This filter OK for a nano?

[mhmh]

Will this $30 countertop tap water filter from DrsFosterSmith.com be okay for a nano-reef?

http://a1272.g.akamai.net/7/1272/1121/20021010132032/www.drsfostersmith.com/images/products/large/pw_148750.jpg

Details here (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=6&pCatId=4484)

I live in a co-op apartment and don't want to go through the trouble of installing a multi-stage filter under the sink.

Yes, I know in the long run the $/gallon will be higher with this type, but for a couple of gallons a week to maintain a 10 gallon nano, I think I can live with the cost.

[BrianH]

Sure this filter will work. But IMHO you may only get 25 to 50 gal (I got about 30-35 in NJ) out of each DI cartridge before you need a new one. Also remember to run the water through it slowly. You should filter about a gallon every 2 - 3 hrs. I found Bigalsonline.com had the best price for the filter and replacement cartridges.
Brian

[mhmh]

Originally posted by BrianH
I found Bigalsonline.com had the best price for the filter and replacement cartridges.
Brian
You found this at Big Al's? I couldn't find it-what did you search on?

[BrianH]

http://www.bigalsonline.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi (http://http://www.bigalsonline.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi)
It is under water purification.
Brian

[latazyo]

how does this filter compare to just buying gallon jugs at the supermarket?

here it is 58 cents for a gallon of distilled the first time, and refills are about half price, would that be better (that's what I am doing with my 10g)

[mhmh]

The supermarkets here (NYC area) don't have those displays where you can refill your bottles with filtered water. Also, anything I buy has to be carried up a flight of stairs along with my other groceries. That would get tedious pretty quickly. And NYC has some of the best tasting water in the country, so I don't need to buy or filter for drinking!

[Satchmo]

I believe those filters are just DI. In an RO/DI setup, the water is run through RO first, which removes 99% of everything. DI takes care of what's left. So (if my logic holds here), That filter isn't taking out too much. I'd imagine it would reduce phosphates and silicates which is what DI primarily does. But metals, chemicals, and other gunk would remain. Is my thinking on target here or am I missing something?

Just buy the jugs man. 10g minus rock/sand displacement = ~7g of start-up water. Long term, you're looking at 2g/week (One for w/c, one for top off). That was my routine when I only had the 10. It's not a big deal, I have stairs too, and did the Gallon Jug Lug every couple weeks.

[BrianH]

Kevin,

I'm pretty sure the DI resin removes everything also. But it drains the DI resin to process this removal, thus the reason these filters only last for 25 - 50 gallons IMO. Since the RO membrane removes 95 - 99% of the impurities, the DI only has to remove 1 - 5% of the remainder and therefore lasts much longer.

Brian

[mhmh]

From DrsFosterSmith.com, regarding their DI countertop filter:

Q. Can I run reverse osmosis water through the Tap Water Filter?
A. Yes. Reverse osmosis systems can significantly reduce TDS levels if properly maintained. RO, however, is not nearly as pure as deionized water. Many aquarists run their RO water through the Tap Water Filter to scavenge out the traces of nitrate, phosphate, silicate, etc that the RO lets through. Running RO water through the Tap Water Filter will give you pure water and extend the life of the cartridges.

Brian, the same Web site coincidentally talks about NJ vs. NYC water:
Q. How many gallons of water will the Tap Water Filter make?
A. The amount of deionized water produced by the Tap Water Filter depends entirely on the level of minerals, heavy metals, phosphate, nitrate, etc. that is in your tap water. Each cartridge has a fixed ion exchange capacity. In New York City for example, aquarists can produce up to 300 gallons of pure water with a single cartridge. An aquarist in northern New Jersey, however, made 15 gallons of water. An analysis of the NJ water showed very high levels of copper, zinc, phosphate, nitrite, and nitrate in addition to the normal hardness minerals. A heavily polluted water source will use up a cartridge much sooner than a water supply low in minerals and pollutants. Most aquarists produce somewhere between 50 and 150 gallons per cartridge.

[Satchmo]

I stand corrected. That's good info to know.

mhmh- sounds like that filter would be ideal for you. I know what you mean about NY's water. We have an apartment on the upper east side. It was my girlfriend's place before she moved in with me. Whenever we happen to have the car over in the city, she fills up as many bottles as we can to drag back to Jersey with us. She says "NJ water tastes like feet." No argument here.

[mhmh]

LOL :D

[BrianH]

mhmh,
While I do live in north jersey, my water supply is not from the large water supplier. My town has wells drilled into an underground aquifer. While my supply is different, I do believe it is high in minerals. This may clog the filter quicker and also what makes it taste good.
Kevin, if you get your water from united water, I know what your saying. I grew up on that water and since I've moved north I can't drink it any longer. The last time my 4 yr old was at my inlaws. he asked my mother in law why she gave him a glass of pool water to drink.:)

Brian

[Satchmo]

United Water, that's the stuff. It's pretty bad. As long as I run it through a Brita first, it tastes OK to me. But for someone who hasn't been weened on it, it's a different story.

This is yet another reason that my gf thinks I'm insane. I drink a lot of water-- Brita-filtered, Jersey-crap water. Yet I have a closet full of bottled RO @ $0.88/gallon for the tanks. I didn't see that as strange until she told me it was.