R/o Unit For Discus

[Lord Fishheart]

Any advice on which one is the best one to buy? I have a 200 litre Fluval Roma

Many thanks

 

[Colin_T]

no idea about the R/O unit but if you use R/O water then add some mineral salts to increase the GH & KH to prevent PH fluctuations.

 

[backtotropical]

Hi LordFishheart,

Have a look here.

http/www.ro-man.com/

Cheers

BTT

 

[seanie112]

i just brought one on e-bay well upgarde the one i brought last nite if u look in here

Visit My Website

but found out its the wrong one for wot i wanted it for the one i have now i can have Discus
i only brought it because i hav eL182 bristlenose and they need soft water like Discus
i have now brought a 5stage r o water with booster and tds gage for 90.00 pounds price match all in with p+p

 

[rabbut]

Quick question Lord Fishheart before you spend any money...

What are your tap water readings for pH, GH and KH?

I personally don't use RO for my discus. Whether you actually need it realy depends upon what your water supply is like. You cannot use RO neet as an above poster says, so if you do use it, research the link between the above three readings and understand them before you try using it. Trying to faff with RO without understanding the stats is a sure short-cut to crashing the pH and killing all your fish Also, Tank Bred Discus won't have seen a pH below 7 since an age of mebe 3 days old. They will not appreciate a pH of 6.5 as most sites will surgest and a pH that low IME only leads to issues with them Aim for a pH of 7-7.5

Remeber also, that the RO unit will never realistically give you the quoted output In summer you will get about 1/4-1/2, winter 1/8-1/4 the output depending upon your water supply pressure. They are rated at 60psi and 25c. Tap water comes in at about 30psi and mebe 10c in summer, 4c in winter. The lower pressure and temperature will have a serious affect on the units output, so realy "overestimate" the size you need.

Get two pressure guages and a TDS meter with the unit also. If you have a problem, those will be needed to tell others what the unit is doing. One guage goes on the line into the unit. The other onto the guage into the membrane. The TDS if in-line goes after the pre-filters and onto the "use" pipe also A dip TDS meter is self-explanitory. Keep the TDS meter well calibrated

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Lord Fishheart]

Quick question Lord Fishheart before you spend any money...

What are your tap water readings for pH, GH and KH?

I personally don't use RO for my discus. Whether you actually need it realy depends upon what your water supply is like. You cannot use RO neet as an above poster says, so if you do use it, research the link between the above three readings and understand them before you try using it. Trying to faff with RO without understanding the stats is a sure short-cut to crashing the pH and killing all your fish Also, Tank Bred Discus won't have seen a pH below 7 since an age of mebe 3 days old. They will not appreciate a pH of 6.5 as most sites will surgest and a pH that low IME only leads to issues with them Aim for a pH of 7-7.5

Remeber also, that the RO unit will never realistically give you the quoted output In summer you will get about 1/4-1/2, winter 1/8-1/4 the output depending upon your water supply pressure. They are rated at 60psi and 25c. Tap water comes in at about 30psi and mebe 10c in summer, 4c in winter. The lower pressure and temperature will have a serious affect on the units output, so realy "overestimate" the size you need.

Get two pressure guages and a TDS meter with the unit also. If you have a problem, those will be needed to tell others what the unit is doing. One guage goes on the line into the unit. The other onto the guage into the membrane. The TDS if in-line goes after the pre-filters and onto the "use" pipe also A dip TDS meter is self-explanitory. Keep the TDS meter well calibrated

All the best
Rabbut

Thanks for the information Rabbut, you are always a great help and source of information I will be doing the reading's tonight and post the results back on here

 

[Lord Fishheart]

Quick question Lord Fishheart before you spend any money...

What are your tap water readings for pH, GH and KH?

I personally don't use RO for my discus. Whether you actually need it realy depends upon what your water supply is like. You cannot use RO neet as an above poster says, so if you do use it, research the link between the above three readings and understand them before you try using it. Trying to faff with RO without understanding the stats is a sure short-cut to crashing the pH and killing all your fish Also, Tank Bred Discus won't have seen a pH below 7 since an age of mebe 3 days old. They will not appreciate a pH of 6.5 as most sites will surgest and a pH that low IME only leads to issues with them Aim for a pH of 7-7.5

Remeber also, that the RO unit will never realistically give you the quoted output In summer you will get about 1/4-1/2, winter 1/8-1/4 the output depending upon your water supply pressure. They are rated at 60psi and 25c. Tap water comes in at about 30psi and mebe 10c in summer, 4c in winter. The lower pressure and temperature will have a serious affect on the units output, so realy "overestimate" the size you need.

Get two pressure guages and a TDS meter with the unit also. If you have a problem, those will be needed to tell others what the unit is doing. One guage goes on the line into the unit. The other onto the guage into the membrane. The TDS if in-line goes after the pre-filters and onto the "use" pipe also A dip TDS meter is self-explanitory. Keep the TDS meter well calibrated

All the best
Rabbut

Thanks for the information Rabbut, you are always a great help and source of information I will be doing the reading's tonight and post the results back on here

I have just tested my tap water and got the following readings:

PH 6.0
KH 107.4ppm
GH 107.4ppm

What can you read into the readings?

 

[petertr]

pH 6 - Im sure my town has the wierdest localised water supply in the work.

You're the 2nd person who lives less than 25 miles from me who has totally different water!

 

[rabbut]

With a pH of 6, I'd acctually be looking to increase the pH, rather than decrease it. I can't work hardness in ppm, and cannot remember the translation factor for certain now... I think it was 14, so that would give a KH and GH of arround 8, which is rather weired...

Is this neet tap water? If so, it must be loaded with CO2 or something else to pull the pH down, as a KH of 8 should not allow the pH to drop to 6 under normal conditions... What happens to the levels if you leave the tap water to stand overnight with an airline in the water? I would expect the pH to raise fairly sharply... That would be something to be aware of at waterchange time. Idealy, you would re-fill slowly to gas off the CO2 while filling to avoid a pH dip, or you would need to "age" the water when waterchanging, letting it stand and airate overnight before use... If I remember you were planning 20% daily waterchanges?

Water conditons in the UK vary a lot, Peter, depending uppon where you are and what source you are using. Well water and water pulled from an underground watertable is usualy very hard with a high pH, like yours for instance. Water from resivoirs would have a medium to low hardness and mid-range pH, with spring water being soft with a low pH. Believe it or not, you can chenge between them by moving to a neibouring street in some cases, so 25 miles can make a significant difference.

Lord Fishheart, the Hardness is spot-on for discus, and nothing needs to be done with it, assuming my conversion factor is corrent. The pH reading is interesting though...

Could you add a teaspoon of baking powder to a bucket of tap water and mix, before testing it's pH also? I'm wondering if a dodgy pH test kit is the caurse of the low pH result also/as well as stuff in the supply here...

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Lord Fishheart]

With a pH of 6, I'd acctually be looking to increase the pH, rather than decrease it. I can't work hardness in ppm, and cannot remember the translation factor for certain now... I think it was 14, so that would give a KH and GH of arround 8, which is rather weired...

Is this neet tap water? If so, it must be loaded with CO2 or something else to pull the pH down, as a KH of 8 should not allow the pH to drop to 6 under normal conditions... What happens to the levels if you leave the tap water to stand overnight with an airline in the water? I would expect the pH to raise fairly sharply... That would be something to be aware of at waterchange time. Idealy, you would re-fill slowly to gas off the CO2 while filling to avoid a pH dip, or you would need to "age" the water when waterchanging, letting it stand and airate overnight before use... If I remember you were planning 20% daily waterchanges?

Water conditons in the UK vary a lot, Peter, depending uppon where you are and what source you are using. Well water and water pulled from an underground watertable is usualy very hard with a high pH, like yours for instance. Water from resivoirs would have a medium to low hardness and mid-range pH, with spring water being soft with a low pH. Believe it or not, you can chenge between them by moving to a neibouring street in some cases, so 25 miles can make a significant difference.

Lord Fishheart, the Hardness is spot-on for discus, and nothing needs to be done with it, assuming my conversion factor is corrent. The pH reading is interesting though...

Could you add a teaspoon of baking powder to a bucket of tap water and mix, before testing it's pH also? I'm wondering if a dodgy pH test kit is the caurse of the low pH result also/as well as stuff in the supply here...

All the best
Rabbut

Hi Rabbut, thanks again for your input.

I have looked at my conversion chart with the API tester kit I got for KH & GH

Says the following:

No of drops 6
°dKH - 6
ppm KH/GH - 107.4

Will try the baking powder method tonight and post the results back

 

[Lord Fishheart]

With a pH of 6, I'd acctually be looking to increase the pH, rather than decrease it. I can't work hardness in ppm, and cannot remember the translation factor for certain now... I think it was 14, so that would give a KH and GH of arround 8, which is rather weired...

Is this neet tap water? If so, it must be loaded with CO2 or something else to pull the pH down, as a KH of 8 should not allow the pH to drop to 6 under normal conditions... What happens to the levels if you leave the tap water to stand overnight with an airline in the water? I would expect the pH to raise fairly sharply... That would be something to be aware of at waterchange time. Idealy, you would re-fill slowly to gas off the CO2 while filling to avoid a pH dip, or you would need to "age" the water when waterchanging, letting it stand and airate overnight before use... If I remember you were planning 20% daily waterchanges?

Water conditons in the UK vary a lot, Peter, depending uppon where you are and what source you are using. Well water and water pulled from an underground watertable is usualy very hard with a high pH, like yours for instance. Water from resivoirs would have a medium to low hardness and mid-range pH, with spring water being soft with a low pH. Believe it or not, you can chenge between them by moving to a neibouring street in some cases, so 25 miles can make a significant difference.

Lord Fishheart, the Hardness is spot-on for discus, and nothing needs to be done with it, assuming my conversion factor is corrent. The pH reading is interesting though...

Could you add a teaspoon of baking powder to a bucket of tap water and mix, before testing it's pH also? I'm wondering if a dodgy pH test kit is the caurse of the low pH result also/as well as stuff in the supply here...

All the best
Rabbut

Hi Rabbut, thanks again for your input.

I have looked at my conversion chart with the API tester kit I got for KH & GH

Says the following:

No of drops 6
°dKH - 6
ppm KH/GH - 107.4

Will try the baking powder method tonight and post the results back

Ok tested my water again, without baking powder

PH - 6.0
°dKH - 6 for both KH/GH = 107.4ppm

Tested with baking powder

PH- 6.6

Any further advice on this reading?

 

[rabbut]

I would like to see what it does if you leave a bucket to stand overnight with an airline. My gut is yelling at me that something must be pulling the pH down

Where does the KH sit when you have a pH of 7.0 in the bucket?

Can you leave a bucket to airate overnight before testing?

From a hardness perspective, your water is ideal, but the pH is concerning

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Lord Fishheart]

I would like to see what it does if you leave a bucket to stand overnight with an airline. My gut is yelling at me that something must be pulling the pH down

Where does the KH sit when you have a pH of 7.0 in the bucket?

Can you leave a bucket to airate overnight before testing?

From a hardness perspective, your water is ideal, but the pH is concerning

All the best
Rabbut

I have a PH of 6.6 in the bucket Rabbut.

The KH sits at 8 dkh = 143.32ppm

I have a airline ready should I set it up now?

 

[rabbut]

If you could set-up the airline with a fresh load of water, that would help me to understand what is going on with your water I suspect there is CO2 in the tap water supply, and that will be pulling the pH down. The airation overnight will hopefully drive off whatever is pulling down the pH, and give a reading arround 7, which would be what it would settle on in the tank (he says fingers crossed) If the pH does not move, you will need to look at moving the pH up, while trying to minimise the impact on the hardness. In that situaton, it wold probibly be easier to strip all the muck out, by using pure RO with mineral retopics added Hopefully that will not be needed, as it is a lot of faffing to impliment

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Lord Fishheart]

If you could set-up the airline with a fresh load of water, that would help me to understand what is going on with your water I suspect there is CO2 in the tap water supply, and that will be pulling the pH down. The airation overnight will hopefully drive off whatever is pulling down the pH, and give a reading arround 7, which would be what it would settle on in the tank (he says fingers crossed) If the pH does not move, you will need to look at moving the pH up, while trying to minimise the impact on the hardness. In that situaton, it wold probibly be easier to strip all the muck out, by using pure RO with mineral retopics added Hopefully that will not be needed, as it is a lot of faffing to impliment

All the best
Rabbut

Rabbut, I am confused (don't take much) do I set up a fresh bucket of water with or without the baking powder