R O

[northpaul]

TALKING TO MY LFS TODAY HE RECOMMENDED USING RO WATER IN MY TANK FOR PLANT GROWTH AND FISH HEALTH IS THIS TRUE I HAVE A HIGH NITRATE LEVEL TO START WITH IN THE TAP WATER BUT FISH SEEM OK NO PROBLEMS BUT HE SAYS THE FISH WONT LIVE AS LONG BUT THE COST AND HASSLE OF BUYING BUCKETS OF RO WATER AND TRANPORTING IT ANY IDEAS

 

[jflowers]

I get 25l of RO for £3.50 which isnt bad, depends on the size of your tank. Some tap water has a high nitrate reading so test your tap water, if it is high 40ppm+ then RO would be a good idea if you can manage it.

Jon

p.s. I think you need a new keyboard as your caps lock seems to be stuck

 

[Stryker]

Generally your tap water is full of all the sh*t your plants need to grow, such as nitrates, even a little ammo and phosphates and all the other minerals that go into hardening your water.

If you use RO water you will have to specifically add the minerals back.

 

[George Farmer]

I mix RO and tap at a 50:50 ratio. This provides the required hardness level and pH for my fish and plants. Nitrates are required at only low levels for plants <5 mg/ and Phophates even less <0.2 mg/l, any higher will promote algae growth. You can buy Nitrate and Phosphate resins but the best way to reduce these is to grow loads of fast growing plants especially floating species (these aren't limited by co2 and need less light as they're near the surface).

 

[northpaul]

 

[northpaul]

how often do you have to do a water change and would i have to slowly build up my use of ro or go strait for 50/50

 

[CathyG]

I use RO water as a 50% percentage (approx) because I have hard alkaline water. I pay £3.50 for 25 litres from Maidenhead Aquatics. I would advise you build up the volume slowly, otherwise the pH drop could shock your fish.

What are your current water parameters, and what is your tank size?

 

[Ed4567]

What type of fish are you keeping as this will effect if you want to use RO water or not, in most cases IMO its unnessasary?

 

[northpaul]

i have cardinal tetras tiger barbs corys danios rtbs clown loach but would like blue rams and maybe angel fish
tank size is 200lts