R/o?

[mandarin w]

Is all R/O water the same. I know some units have a DI on them. But what I need to know is the R/O at my LFS cost .96 cents a gallon. At my grocery store it is .46 cents a gallon. I checked it does say "Reverse Osmosis ". So can I get the water at my grocery store, and my own salt and save some $$$$. By the way, which salt is the best to use. And I'm not sure what my LFS was using, But if he was using brand A, and I get brand B,
that would be ok? Or is it bad to mix salt brands?

 

[jjlittle]

same though one may have a better machine and better cared for I recommend doing teh $100 or so investment to have your own and know the filters are being changed when they should be.

 

[acrylic51]

If your truely serious about the hobby don't waste your money on buying RO water and as suggested you really don't know the condition of the machines or you LFS RO unit as well...Save the cash and buy yourself a good RO/DI unit that you can monitor and maintain and that way you'll know all the time the quality of water your putting into your system....Certain things just shouldn't be left to someone elses control

 

[rdonnelly7]

I agree, I am new to the hobby, but I invested in a RO/DI filter, and it is probably the best investment I have made. I go to the my LFS at least once a week and everytime I go I see people lugging gallons of water to their car. For me, I just hook my hose up to the filter, fill up a garbage can in my fish closet, mix up salt and I am good to go. You ensure your own quality, save money in the long run, and save a huge amount of time and effort transporting gallons of water every water change.

 

[mandarin w]

I live in an apartment, I don't have any place to hook up an R/O unit. Plus I'm not sure the land lord will like me messing with the pluming. I've looked into the portable units for campers and such but they don't seem like they are really any good.

 

[rdonnelly7]

I guess having an apartment is a little tough for that type of setup. There is one downside to using RO/DI filters, they waste a significant amount of water. So you have to have a setup where can drain the waste water.