look at http://www.purelyh2o.com/home.php?cat=249 was wondering what you thought of them, you are now my resident expert :-)

[AZDesertRat]

Good vendor but buy a full sized unit to begin with. You will end up upgrading it soon enough and it will cost you more to do so later. Their Optima series is a good unit.

[jsl6v8]

once you purify the water do you have to put a power head blowing the purified water around? How long can the water/should the water sit till you put it in your tank? Do you mix tap water with your RO water to regain some of the trace elements, if not what do you use to put trace elements back into the water? I'm buying the optima series but not the fancy autoshut off one I figure I can build 1 of those platic floating shut off do hickies, I've built all sorts of wet drys, installed electric and all that other fancy aquarium pain in my *** :-). Basically looking at the details of how to work the RO.