Aquatic Life RO Buddie 4-Stage Reverse Osmosis Deionization Water Filter System RO/DI Filtration Units for Aquarium, 50 GPD

I am only getting half the rated flow in Atlanta on this unit. The restriction seems to be the RU unit, all other units allow water to flow at a high rate. I followed the directions and I tested each piece individually. Water supply is coming straight of the main supply to the house. 24 gallons a day is significantly less than the 50 gallons a day this is ‘rated’ for. I plan to return it if it doesn’t improve over the course of today. Everything else looks of good quality.They replaced it and the new unit is flowing great - better than expected in fact!Update months later I have regularly filling 5 gallon jugs and with each fill the flow is better - a few times I’ve flooded the floor it went that much faster than expected!! So far I’ve used a couple of inches of the ionization filter and am happy with the performance. Much cheaper and easier than store bought.

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! What a well-designed, easy to set-up and use product, not to mention dirt-cheap (for the RO market). I added a Y adapter to my washing machine cold water inlet (garden hose threads) the day before the RO buddy arrived. After opening the RO Buddy package (and having watched the installation video twice). I had the unit installed within 15 minutes, and up and running after the 2 flush procedures within 45 minutes. My water pressure is about perfect for the unit as it produces a gallon of RO water in just under an hour (RO unit flow rates are way over-rated, and are more like 50% of what is stated, so a 50 gallon/day unit should produce realistically 25 gallons per day, or one gallon per hour at average home pressures. Higher pressure can get you closer to the stated 50gallon/day rating, but it’s much more wear on the RO membrane, ie. shorter life).Coming from experience with RO units (for aquaria and orchids), if you’re trying to decide between the 3 and 4 stage units, only go for the 4 stage if you need really pure water, as in reef aquaria; the DI resins, the 4th stage, fill very quickly and have a short life ($). I’m getting 2-3ppm consistently after running 20 gallons through the RO Buddy, down from my tap water’s TDS of 180ppm, and that’s just fine for freshwater planted aquaria and orchids. Saves me a bundle not having to consistently purchase the expensive DI (4th stage) cartridges.

Amazing value, genuinely amazing considering the price, great packaging and the manual is in full color and is great. Comes with literally everything you need except for a drill to mount it to the wall. It even came with a razor to cut the tubing, which was very useful because I don’t have a razor. The water came out at .01 EC which is pretty good for my awful city water that’s at .550 EC. I’m using this to water my cannabis plants and it is working great. Would highly recommend for anyone who’s using it for hydroponics or for aquatics. I just keep it underneath my sink until I use it.

I was exciting to start using RO/DI water when getting back into the aquarium hobby after a long hiatus. This system was a perfect fit for me--inexpensive, simple, and compact. Overall, the system works great, but it does have one weakness that is not clearly spelled out in the product listing (see cons below).Pros:Setup was fairly easy, and the instructions are good.Water production rate actually exceeds what is advertised (I can make about 4 gallons in 1 hour).Water quality is as expected--very low TDS, neutral pH, zero hardness.Kit comes with all the basic parts you need to get started.Cons:System is NOT compatible with float valves. If you have big plans (like I did) to make a semi-automated setup where the system stops making water when your container is full by using a cheap float valve, you are greatly mistaken. The instructions explicitly state that this cannot be done, and by accident, I proved that this is true--using a float valve (or any other on/off valve) on the output side of the filter results in the DI cannister leaking all over the place. The solution is to use a fill valve solenoid on the input side, which defeats the savings you get from buying such an economical solution. The workaround in my case is to set a timer and manually shut off the water when my container is full.

Excellent value for your money. The system is very easy to assemble and works really well.

This water filter works so well! For the price you can not beat it. I use it for my saltwater aquarium. Brings my tap water from 400+ TDS to 0. It filters slow when it’s new then speeds up much faster as you use it. Would highly recommend. I just wish they sold a kits of new filters on this page.