The AquaFX Barracuda 100 GPD RO/DI System

This was my first R/O filter. When we first moved here, I had it connected to ‘city water’. I had about 28 tanks, 20 of which needed soft water. I was using about 80 gallons of filtered water daily for water changes.Our water,here, is much harder than the water we had in Atlanta. I was having to change the sediment filter out every 2-3 months, and all others twice a year.But, then the utility provider changed, and we received a significant water price increase, so I had to rethink this issue. I decided to connect it to the well water. Our well water is even worse than our ‘city’ water. The pH is over 8.5, the hardness exceeds what my test kit could measure. My African cichlids, Guppies, snails and shrimp absolutely love this water. But, the South Americans and Bettas/Gourami, not so much. I decided to buy another filter, rated for more GPD than this one, as the quantity of water filtered was much less with well water.This new filter by Liquagen (more expensive), with a high customer rating, was for 150 GPD. I had nothing but issues with it. It constantly leaked, and barely created 80 gallons a day. I don’t mean minor leakage, but major. It was so bad my husband threatened to flush all my fish, he was so worried about structural damage. My fish room is in the garage. It’s insulated and heated/air conditioned. We live at the coast, our living quarters are above the garage.So, I decided to go back to this filter. It takes almost 2 days to produce 80 gallons. But, I’ve since downsized quite a bit, I don’t need as much water, I’m fine with it. (all those problems with the other filter started taking most of my joy out of the hobby, and I’ve had to start traveling a lot more. My pet/fish sitter is good, but not as good as me, I started losing too many fish) But, other than that, it has been nothing but smooth sailing with this filter. I do need to change out the sediment filter every 10-14 days. And the DEIONIZATION RESIN filter every month. (I switched to the refillable kind - it’s cheaper)

So far so good! The set up is extremely easy. Initial run-in of the system didn't go as expected. I hooked up my supply line to my kitchen sink via the provided adapter and a second adapter I purchased from a hardware store. I turned on my faucet and the gauge wasn't reading a pressure. I preceeded to turn the water on all the way. Still didn't receive a pressure reading on the gauge. I could see the water entering the different filter stages. After waiting approximately one minute water started spraying out of the quick connect on the effluent of the third stage and the quick connect for the reject line. I turned off the faucet and wiggled the quick connect fittings around then tried supplying water again. This time my pressure gage reading went up. I was getting around 70 psi. The quick connects didn't leak after the initial system wetting. I recommend running the system initially without the DI resin installed. I was able to reduce my TDS reading from 36 ppm to 2 ppm without the DI filter. I have yet to perform a TDS analysis on the DI effluent, but I can only imagine the DI resin will successfully reduce the 2 ppm effluent of the third stage to 0 ppm. So far I am satisfied with my AquaFx RO system.

It looked used when i got it but still works fine

Just got this delivered today. I got the HM Digital TDS-EZ Water Quality TDS Tester in the mail last night so I got to play with that first. After about 1 minute of assembly (Insert Membrane filter, connect 2 water lines lines via quick connect) I hooked the filter up to the garden hose. After about 45 seconds, the filter completely filled and slowly......slowly started dispensing the filtered water. I tested the water right off the bat. I didn't even give it time to run any crap out of the lines and it registered at 000 TDS. Very impressed. Just to give some other numbers; My tap water registered at 356 TDS. The filtered water from my fridge door dispenser registered at 180 TDS, and the filtered water in my Britta water pitcher registered at 140. The pressure meter is reading at 60PSI. I am going to let it run all night and dump the first batch. Supposedly the output will increase as the filter breaks in, so I will be back to update the rating.

I bought this 100 GPD unit so that I could make RO/DI water for my brackish aquarium. It was very easy to set up, and AquaFX has an easy-to-follow Youtube video on how to unpackage and set up the unit. I ran some tests, and found that with my input water at 50F, the unit produced product:waste water in a ratio of about 1:5 (ie. 1 gal of purified water for every 5 gal that was wasted). My input water had a TDS of about 180, and the purified water was indeed 0 as it should be. It took about 6 min 40 sec to produce 1 gal of purified water. Since this unit has a rating of 100 GPD, the theoretical output should be 1 gal per 14-15 min. So my production rate is actually pretty good. Remember your mileage will vary depending on your water pressure, water temperature, and starting TDS. I've only had this unit for a day, so I'll update this review in terms of reliability, etc with more time. Hope this helps!

So i got my filter in the mail and watched the video on youtube on how to install the filter. I ran it for about 5 gallons and then filled another 5 gallons, before i mixed my salt into the bucket i tested it and it read 0.01 ppm so i let it run for another 5 gallons tested it and it got worse. I thought that might be an issue with the TDS meter so i check my neighbors water and fish store water. all read 0, i contacted champion lightning and supply,they replied " I'd say your well within the error range of the meter" what the heck is that suppose to mean??!!?! if i am testing my neighbors RO/DI water and it reads 0 mine shouldnt be different. Ended up going back and watching the video again, found out the filters were placed in reverse... needless to say I havent heard anything back from Champion lighting and supply. First class service right here... wasted 5 days of my time trying to figure out what was wrong. Worse support and customer service