Aquasafe RO/DI?
 

Hi, I am about to buy a decent RO/DI unit, I have a 34 gallon tank and I usually do 5 gallon water change every 2 week. I am checking the aquasafe's website and they seem to have a pretty decent price for a 7 stage ro/di unit.
http://www.aquasafecanada.com/aquariumsystem.html

Has any one tried it? is it any good? what is the TDS reading(I am new to water chemistry,is tds the only standard for filtered water)?
The shipping is about 16 dollars to Vancouver, and their unit is on sale for 129.20(do I need to buy anything else except the unit itself?). What do you guys think?

I have an aquasafe unit i bought off ebay about 7 years ago, best investment I ever made. I continue to buy replacement filters from them as well as they're the best deal I've found so far :biggrin:

Do you know if the price($129) including the filter media? how long can the orginal media last?

I believe they say at a usage rate of 2-3 gal per day the filters last about a year.

I have one and it's pretty good, the fittings are an adventure to set up to not leak, use lots of Teflon. The unit itself works great though, easy to get cartriges as well. As for the price, when i got mine there was 2 options, one came with all the needed media, the other came with a bunch extra for a few changes.

Using a Aquasafe for about 5 years. Removed the post carbon filter, replaced my membrane once, try to replace my pre-filters about every 6 months and DI lasts about a year. Other maintenance is replaced the ASOV a couple of times and one check valve.

Not including water changes due evap use about 2 gpd. No leaks and I'm happy with it.

Our TDS is pretty low so the RO membrane can last 2+ years (currently mine is working on 4 years because I'm lazy and the TDS still reads at 0 or close enough for me). DI will probably last you close to a year and the filters about 9 months or so. You need to keep on top of the filters as the carbon filter removes chlorine/chloramine which can harm the membrane.

Like was mentioned, use a buttload of teflon tape on the fittings.
I snapped 2 fittings in the process because I tried to skimp on the tape, and my only issue with the fittings is they use metric fittings, wich aren't so readily available at your local hardware store.

Other than the fact that I am only using 2 DI stages because I snapped those fittings, I have been reading 0 TDS for 3 months now since I installed it.

I ended up buying a couple 1/8x1/4 hose fittings because i broke a couple over tightening(by hand...). They are expencive, was about $5 a fitting, but none of those ones leak, probably because they are metal and just tapped a new hole into the plastic.

I picked them up at fastenal, there's cheaper places around though, it's a 1/8 NPT with a 1/4" pressfit hose fitting. They worked, but a pain to find.

I've been using one for 5 years now, cant complain. TDS reading before the DI is zero.