Crystal Pro DI System

[illumnae]

I'm looking to get a set of the above water purification system to create a more realistic environment for my South American biotope tank. The TDS of Singapore water is 200-500, and I'm looking at sub-100 TDS water for my Heckels. I've read that DI water comes out at about 0-10 TDS, so getting this system + reconstituting the water a little would give me my ideal water.

I've just got a few queries before purchasing the system that I hope people who use it can help me with

1. Approximately how many litres of water can the system purify before a change of media is required? I know that actual exhaustion depends on the water purified and varies on a case by case basis, but I'd appreciate a rough estimate so that I know if it's economically viable to purchase this system. I intend to change ~250 litres of water a week, and it's too expensive if, for example, I have to change refills every 1-2 weeks.

2. My water supply comes from a 16mm hose. What's the size of the inlet and outlet to this system, and are they easily adaptable to 16mm hose size?

3. What's recommended to reconstitute the water? Seachem Equilibrium added till I get my desired TDS?

4. Anything else I should take note of when using this system? I will be doing ~50% water changes, and putting the water directly from the system into the tank as I have no space for a holding tank. I will be doing it slowly, and reconstituting the water by putting the required powder into the tank itself in small incremental doses.

Thanks so much in advance for the help!

[Fuzzy]

Fresh cartridges in the Crystal Pro will produce 0 ppm of TDS. You could use a product like Seachem Cichlid lake salt.

http://www.seachem.com/Products/prod...dLakeSalt.html

1) The unit will be able to produce approximately 250 - 350L of DI water at 0ppm of TDS (this is based on my input water reading at 60ppm TDS)
A set of 3 cartridges (1x Carbon, 2x DI Resin) will cost you around $38.00

So you will be spending around 15 - 20 cents a litre, which is way cheaper than any bottled water you would otherwise be buying.



2) The inlet is 5mm tubing, but will come with the adapter that will screw only most standard faucets with tapping for attachments

3) If you use a product like Seachem Cichild salt, you shouldn't need to add anything else, otherwise and remineralizing solution will work.

4) It's not going to be cheap, but if you concern is providing the best water quality to your livestock, then it's going to be cheaper than buying distilled water for your water changes.

[illumnae]

Thanks for the help Fuzzy. As I change 250 litres each time, that's $38 each water change which is more than I'm willing to spend. think I'll have to look for alternatives

[illumnae]

Looking at the box of the Crystal Pro system, they recommend treating no more than 800 litres of water per day. It's puzzling that they recommend this, yet their cartridges only treat 250-350litres of water.

Anyone else uses this system for greater amounts of water treated per cartridge change?

[Fuzzy]

I think the 800L is based on throughput in a day, not cartridge life.

It's probably much higher than that though depending on your water pressure.

You could probably push it to 400 - 500L if you don't need it to be absolutely 0ppm.

Around the 500L - 600L mark with 50ppm TDS in the input, you would probably get output of about 20 - 30ppm TDS.

$38 seems pricey for 250L of 0ppm TDS DI water, but 250L of distilled water would set you back easily $100 - $200, not to mention the logistics would be a nightmare...

The TDS for our tap water is already sub 100ppm though, mine reads at 50 - 60ppm in the Boon Keng area, you might want to go measure yours first, it might be good enough without further treatment.

[illumnae]

I've been looking around for a tds meter but it seems only Aquamarin carries it. Will try to drop by this weekend

[Fuzzy]

You can also get it from B1 in Sim Lim Tower, Acez Instruments I believe is the store name. They only carry the more expensive brands like Hanna and Milwaukee though, so you're looking at around $100 or slightly less for a TDS testing pen there.

Also one of the models of Crystal Pro DI systems comes with an inline TDS meter I think it's only around $30 more, so you might not want to plonk down for a tester yet if you are still considering the Crystal Pro.

If I'm not mistaken I paid around $230 for my Crystal Pro with inline TDS meter.

[illumnae]

Thanks so much for your help in this Fuzzy! Got a really late update. After much sourcing and research, I ended up getting a very affordably priced RO/DI system. It gives the same kind of water needed (0 TDS) at a similar cost, but exhausts much less easily. I only have to change the prefilters once every 3-12 months (3 months for sediment, 12 for carbon), membrane every 2-3 years and DI resin probably every 6 months.

[marco]

Fresh cartridges in the Crystal Pro will produce 0 ppm of TDS. You could use a product like Seachem Cichlid lake salt.

http://www.seachem.com/Products/prod...dLakeSalt.html

1) The unit will be able to produce approximately 250 - 350L of DI water at 0ppm of TDS (this is based on my input water reading at 60ppm TDS)
A set of 3 cartridges (1x Carbon, 2x DI Resin) will cost you around $38.00

So you will be spending around 15 - 20 cents a litre, which is way cheaper than any bottled water you would otherwise be buying.



2) The inlet is 5mm tubing, but will come with the adapter that will screw only most standard faucets with tapping for attachments

3) If you use a product like Seachem Cichild salt, you shouldn't need to add anything else, otherwise and remineralizing solution will work.

4) It's not going to be cheap, but if you concern is providing the best water quality to your livestock, then it's going to be cheaper than buying distilled water for your water changes.

Can the Crystal Pro cartridges be used in 10inches RO?