Thanks for the video! I replaced by blue and red cartridges after 6 months of use (I have low TDS tap water but prefer RO/DI since I have shrimps). My resin is still good for another couple of months based on the color. I'm going to get a bag of resin as it's a cheaper solution and uses less plastic overall. Those replacement cartridges are double the price in Canada compared to the US.
Perfect timing! I have to replace the two cartridges plus refill the resin - was not exactly how to proceed as I got this second hand. This answered my questions - you have yourself a new friend - thank you! :)
@@Jessmosis actually real fast question - when I dumped the resin out, that bottom sponge / disk assembly came out too. Does the sponge go against the resin at each end of the cartridge? I don't want to put it back in upside down. Any other tips are appreciated as I have this undone and sitting here on the kitchen counter. thanks in advance!
@@OnefishTwofishROC the disk goes on the very bottom of the cartridge then the sponge should go on top of the disk. The resin should be sitting on the sponge. The sponge holds the resin in and the disks hold the sponges in place. Hope this makes sense!
I have the RO Buddie after learning my tap water has .4 ammonia in it!! No wonder my tank always had ammonia problems. How do you know when and what to replace?
Was happy to hear you have no complaints and that you'd use it for smaller tanks. Entry level equipment has it's flaws and lacks some bells and whistles but this unit seemed to be well received, nonetheless. Interested to know what the adaptor is straight from the water supply under the faucet is. Seen it before but don't know exactly what im looking for. Looking through lowes/home depot now and no luck.
I will be buying this AquaticLife RO/DI unit. I really want to get into the reef aspect of the hobby at some point but I'm not too sure if its right for me so rather than spending +$400 dollars just on a BRS RO/DI unit I will just get this one and try it out for a year and if it all goes well next time in 2022 during black friday I'll upgrade to a BRS RO/DI if they have any deals on them. RO/DI has become more appealing to me because my city has changed how they treat our water and I noticed after water changes using my tap water I get small ammonia spikes and that is not okay. Its a 100 gallon freshwater very lightly stocked so the bio-waste-load is not high but I still like to do 40 gallon water changes a week and this RO/DI unit looks capable of making just enough water per week that I won't need a bigger unit yet. I am slightly concerned that when I finally do set up all my new tanks a 55, 29 and 20 gallon long that this unit will not be able to make enough water for 4 fish tanks and I may have to buy another unit. I plan to place this unit in my washroom that conveniently enough is located between where my 100 gallon currently is and where I plan setting up the 55 gallon so hopefully this single RO/DI unit can make enough water to do 40% water changes for a 55 gallon and 100 gallon weekly, as long as it can make close to 60 gallons of RO/DI water per week I should be fine. I don't necessarily need a DI for my freshwater so maybe in the near future if I do buy another unit I will still get the 4 stage aquaticlife RO buddie but I will not run the DI for the freshwater tanks and only use it on saltwater. Thanks again for the valued review as I will be buying one of these units since my Amazon app says I can get free same day shipping hopefully this unit arrives on christmas eve so I can begin filling up my storage bins and possibly set up 1of 3 new tanks I bought. I literally have everything to set up these tanks, besides a stand to place it on and if I do decide to do a reef before the end of the year I just need some good lights but I already have +50lbs of dry rock, +60lbs of "live sand", and enough salt mix for 160 gallons and If I set up another fresh water I already have everything necessary except a CO2 tank since I plan on doing a planted set up and freshwater would be easy to jumpstart as I have so much biological media in my 100 gallon than I can transfer some media to cycle a new tank.
Great plans! I actually have a small freshwater tank and I give them fresh rodi water because it's such a small tank and they seem to love it. Happy fish keeping!
With your system under your sink like that where do you discharge your waste water and what do you do with the RO water I can assume but just wanted to see what you are doing thank you brother. Bryan
Not going to lie to you, I don't know the exact amount, but I can tell you the membrane easily would of lasted 2 years with my water. The di is what would deplete so fast because there's so little of it in the cartridge I assume.
The attachment that you disconnected from the sink line, is that included with the unit? Or was that something you had to purchase separately and, if so, where?
Thanks! I think the ro buddie unit is a great starter but the more advanced brs rodi is definitely awesome for the built in tds meters and pressure gauge! If I did it again from scratch, I'd probably go for the brs version if you can afford it.
does the carbon filter open like the di one, can you get more carbon for it? So with the carbon filter you don't have to use something like Prime right?
You shouldn't replace the sediment filter or membrane but roughly once a year and you can buy replacement di resin to refill the resin cartridge. Should be much cheaper than buying the whole unit at once.
@@Jessmosis ok thanks buddy, I just found aquatic life’s resin on Amazon. I run an extra ro membrane to save waste water and boost output, I’m thinking about more modifications to not waste so much water
hey man you may of screwed your unit up your supposed to flush out your carbon filter before hooking it up to your membrane also your membrane should last up to two years
Flushing out the carbon sounds like a great idea, thanks for the tip. I mention that I know I changed out everything early, I had the stuff so I changed it all. The TDS is reading zero and hasn't given me issues. Thanks for the info!
Not only flush the carbon filter, but before you hook up the DI you need to flush the RO membrane for at least 30 minutes. You should really watch the video aquatic life posted about how to set things up.
Thanks for the video! I replaced by blue and red cartridges after 6 months of use (I have low TDS tap water but prefer RO/DI since I have shrimps). My resin is still good for another couple of months based on the color. I'm going to get a bag of resin as it's a cheaper solution and uses less plastic overall. Those replacement cartridges are double the price in Canada compared to the US.
Perfect timing! I have to replace the two cartridges plus refill the resin - was not exactly how to proceed as I got this second hand. This answered my questions - you have yourself a new friend - thank you! :)
Glad this was helpful for you!
@@Jessmosis actually real fast question - when I dumped the resin out, that bottom sponge / disk assembly came out too. Does the sponge go against the resin at each end of the cartridge? I don't want to put it back in upside down. Any other tips are appreciated as I have this undone and sitting here on the kitchen counter. thanks in advance!
@@OnefishTwofishROC the disk goes on the very bottom of the cartridge then the sponge should go on top of the disk. The resin should be sitting on the sponge. The sponge holds the resin in and the disks hold the sponges in place. Hope this makes sense!
I have the RO Buddie after learning my tap water has .4 ammonia in it!! No wonder my tank always had ammonia problems. How do you know when and what to replace?
Was happy to hear you have no complaints and that you'd use it for smaller tanks. Entry level equipment has it's flaws and lacks some bells and whistles but this unit seemed to be well received, nonetheless. Interested to know what the adaptor is straight from the water supply under the faucet is. Seen it before but don't know exactly what im looking for. Looking through lowes/home depot now and no luck.
I got the adapter from Lowe's at the time.
I will be buying this AquaticLife RO/DI unit. I really want to get into the reef aspect of the hobby at some point but I'm not too sure if its right for me so rather than spending +$400 dollars just on a BRS RO/DI unit I will just get this one and try it out for a year and if it all goes well next time in 2022 during black friday I'll upgrade to a BRS RO/DI if they have any deals on them.
RO/DI has become more appealing to me because my city has changed how they treat our water and I noticed after water changes using my tap water I get small ammonia spikes and that is not okay. Its a 100 gallon freshwater very lightly stocked so the bio-waste-load is not high but I still like to do 40 gallon water changes a week and this RO/DI unit looks capable of making just enough water per week that I won't need a bigger unit yet. I am slightly concerned that when I finally do set up all my new tanks a 55, 29 and 20 gallon long that this unit will not be able to make enough water for 4 fish tanks and I may have to buy another unit. I plan to place this unit in my washroom that conveniently enough is located between where my 100 gallon currently is and where I plan setting up the 55 gallon so hopefully this single RO/DI unit can make enough water to do 40% water changes for a 55 gallon and 100 gallon weekly, as long as it can make close to 60 gallons of RO/DI water per week I should be fine.
I don't necessarily need a DI for my freshwater so maybe in the near future if I do buy another unit I will still get the 4 stage aquaticlife RO buddie but I will not run the DI for the freshwater tanks and only use it on saltwater.
Thanks again for the valued review as I will be buying one of these units since my Amazon app says I can get free same day shipping hopefully this unit arrives on christmas eve so I can begin filling up my storage bins and possibly set up 1of 3 new tanks I bought. I literally have everything to set up these tanks, besides a stand to place it on and if I do decide to do a reef before the end of the year I just need some good lights but I already have +50lbs of dry rock, +60lbs of "live sand", and enough salt mix for 160 gallons and If I set up another fresh water I already have everything necessary except a CO2 tank since I plan on doing a planted set up and freshwater would be easy to jumpstart as I have so much biological media in my 100 gallon than I can transfer some media to cycle a new tank.
Great plans! I actually have a small freshwater tank and I give them fresh rodi water because it's such a small tank and they seem to love it. Happy fish keeping!
Can’t wait to see the 29! Keep up the good work
Thank you!
You need to flush those cartridges before using it. Carbon needs to be flushed before the ro membrane and di resin is installed
Yep! Great info that I failed to share.
What if I did not flush before running? Is it ruined?
Great review, I'm going to get one!
Thanks for the feedback! Hope the ro buddie treats you well too!
Good review man.
Happy reefing!
Thanks man!
where did you buy the adapter to connect under the sink
Local Lowe's. Believe it was a shark bite adapter or something similar.
Where did you get the attachment to hook it up to your water hose? My faucet is a pain in the butt to hook stuff up to
The attachment comes with the kit. 👍
The one that’s connected to your water supply? I don’t see it in my kit
@@johntaylor1992 Yes the connectors in this video came with my kit. It also came with connectors for the outdoor water hose as well.
How often do you change it
Can this be used to wash cars?
I mean, I suppose you could but the amount of water from the output wouldn't be ideal to clean efficiently.
With your system under your sink like that where do you discharge your waste water and what do you do with the RO water I can assume but just wanted to see what you are doing thank you brother. Bryan
The waste went into the sink above.
Love the gsp you are going to put in the 29!
Thanks! Looking forward to seeing what it grows into!
If I attached this to my hoze how long would it take to fill a 5 gallon container?
It's rated for two gallons an hour.
1.5 hours
How much water did you get out of the system before having to change the cartridge?
Not going to lie to you, I don't know the exact amount, but I can tell you the membrane easily would of lasted 2 years with my water. The di is what would deplete so fast because there's so little of it in the cartridge I assume.
hi can you drink this water as well? thanks
Absolutely!! Not much flavor though due to everything being stripped out of the water.
@@Jessmosisdrink it right from the tank!
Hey thank you! Great video!!
Thanks!
How often should you change the filters?
The DI is what usually gets changed most often. The other two can last up to a couple years.
How do you know when you need to replace stuff?
You just monitor your TDS output.
The attachment that you disconnected from the sink line, is that included with the unit? Or was that something you had to purchase separately and, if so, where?
Purchased separately, it's called a feed water adapter.
How do you know when it’s time to change the filters?
I use a TDS meter to determine if the filters are going bad.
i need an rodi unit for my 15 g nano... is this system as good as the brs RODI ? im trying to save money wehre i can... btw beautiful tank!!!
Thanks! I think the ro buddie unit is a great starter but the more advanced brs rodi is definitely awesome for the built in tds meters and pressure gauge! If I did it again from scratch, I'd probably go for the brs version if you can afford it.
@@Jessmosis yea... I am an advanced reefer this is my second build... I might have to bite the bullet and go for the BRS 4 stage with tds meter 😫
@@Botzz28 definitely an awesome unit, it's what I use now! Will probably do an update about it sometime soon.
I'm getting .05 from the TDS meter
I cannot install the di filter it isn’t clear and is opaque and has no parts where I can put tubing in I’m so confused please help
Did you order the correct item?
does the carbon filter open like the di one, can you get more carbon for it? So with the carbon filter you don't have to use something like Prime right?
No, you need to order a new one. The reason the DI is replaceable is because it depletes so fast.
how long will this last? how often do you have to change filters, Would you recommend this for say freshwater shrimp tank?
This would do great for a freshwater shrimp tank! About changing filters, that all is subject to your original water quality from your tap water.
Is it cheaper to replace all parts or just buy a brand new system at 70
You shouldn't replace the sediment filter or membrane but roughly once a year and you can buy replacement di resin to refill the resin cartridge. Should be much cheaper than buying the whole unit at once.
How do I know when to change the carbon and sediments cartridges?
You can test the water with a TDS meter before it goes through the DI.
The price you pay for new filters this item should be free
Do you know if it will desalinate salt water?
Yes it should, that was a great question I never thought of! Sorry for the late response!
would this be fine for a 95gal tank?
Yep!
What do you use for di replacement membrane
Just search for replacement di resin. They usually come in bag that you can pour the resin into the container you already have.
@@Jessmosis ok thanks buddy, I just found aquatic life’s resin on Amazon. I run an extra ro membrane to save waste water and boost output, I’m thinking about more modifications to not waste so much water
Nice tank
Thanks!
hey man you may of screwed your unit up your supposed to flush out your carbon filter before hooking it up to your membrane also your membrane should last up to two years
Flushing out the carbon sounds like a great idea, thanks for the tip. I mention that I know I changed out everything early, I had the stuff so I changed it all. The TDS is reading zero and hasn't given me issues. Thanks for the info!
you can actually clean your membrane to to make it last along as 1 to 2 years it's has to do with reversing the flow cheers man
@@lewisryan376 oh, I'll have to check this out! Thanks!
Not only flush the carbon filter, but before you hook up the DI you need to flush the RO membrane for at least 30 minutes. You should really watch the video aquatic life posted about how to set things up.