Is Ro Water Really Necessary?

[TheGreatPolyp]

There are lots of differing opinions but is RO water really that important?

 

[steelhealr]

YES! SH

 

[TheGreatPolyp]

Are you sure? What other problems are there besides algea blooms?

 

[JJ1234567]

well, I hate to be contrary here. But I think RO water depends on what your shooting for. Ive read now in two seperate books which Ive found to be quite reliable that some sea creatures do BEST in a tank that doesnt use "ultra pure RO water". Such as aneomes seem to live longer in non RO systems.

Check out the conscientios marine aquariust by robert fenner and clownfishs by joyce d wilkerson.

 

[bunjiweb]

No, it isnt necessary at all. You can prepare the water very well using phosphate removal and some tapsafe. This is all i do and my tank / water is absolutely fine. The pH comes out of my tap @ 8.2 and i don't want to get rid of all the calcium, then have to add it again.

No problems without RO so far, but i guess it is down to your local water.

Ben

 

[Navarre]

Whilst its possible to run a marine tank without RO water you must be aware that you are taking great risks.

Yes, tap water carries the danger of creating large algae blooms and this might seem acceptable to you but its sods law that the allgae that blooms will NOT be the variety that any of your cleanup crew will eat

An even greater concern is that the water authority can at anytime without warnng, increase chlorine levles, and add any other chemicals they choose to reduce scale and other deposits in their pipelines. This will of course be dumped right into your system should you collect water around the time they flush the system.

And of course lets not forget that the local water authorit reguarly uses chemicals to kill freshwater shrimps and organisms in their pipes. These chemicals are equally as deadly to marine shrimps and inverts.
Should you add any water when the local authority has treated the water with these chemicals and you can kiss goodbye to your entire invert system

Now admittedly, these are not every week and perhaps only twicve per year. But its a risk and not one i am willing to take. For the price of an RO unit or even purchasng RO water from a lfs its simply not worth risking many expensive and delicate organisms.

RO is not an area where i am willing to cut corners on.

 

[petey Z]

whats Ro water?

 

[maestro]

RO water is tap water passed through a Reverse Osmosis filter, basically its a semi permeable membrane and filters out the dissolved solids in that water, the end result id pure water, no minerals etc

 

[steelhealr]

JJ...can you explain your statement to me or can you place a link with regards to this:

some sea creatures do BEST in a tank that doesnt use "ultra pure RO water". Such as aneomes seem to live longer in non RO systems

We make RO water but then add salt mix to it, so, the animals are getting sea water, not RO. Thanks. SH

ADD for petey2...RO is reverse osmosis which is water that comes out of a filter extremely pure.

 

[JJ1234567]

from Joyce D Wilkersons book, page 47 chapter 1.

"in the anemone survey, only 39% of total respondents used tap water as makup water, but a whopping 83% of the anemones kept alive for 24 months or more were in those tanks. Only 14% of the anemones kept for more than 24 months were in tanks using highly purified water from RO, despite those representing 61% of tanks surveyed. In a nutshell: respondents using tap ater for the make up water 6 times more likely to mantain anemones for more than 24 months than those using RO water. Four possible explanations come to mind:
1) tap water contains trace elements needed by anemones. (an exception being chlorine and chloramines)
2) anemones fare betterin nutrient rich water than in nutrient poor water.
3) anemones in tanks using RO water may be sparsley fed - if fed at all- as part of a concerted effort to keep nutriend inputs low.
4) hobbyists using RO equipment may be employing other higher tech devices that have an impact on anemones (such as skimmers, which also reduce trace elements)."

I forget exactly where it is in fenners book, and I dont feel like trying to find it, but I remember that he had backed up joyce as I was reading his. I have Joyces book infront of me , it hasnt left my side in 4 months. Read it 16 times.

She brings up an interesting point. Is it a lack of feeding or simply the trace elements they need that a tap water would have. My well water has many extra goodies in it, and no chlorine. I have considered using it because my mission is someday to have an anemone in my show tank that is alive and well and will stay alive, possibly even propagate itself. That said Im still not sure where to go with that thought. Its just something I read, and if it had only been in Joyces book I might be skeptical, but since Fenner included it or something equivilant to that in his book "the conceintious marine aquariust" I think there might be some truth to it somewhere.

btw...my black clowns are almost paired off. Heres hoping for babies by january.

 

[Lynden]

I live in an area where shrimps and other multicellular organisms do not normally thrive in the water, especially in the winter. It is passed through a filter right off the bat anyways, leaving no room for multicellulars. If the water is treated properly, it leaves little room for error. I also agree with the fact that minerals DO exist in tapwater, i have said this before. I guess it depends on the safety of the water in your own area, and whether or not you can obtain RO filtered water (i do not know where to get it in my area).


-Lynden

btw...my black clowns are almost paired off. Heres hoping for babies by january.

P.S., thats great! Hope you can give us some pictures

 

[Navarre]

We have the safest and best quality water in the Entire UK. I still use RO. The cost simply outweighs the risk

SOme people feel that expensive metal halides are too much on the budget.. i agree and try to offer alternative. The same applies for liverock.. I try and advise them to support their liverock with reefbones if they are not able to afford it. I also advise that people purchase small amounts of cleanup crew each lfs visit if this helps their budget.

All i can say about water is buy an RO or get RO water from your lfs. There really is no cheaper safe alternative.

 

[Christs_Knight]

The water quality where I live is awsome, I have never used RO water, and my tank thrives.
But i took a risk, i recently took a risk with a 15gal and still, was thriving within 1 week.

 

[squall7733]

Ive been using tap water since I started about 6 months ago. I know the risks, and I'd like to think Ive just gotten lucky up till now.

I've got an RO unit in the mail

 

[Chac]

Dont understand why anyone would want to risk it TBH, it aint that expensive for a RO Unit