Review on AquaFx Barracuda 4-Stage RO/DI unit

[Vinceire]

Hi Bros,

Eversince I started using RO water from the 3-Stage Sewatec for my top-up, I have seen significant improvement in the LS health and also a major reduction of Algae growth and cynao algae.

As such, I have decided to invested in a full size 4-Stage RO/DI unit for my new 3ft tank (coming next week!) and will be using 100% RO/DI water to ensure super pure water for a good start. (Regret not doing it for my 4ft , thus had a hard time battling against cynao and hair algae)

However, I feel that it will be worth while in the long run as the lifespan of Phospate absorbing media (eg. Rowas) which are usually quite $$ will be greatly extended as the base water itself does not contains any dissolved solids.

After many weeks of searching the web, I decided to purchase the AquaFX Barracuda 4-Stage RO/DI unit as it got many good reviews and recommendation from experience reefers from established forums eg. RC. Morever, Aqua FX is specialized in water treatment products esp. for aquarium use and they only use the highest quality filters and materials to construct the unit.

Brands like Spectra Pure/Kent Marine/Coral life are mainly using the same or lower quality materials but are priced higher than AquaFx due to their branding and marketing effort. (Got this comment from a US Aquarium dealer when I asked him for his advise)

Anyway, so much for the intro story and let's get on with the pics!

I was lucky in the sense that I had a friend whom is staying in US to hand carry the unit back to Singapore as he is back for CNY celebration so save alot on the freight.

I was quite impressed with the packing as to many experienced aquarist, it is not un-common to see many products from high end manufacturers (except the very few) shipped in simple containers, filled with only loose peanuts foam. Aqua FX, however, take an alternative approach as shown in the left photo. Foam was sprayed into the box carton and allowed to completely mold around the item shipped. This ensures the chances of breakage or loss to be minimum.

[Vinceire]

The unit in all it's glory..and the packaging is ....

[Vinceire]

The Barracuda ! Specs as follows

"The Barracuda provides high quality water filtration at an affordable price and is ideal for applications that demand pure water. The high quality DOW reverse osmosis membrane is available in 50, 100, 200 and now 300 GPD flow rates to meet your needs and budget.

The standard unit comes with sediment and carbon pre-filters which greatly enhance the membrane life. The chloramine unit comes with a prefilter and our exclusive organic, chlorine and ammonia (chloramine) removal filters which will greatly extend the life of your DI. The final stage on both units is a color changing high efficiency Deionization DI cartridge for ultimate water quality."

The Barracuda offers the following features:

High efficiency 1-micron sediment pre-filter

2-micron chlorine guzzler carbon block pre-filter

High flow/ high rejection TFC membrane

High-efficiency color-changing DI cartridge

160 PSI pressure gauge marked with operating and unsafe ranges

In-Line TDS meter

Filter wrench to make cartridge replacement easy

Your choice of connection options to a water supply

Easy to use and very reliable Quick Connect fittings

Shut-off valve

Solid Aluminum "no-rust" metal mounting bracket

Clear 10" filter cartridge housings.

[Vinceire]

Build in Pressure guage to monitor the back pressure from your membrane. A sure way to know if your membrane is getting clogged. Also tells you when you need to replace your pre-filters ie. Sediments and Carbon block.

[Vinceire]

Notice that the clear cartrige housing is made from very high quality material (Resin like), looks and feels strong.

This is definitely a big difference from those cheap plastic housing that are prone to cracks and leaks. eg. are those 5~6 stage unit found on EBay selling at very low price. (Now I know why they are cheaper... )

The clear canisters allow you to monitor the performance of your cartridges. For example you can see if your sediment filter is getting dirty or when your DI cartridge is almost used up and you need to order a replacement before it is used up. (Cant do this using opaque cheap housing )

[LaW]

nice stuff u got there.

how much u pay for it? mind pm the price?

[Vinceire]

The Inline TDS Meter (Comes with the price). Good for accurate reading of how pure your water in.

Used to monitor the performance of your membrane and DI units. An in-line TDS meter can monitor the membrane effluent and DI effluent by just flicking a switch.

[Vinceire]

The accessories that comes with it.

The next thing that I notice is the nice manuals and product brochures that Aqua FX supplies. Unlike the typical home made photocopies typically supplied with the usual skimmer and test kits, these are high quality color prints on nice glossy paper. The instructions and diagrams were logically laid out.

As for the hose adaptor, you are give a choice of 4 to choose from. So convenient!

[Vinceire]

The DOW flimtec membranes. The best your money can get...dont settle for anything cheaper.

Quotes from AquaFX:

"We use DOW filmtec membranes only. We have selected the model TW30-1812-50 for our 50 GPD unit and Model TW30-1812-75 for our 100 GPD units. Typically we see customers receiving between 90 and 110 Gallon per day with a TW30-1812-75, with our system design plus the fact the TW30-1812-75 is an excellent membrane. Click here to view the Technical Data Sheet of the membranes we use. We do not recommend the new TW30-1812-100 due to it's horrible rejection rates - it and will exhaust your DI at 4 to 5 times faster than our standard membranes. However, if a customer insists we can outfit a filter unit with them."

[patrick123]

Hi,

Could you share with us what is the rejection rate?

Thanks,

Patrick

[Vinceire]

Additional DI (Colour changing type to tell you when it's time to change)/Sediment/Carbon cartridge to last me for 2 years...

All this for a fantastic price of S$480. (Dont think can get this kind of price locally)

Those who are interested can go to AquaFX website for more details. They do shipping to Singapore but only take US bank credit cards or TT/Money Order. (The staff are super helpful including the boss!)

http://www.aquariumwaterfilters.com

Will be drilling holes and fixing up the unit soon. Until then will post the unit in action!

[RAV-65]

Really cool stuff bro! Wish I had one!

[LaW]

CoOoOoL~~

[ah^siao]

care to pm me the price?

[LaW]

the price is stated above.

cheers~

[davwong]

Sponsors bring some of this in.

[35Cents]

Will this unit get rid of chloramine as well? Cos in the website it comes with an additional option for chloramine remover. Does one order of replacement units as above in your pic, or you had ordered two?

Btw, very nice unit.... I'm looking into getting a RO/DI unit, so thanks for giving me an added option.

[Vinceire]

The DI cartridge itselfs remove chloramine.

The optional chloramine blaster filter is used to extend the lifespan of the DI cartridge.

This link explains it all:

http://www.aquariumwaterfilters.com/Librar...ine_Removal.pdf

As for the replacement cartridges, I ordered 2 for the prefilters ie. sediment and carbon block and 1 for the DI.

The unit itself comes pre-installed with all 3 but as the prefilters needs to be changed after 6~8 months, I got 2 set to make RO/DI last 2 years. (Membrane 2 yrs, DI Block 1 year)

Anyway, my friend will be helping me to buy them as and when he is coming back to Singapore.

[keithtanbb]

any feedback on using the unit?? love to buy one...any good singapore agent? or other brands to recommend? otherwise will look at getting this ...tried filtered seawater......natural sea water....think safer to go this tried and tested path

[keithtanbb]

now that got interested in R/O water....found this company i taiwan http://www.pure-pro.com/products.htm

looks similar.....there must be some company in singapore that carries these products...cheaper rates!!

[Vinceire]

Hi Guys,

It's been a while since I made any posting due to very busy work schedule and actually flying around for the whole of Feb and Mar... Finally now got some time to do updates on the RO/DI.

Ok..back to where I last stop. The AquaFX RO/DI was meant to be used to filled up my new 3ft tank (link as follow)

http://www.sgreefclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=29237

However, due to me staying at high floor, my water pressure was not able to optimized the output of the RO. I was only able to get around 30PSI which was slightly below the minimum of 40PSI for the membrane to get properly permeated.

As such, the water/waste ratio was about 1:5. This was extremely bad as too much water was wasted.

[Vinceire]

After much consideration, I decided to get a booster pump to fully optimized my RO/DI investment.

After calling a few local pump supplier, I was not able to get a pump that I wanted as most of them was selling the China or Taiwan models for around $150~$200. I manage to locate a supplier that is carrying the US made Aquatec pump (Quite well-known for RO/DI application in US) but his price was too EX $$$ almost $300+.

Lucky for me, I manage to get my friend in US to buy 1 for me as he was also coming here for biz trip so in the end, I only paid $190 for it (including 230V adaptor), what a saving!

Here's the booster pump, details can be found at www.aquatec.com

The model that I got was the 6800 that is meant for 50GPD RO/DI which working pressure up to 128PSI.

[Vinceire]

After installing the booster pump, PSI was set at 60 for optimum performance.

Water/waste ratio was down to 1:3.5 which was within the acceptable range for RO/DI application. I was also able to fill my water tank (Big black dustbin bought from hardware store for only $12)

[Vinceire]

faster and without wasting so much water.

And you might be wondering what do I get after going through all the hassle..well take a look at the next few pictures and you might want to consider moving to RO/DI water for your tank to get an algae free/nicer color SPS etc. etc and list goes on....)

TDS (Total Dissolved Solids - ie how clean your water is..the lower the better) before any filter at 54ppm ..that is what most of the reefers are introducing ino their tank. (And mind you, my is already consider new estate...can imagine the reading of those staying in matured areas where the copper pipes are running for so many years.. )

[Vinceire]

Reading of water after the sediment/Carbon/TFC membrane.