Tap water filter

[friend2fish]

I've seen alot of online fish stores advertising tap water filters. I know this is not as effective as an RO unit, but I would like to know if anyone has ever used one of these filters. Heres a description of the product:
*Give all your aquarium pets a healthy home in deionized water
*remove sediments, chlorine, chloramine, heavy metals, organic chemicals and inorganic ions from tap water - creating contaminant-free deionized water.
* Easily remove impurities and dissolved solids from your tap water.
Like I said I know its not as good as RO/DI water but my LFS doesnt sale RO water and I've just been using dechlorinaded tap water and im still having a problem with brown algea. I was hoping this would help cut down on the algea. If you have any more info or suggestions on this product i would greatly appricaite you advice. Thanks in advance.

 

[clarkiiboi]

from what I have read and also from someone who sells these, its not worth it. It wont get rid of the trouble in tap water. But then again what is this product? maybe someone else has more experience with this perticular item. Sounds good in writting, the product you stated. Tell us what it is.

 

[mrfish]

I have been using one by Nitragon. It removes all Nitrate and most phosphate (Tested). I then add a de-chlorinator to the water.
Seems to be working for me as my algae levels dropped to nearly zero once I started using it with a phosphate sponge in the filter aswell. Although it works I see it as only a temporary measure (few months) unitil I get an RO/DI unit.

 

[broomer5]

<a href="http://www.aquariumpharm.com/techref/aquarium/apb128.htm" target="_blank">Tap Water Filter Technical Notes</a>
F2F,
If you haven't had a chance to read this, it may help answer your questions.
IMO - using a DI unit on tapwater is far better than just using conditioned tapwater alone, and is an economical alternative for many people.
As with any DI unit, the resin cartridge will eventually need to be replaced. This cost should be figured into your total cost when looking at any filtration equipment. They only filter so much water, become exhausted and fouled up, and need replacing.
I don't necessarily agree with everything in the technical notes. Marketing people have a way of making things sound better than they actually are sometimes.