Possible Cyano Algae

[SumpItUp]

think 6 month baby's are a bit like fish, can't handle the chlorine and additives so they recommend using either filtered water or boiled water when giving them watered down fruit drinks - think the RO water would be more pure and economical than that out of a britta water filter. Also helps justify the expense of a RO unit to the family!

 

[Trod]

I'm no expert far from it, BUT I would advise caution about giving RO water to a baby, I have been told, by the kind people on here, that it doesn't taste very nice, and I'm really not sure if people should be drinking it. I think your baby would be better off with boiled water IMHO

If anyone can correct me on this, and maybe drinks it themselves, I would love to know?

 

[MHunt]

RO is completely unmineralised water and can actually be dangerous to humans I believe. Cooled boiled water is fine in most cases.

 

[SumpItUp]

Thanks for that, it has caused me to research this a bit as I had seen for sale RO units for drinking water, e.g.

http/www.home-water-purifiers-and-filter...osis-filter.php

Pay special attention to point 7...

"I notice that a reverse osmosis system will remove just about everything from my water, including some nutrients that are good for the body. Should I take a supplement to counteract the nutrients that I will no longer get through my water.
No, this is not necessary. You should already be getting all of the nutrients such as essential salts, vitamins, and other trace minerals from the food you eat and the other beverages you drink."

However, as an unbiased view found a paper from the World Health Organisation, and in summary:

http/www.who.int/water_sanitation_health...mineralized.pdf

i) As RO doesn't have certain minerals (e.g. Sodium and Chlorine), then when it hits the guts, it has to add its own minerals, therefore stripping your body of those minerals.
ii) Absence of Calcium and Magnesium can cause issues with bones and heart respectively
iii) Absence of other essential elements and microelemnts - can cause pretty much anything and everything
iv) cooking in RO water will have the same effect as (i), ie strip minerals from the veg
v) the water is unstable so will try and strip minerals from its surroundings, some of which may be bad minerals
vi) susceptable to bacteria one disenfectant removed

Think what needs to be considered is these studies are based on experiments which went on RO water exclusively for a year or more, although the article does mention that (ii) could take effect after a few of months but was a bit woolly. You should get minerals from your diet, but there are examples where the absence of the minerals in water can cause problems despite a good diet - not sure why and think a few of the experiments may be dubious.

However, with all that said and done, de-salination plants re-mineralise the water which is for long term consumption, so as I don't have the technology to re-mineralise, I will leave it to the water companies. Thanks for bringing it to my attention guys

 

[Trod]

Good Find and interesting reading it.

Thats why I love this forum, we always seem to get to the bottom of things

 

[SkiFletch]

Heh, sorry I didn't get back to this. Feeding your baby direct RO water is bad for all the reasons you listed. However if you're mixing in a fruit drink to the water, it is no longer dangerous Once the RO water has SOMETHING in it (in this case, sugar, vitamins, and fruit juice extracts) it no longer has the "hungry" aspect and will not do any harm.

Also one little trick if you do want to only remove the chlorine/chloramine/bromine from the water you're using and are still nervous about the RO, just use the pre-filters only. Pull the tube out before it gets to the RO membrane and use that water. The pre-filters have carbon and sediment filters to remove all the bad stuff but leave calcium, carbonate and magnesium in the water

 

[SumpItUp]

Just an update, Did the first water change yesterday where I did not have to remove any cyano - great! It has taken a few weeks but by reducing the feed, changing the flow and lightcycle it has slowly died off. Some of the corals have suffered slightly and moved to different areas of the tank bit but think this may be due to the flow change from pointing the powerhead to the area of outbreak where the original snail died, but the corals will come back to full health soon enough.

If there are anypeople out there who may look through this thread with a similar problem, just be patient. I became over worried about the problem once the methods employed did not work at first, but just have to sit tight and stick to your guns.

Thanks again everyone.