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

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.

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.

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.

Assembly was a breeze. I followed the instructions and flushed the filters as directed. My output is very good delivering 2 gallons per hour (50gpd filter). I tested the filtered water and it registered 0.00ppm. This is doing exactly what I had hoped. My cost per gallon factoring my initial purchase and expected cartridge replacements looks to be roughly 1.5 cents per gallon. We have been buying filtered water at the store for 50cents per gallon. We use that as our drinking water. It's a hassle and expensive. Instead we will now use this filter. I'm thrilled with how this turned out.

I bought this filter to start setting up a new reef aquarium and all around have been very pleased with it. The set up instructions were very well written and easy to follow, the majority of the assembly was done for you. They give you a generous amount of tubing and every tool necessary for install included. The only issue I ran into was pretty low output after completing the cartridge flushes. I performed a second RO membrane flush and waited over night and then got better output. I reached out to the customer service for advice and they were very helpful and definitely knowledgeable of their product which is often hard to find these days. A recommendation I would make is to make some sort of heat exchanger to warm up your supply water as it helps your pure water yield. They recommend 65 psi and 77 degree water which can be hard to attain especially in the winter months.As far as output goes the waste to pure ratio is a little higher than anticipated roughly 4 to 1 but increased temperatures should alleviate that. I was told that the pure output should be 4 oz per minute and my unit has exceeded that by about 10%.