Rodi rodi rodi
 

Yes RODI.

So the question is, how much do you estimate you have saved by mixing your own water?

It’s a pretty open ended question seeing that we have different size aquariums and sumps but it’s a start and I’m just curious.

Ps. I am on the fence if i should set up my own RODI room.

Because I have never bought water from my LFS, I haven’t saved a dime. My water bill increased due to the waste water lost during production.

I have, however, stopped fighting incessant algae issues and have been able to keep things not just alive, but thriving, that I couldn’t before I made the switch.

I have also saved on replacement refrigerator filter since I plumbed a line to it from my rodi

Same here, never went to LFS to purchase water. I'm positive I've saved hundreds between gas driving to and from, the cost of water, plus my time. Also I try to use the waste water for my plants and grass as often as I can.

You say RODI "room", how big of a tank and how big an RODI system are you talking about here?

I havent done the math but I'm positive I've saved tons of PITA.
No way on earth I could have hauled home the amount of water I need as often as I do. I am starting up so I've had several TTM and QT cycles, to top it off a sick anemone in need of daily WC.
All I can say is that if it wasn't for the RODI I wouldn't be able to keep up with the hobby.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Lets see. Tank is almost 2 years old, 5 gallon water changes weekly, plus 5 gallons of top off weekly. LFS is 45 min away, $1/gallon saltwater, $0.50/gallon freshwater. $7.50/week in water, I'd probably have driven there weekly, so 2 gallons of gas per week, $5.50/week in gas. Ignoring wear and tear and all those extra miles on the car. $13/week, 2 year tank, $1,352 saved. Reduced by $100 for RODI unit I bought, I use IO RC so, $56 on amazon right now, have used almost 3 boxes. That is another $168. I'm on a well, water is free, not factoring in Electricity from my well pump. So $1,352-268, I saved $1,084.

excluding the electricity to mix and heat the saltwater, mine typically costs me between 35 - 55 cents per gallon. this includes salt, rodi filters, and water. it varies slightly based on the cost of the salt mix, but compared to the ~$1/g most of the LFS, it does save me some money. more importantly though, it saves me time and effort, and makes sure i am always using 0 TDS water.

my system is 160 gallon tank, with about 20 in the sump, and i change about 25 - 30 gallons of water a week. not counting water i might use for projects, QT, dipping, etc...

it pays off pretty quickly. the cost of store bought water sucks, but by far having to play bucket brigade to move water around is the worst. now i just turn on my RODI, it pumps in to its own reservoir, then flip another switch and it gets pumped in to my mixing vessel, make it up, then one more switch to pump it in to the tank. no weight lifting required.

besides the savings in the cost of the water and the likelihood that the quality of the water will be better, the biggest savings will be from not going into the store at all, I find it nearly impossible to avoid impulse purchases whenever I'm in a fish store!

To me having to go to the store n buy water is more then enough to get my own rodi unit!

+1

While I have never bought water from my LFS, every time I'm in there I end up with some impulse frag.

To answer the OP's question....

My LFS is a 2 hour drive away, couple that with the 1$ a gallon + 30$ for gas x 10G a week WC = 40$ a week. I can mix up an entire 200G box for what it would cost me to buy 10G's of water.

I couldn't begin calculate what it's saved me over the course of a year between QT, TTM, top offs, testing etc.

You'll use way more RO/DI then you think you will, and it's not just for mixing your salt into either.

My LFS is about 5 miles away. He sells filtered sea water. I think it’s .50 a gallon. I work from home so any excuse to get out is nice. One thing for certain is I’m a sucker for impulse buys. So, I may just use them for now and see how it goes. Thanks for all the input.

Just to fill your new 90+gallon tank you'll need close to 100 gallons of water, are you really going to buy that all from them? That alone is $50 then, assuming there is some sump capacity. 10% weekly water changes, $10/week. By week 16 with the tank, you'll have spent enough to buy a 4 stage + water saver RODI from BRS https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/4-sta...ef-supply.html. Seems crazy to go that route.

My cost in RODI filters and resin comes to about $80 per year. In use of top off water and in rinsing equipment, I am using about 1000 gallons per year and about 800 gallons in salt water. I have a large system. So my cost at the LFS would be about $1 per gallon for salt water and $.5 per gallon for RODI. Salt costs me about $.25 per gallon. So to buy what I make would cost $1,300 per year. Figuring that I pay about $200 for salt and say $100 on my RODI system per year, my annual costs are $300. So I save about $1,000 per year. That does not even begin to count the time spent driving to the LFS, the gas and wear and tear on the car, or the fact that I know that I am producing 0 tds RODI and I know the salt mix.