ryanjury Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 A while ago when I got a tank I got this filter unit with it In one side it has this cartridge I am pretty confident this is a mechanical filter type membrane that contains carbon and filters out particles But the other chamber has some sort of random looking resin type stuff. Now I would like to use this filter to filter my tap water eventually (apisto fry don't seem to do so well in it) but I have no idea what the resin type stuff is? Ideally I would like to find out 1. What it is. 2. What it removes from the water. 3. How to tell if it is spent and where to buy more if it is. Oh and I don't know which direction to hook this up, would you stick the random stuff first or the mechanical filter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wok Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 is it gold? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBoyd Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Its an ionic resin filter used for softening water. Heres the chemistry http://www.tpub.com/content/doe/h1015v2 ... 5v2_60.htm You should be able to get a replacement in a water shop, but be prepared for some sticker shock. If you bring it over next time you in wangas I might have something in my box of tricks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted March 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 is it gold? It is a goldy yellow colour when not wet and brown when wet.. Cheers Gboyd, I might have to come and visit, how do you tell if it is worn out? I have already taken it into a water filter type shop in Palmy and they gave me blank looks and didn't have a clue what it is.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 It looks like zeolite which removes calcium and magnesium ions from the water and replaces them with sodium ions--hence the name ion exchange resin. It makes the water soft. When it is all filled up with "hardness ions" you pass a super saturated solution of common salt through it and it drops the calcium and magnesium ions off and replaces them with sodium again. Very usefull if you want soft water but totally useless otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted March 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Sweet that is what I am wanting Cheers alanmin, the africans are loving the tap water, but have had bad results with dwarf cichlid fry in it so something to soften it would be wicked.. Will this also remove chlorine? How super saturated a salt mixture do I need? And I take it I am running the tap water through the resin first and then the filter cartridge? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 The zeolite only removes the calcium/magnesium and replaces it with sodium, so it will not remove chlorine. Test the water before and after and recharge when it stops working. Super saturated salt is a solution that will not dissolve any more salt, pour off the solution and leave any excess behind then pour slowly through the resin and put to waste. The prefilter looks like a course physical filter as used in swimming pools etc. If your tap water is pretty good just put it through the resin. You can also put some of the recharged resin in a box filter in the tank to soften the water. Best not to do it to hard water with fish in the tank or you can kill them with the rapid change in hardness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Its a carbon block filter and DI resin, pretty standard kit for a marines tank. Both your carbon fither and your resin need replacing for it to be any use. The carbon block filter should look clean, spotless even. The DI resin is blue when fresh and goes yellow/gold when exhausted. Neither are that expensive to replace (in marine terms anyway) prestons (?) in Auckalnd sell resin for about $20 a liter, the carbon block filter you can get from bunnings etc for round $30 from memory. Here is a link with some more information about what DI resin does. The carbon filter is the same as carbon in your tank. Normally you would have at least one pre filter, to filter fine particals before the carbon filter which would be why yours looks so dirty. No harm not having it, it just means the other filter parts don't last as long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted March 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Cheers Suphew that is what I understood it was when I got it but it has sat in the shed for a few years.. How long will the DI resin last I know you can't say exactly but is it hundreds, thousands or 10's of thousands of litres? So you are saying there is usually another (say a standard 5 micron) prefilter before this unit, this is just a straight DI unit how well will this filter the water? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBoyd Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 My RO is a 5 stage system, tho I don't use the final carbon filter, not much point so far as I can see. The flow chart looks kinda like this one: RO is probably the cheapest way to get a reliable supply of soft water, with the price of electric the distiller was killing us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 I stand corrected. It looks the same as zeolite but must be the mark 2 model. I also see that it claims to remove contaminants but it actually swaps them (ion exchange) The cations would be swapped for sodium ions as with zeolite I guess but the anions I don't know about. It would be interesting to see what it swaps for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Cheers Suphew that is what I understood it was when I got it but it has sat in the shed for a few years.. How long will the DI resin last I know you can't say exactly but is it hundreds, thousands or 10's of thousands of litres? So you are saying there is usually another (say a standard 5 micron) prefilter before this unit, this is just a straight DI unit how well will this filter the water? There is no way of knowing how long it will last with out knowing how dirty the water is that it is cleaning, but you should get thousands of liters out it it. There is no "usually", just the more stages the better the filtering and the longer it will last. Mine is a 4 stage, pre, carbon, DI, and RO. I have seen as many as 6 stages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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