Best top off system?

[TimT]

I use a Little Giant livestock waterer with an acrylic rod mod and nylon bolts/nuts to attach it. Plumbed via a 1/4" shut off valve(to reduce flow) to my 75gpd ro membrane with auto shut off valve. 0 failures in 12 years. 3 membranes in 12 years too.

If you can't do it that way then I would recommend the Tunze. I stay away from American labeled off shore crap whenever possible.

[mike31154]

Plumbing ATO directly to RODI system probably works fine if your tap TDS is 10 or less like many folks on the west coast are fortunate to have. No way I'm doing that, not only because I don't trust direct hookup even if there hasn't been a flood, but also because my tap TDS is 210 or more. It only takes one flood to ruin your day, or crash your tank. Might as well use treated tap water like I did for the first year my system was set up. I was never any good at horsehoes and with my relatively high source TDS, it takes the membrane a while to get that down to an acceptable level.

As mentioned, my tap TDS is 210+ & I've observed my dual TDS meter showing around 180 TDS after RO when I initially turn the system on. It then takes a good minute or more (depending on time of year) to get down to a TDS of 2. After a few more minutes it finally gets to 1 TDS. I usually check again after about 15 minutes and during the colder months, the output of my 75 gpd membrane is then down to 0. All this tells me that if I want my DI media to last longer, I'm better off making my DI water in large batches. The first few gallons I produce are always diverted as RO only for drinking, cooking, coffee etc. If I were to run my ATO directly off the RODI, with short bursts of water produced governed by my top off, I'm pretty sure I'd be going through DI media like there's no tomorrow. I'm on a fixed income and can find better ways to spend my $$s.

[lastlight]

Originally Posted by mike31154

my tap TDS is 210+ & I've observed my dual TDS meter showing around 180 TDS after RO when I initially turn the system on. It then takes a good minute or more (depending on time of year) to get down to a TDS of 2.

This is it exactly. I can get down to 0 for a short time if the membrane is new, 1 for quite some time and then anywhere from 2 - 10 in the first hour or so. If it runs all day it will very slowly go back to sub 5.

TDS for me stays far too high in the first minute. I can't afford to blast through resin like that. Once it's low... it won't creep all the way up to 200 if it runs frequently enough but you never know.

My thing with plumbing direct into ro/di has much more to do with costs of resin than it does with flood fears.

[fishytime]

this blows me away.....we all spend X amount on a tank, X amount on lights, X amount on a skimmer, hundreds if not thousands on livestock and then cheap out on something as critical as the stability of the salinity and the safety of the tank.........amazing


Ive been through a couple of the osmolator pumps as well......but in fairness to the pumps, I have been guilty of letting them run dry a time or two

[intarsiabox]

Originally Posted by fishytime

this blows me away.....we all spend X amount on a tank, X amount on lights, X amount on a skimmer, hundreds if not thousands on livestock and then cheap out on something as critical as the stability of the salinity and the safety of the tank.........amazing

Just because something costs more doesn't make it more reliable than other proven methods.

[fishytime]

proven to what?......fail more often then a tunze?....I may be wrong but I have never read or heard of any tunze ever flooding a persons tank......Ive heard of pumps dieing and head units dieing, but I have never heard of one killing someones tank ..... anything mechanical if given enough time will fail.........especially in a humid salty environment

[intarsiabox]

Originally Posted by fishytime

proven to what?......fail more often then a tunze?....I may be wrong but I have never read or heard of any tunze ever flooding a persons tank......Ive heard of pumps dieing and head units dieing, but I have never heard of one killing someones tank ..... anything mechanical if given enough time will fail.........especially in a humid salty environment

Yes anything mechanical or electrical can fail, and Tunze has both. Lots of people on this forum and many others that don't use Tunze and have never had problems either. Tunze makes a good product but so do many other companies which also have a second level failsafe. Tunze pumps constantly dieing seems to be very common on any forum you go to and it's kind of hard for an ATO unit to keep your reef stable and safe when it's not working. Tunze would be a much better product if you could add your own reliable pump instead.

[Madreefer]

Originally Posted by lastlight

This is it exactly. I can get down to 0 for a short time if the membrane is new, 1 for quite some time and then anywhere from 2 - 10 in the first hour or so. If it runs all day it will very slowly go back to sub 5.

TDS for me stays far too high in the first minute. I can't afford to blast through resin like that. Once it's low... it won't creep all the way up to 200 if it runs frequently enough but you never know.

My thing with plumbing direct into ro/di has much more to do with costs of resin than it does with flood fears.

My TDS is at 0ppm when finished making water, when resevoir is full it climbs up to 50ppm over a 8-10hr period while it is no longer filtering water. TDS probe is between DI cannister and auto shut off valve to resevoir. Is that what your talking about? To add to this thread i use a JBJ ATO with no problems in 3 years.