Question about ph

[Shaunm81]

Lol I am confusing everyone but sorry. I am just going to try spring water and see how it goes. I guess I should have put more time in my comments explaining myself better. Honestly I was very undecided what to do so I just thought I would try spring water and see.

 

[ChefAlex]

Shanunm81,

Are you totally sure you are going the spring water route? If this is want you want for certain, I would run the UV on the water before ever enters the display tank. Also, for what it’s worth, 99% of UV sterilizers on the aquarium market are near useless. When I recommended using UV sterilization correctly I meant a unit that has been laboratory tested, like PentAir for example. These units start at $400.

If I were in your shoes I would most definitely start with RO water if you have an RO unit already. Lugging that much spring water and preparing it before hand seems like a lot more work and a lot less results than just using the RO unit.

 

[Shaunm81]

What do you mean by useless? Are you referring to like parasites? Yeah I definitely miss understood that. Yeah I went with spring water I talked with my cousin and she's kept angelfish and other fish in that water. I know for a fact though uv sterilizer work with green water because I used one on a 55 gallon tank back years ago that I couldn't keep get back to clear water I done everything to do that and I hooked up a 18 watt corallife sterilizer and it worked fast. I didn't go with ro water because from everything I googled said that was not smart to use fish would die with it and I thought about using seachem equiblrem or how ever you spell it to put minerals back in the water but then I got thinking I probably would end up with a disaster doing that. Honestly I don't know what to do I just do know one thing I am not putting regular hard water in that tank I hate dealing with calcium buildup and that and once you get that on the glass you are never getting it off. I honestly probably should have just not messed with getting another aquarium tho but I guess it's a bit to late now. I know though for discus to survive in that spring water it must be pretty good because those fish are really fragile.

 

[ChefAlex]

What do you mean by useless? Are you referring to like parasites? Yeah I definitely miss understood that. Yeah I went with spring water I talked with my cousin and she's kept angelfish and other fish in that water. I know for a fact though uv sterilizer work with green water because I used one on a 55 gallon tank back years ago that I couldn't keep get back to clear water I done everything to do that and I hooked up a 18 watt corallife sterilizer and it worked fast. I didn't go with ro water because from everything I googled said that was not smart to use fish would die with it and I thought about using seachem equiblrem or how ever you spell it to put minerals back in the water but then I got thinking I probably would end up with a disaster doing that. Honestly I don't know what to do I just do know one thing I am not putting regular hard water in that tank I hate dealing with calcium buildup and that and once you get that on the glass you are never getting it off. I honestly probably should have just not messed with getting another aquarium tho but I guess it's a bit to late now. I know though for discus to survive in that spring water it must be pretty good because those fish are really fragile.

Yes, nearly all UV sterilizers on the aquarium market are near useless for free floating pathogens. Some algae issues might be improved by a generic UV sterilizer but it will still miss 90% of the target. The models that hold their weight are well into the hundreds of dollars and generally need some sort of separate plumbing feed. PentAir and Aqua Ultraviolet are two brands that are tried and true. If your sterilizer can be used inside a filter, can be used inside the display tank or hangs on the back, chances are it won’t do much of anything aside from clear up some free floating algae spores.

Cheap aquarium UV sterilizers are re-packaged sources from another industry and their performance in an aquarium is reflected in that. The problem with these is flow rate, contact time and light source. If your sterilizer doesn’t mention appropriate flow rates for different sized protozoa, bacteria and algae it’s more or less useless.

 

[Shaunm81]

Shanunm81,

Aside from the concerns about pathogens in water you collect yourself, also consider the amount of particulate organic carbons (POC’s) in the water that you can or can’t see with the naked eye. Even if you test the water at the source for nutrients such as n03 and P04 (nitrate and phosphate) and it is within limits, consider that they will only raise in time as POC’s decompose into dissolved organic carbons (DOC’s).

For example, you could take a sample of spring water today and it reads 0 for n03 and PO4. Hold that same water in a bucket for a week and test it again and the levels will be higher, sometimes significantly or sometimes trivially depending on POC levels. Not only will these raise measurable nutrients but also nutrients we can’t or don’t measure on a hobbyist level such as glucose, amino acids, carbohydrates, etc. These help fuel algal growth and in excess deteriorate water quality for fish. Similar to how decomposing plant matter fuels algal growth in a planted tank, we try to remove plant detritus to avoid adding DOC’s to the water column.

If you must use spring water, I suggest treating it in some way first. A process of boiling, straining through an extra fine micron sock (culinary or reef aquarium suppliers should have these) and using activated carbon in your filter should minimize risks.

Hi do you have a link to one of those type of socks your referring to? I looked and only found a reef filter sock is that what you mean? How many microns? Sorry so many questions just want to get this right.

 

[ChefAlex]

1 Micron Felt Sock

 

[Shaunm81]

Okay would that mean 100 micron also or just 1? I'm sorry probably a stupid question I guess but new to all this and have a hard time understanding. I see the 100 microns I can get

 

[ChefAlex]

The smaller the micron size, the finer the mesh and better filtering capabilities. A 100 micron sock would allow particulate 100 times larger than a 1 micron sock to pass through.

Your naked eye can see up to 40 microns. A human hair is about 70 microns, bacteria range from 0.3 up to 5 microns.

 

[Shaunm81]

Okay so then the 100 would be what I want or not ? Again apologize for the questions so much and would those work also with tap water let's say I choose to set up a hard water tank would those socks be of any benefit for me using tap water? I am so mixed up honestly with what I want to do and set up.

 

[Shaunm81]

I don't see anything listed as just 1 micron only 100 on Ebay that's why I am asking because I mostly buy on there

 

[ChefAlex]

I don't see anything listed as just 1 micron only 100 on Ebay that's why I am asking because I mostly buy on there

A 100 micron and a 1 micron are very different sizes, if that is what you are asking?

 

[Shaunm81]

Yes that is what I am asking. Again I am sorry for asking so many questions just want to get things done right. And do you think these filter socks would be of any benefit for tap water? I am still really deciding what water I want to use I've been thinking about it.

 

[ChefAlex]

Yes that is what I am asking. Again I am sorry for asking so many questions just want to get things done right. And do you think these filter socks would be of any benefit for tap water? I am still really deciding what water I want to use I've been thinking about it.

No, they wouldn’t be of any use for tap water.