Reverse Osmosis Unit?

[mikeyy_lol]

Hi, I live in an area with extremely hard water and was thinking of buying a reverse osmosis unit as I understand this puts the PH ~ 7 with kh and gh ~ 0. The only problem is I have no idea what to do with one or which one to get! My tank is 140L!
Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks

 

[dayzofspeed]

your tank size doesn't really matter except for working out the amounts of water you want to generate, as for operating it you just connect it to a water supply and let it do its thing as far as i know

 

[mikeyy_lol]

your tank size doesn't really matter except for working out the amounts of water you want to generate, as for operating it you just connect it to a water supply and let it do its thing as far as i know

Sorry, I still dont really follow how they actually work? Do they "purify" the water out of the tap? Where does that water go and how do I get it in my tank?

 

[Liamm]

I am also in the same boat as OP and have the same questions. Must they be connected to the mains pipes under the sink or are there any simple units capable of connecting directly to a tap? Will the water flow straight out of the unit but with less pressure? I get confused when product descriptions state that a unit will produce a certain amount of RO water in 24 hours.

 

[StandbySetting]

RO units force tap water through a membrane at high pressure removing most contaminants, with an added DI pod you should get the TDS to 0, but RO water is no good for fish, it would need to be re-mineralised before you use it. RO units produce some waste water, the ratio is generally 1 part RO to 4 parts waste, but the higher the input pressure the less waste there should be, also it must be connected to your mains in, where the pressure is the highest.

Most fish are adaptable to hard water anyway, I'm sure your LFS is stocking their fish in water with similar parameters.

 

[mikeyy_lol]

RO units force tap water through a membrane at high pressure removing most contaminants, with an added DI pod you should get the TDS to 0, but RO water is no good for fish, it would need to be re-mineralised before you use it. RO units produce some waste water, the ratio is generally 1 part RO to 4 parts waste, but the higher the input pressure the less waste there should be, also it must be connected to your mains in, where the pressure is the highest.

Most fish are adaptable to hard water anyway, I'm sure your LFS is stocking their fish in water with similar parameters.

Well I usually look for profiles for the fish I like and then look for them in my LFS or online, so they might not be adapted to my pH, I also think my LFS stocks some wild, my API test kit says my pH is off the scale 8.4+ i think it is, though I've had my apistogrammas cacatuidoes spawn (only once mind) so I'm not sure what to believe! But most of the profiles of the fish I like usually say prefer pH in the range of 6.0-7.0 so I think a change of 1.5 pH+ would be a huge differance since it's a log scale? Or are they adaptable to that much of a swing?

 

[weezawoo]

An RO unit doesn't only change the PH of the water. It takes the total dissolved solids (tds) out so traces of metals, chlorine etc. The end product howeve isn't actually that good to use as there are bits i there that fish could need.
Also if you are wanting to change the PH of an exsisting tank you need to do it slowly so you don't shock the fish with such a drastic change.

 

[mikeyy_lol]

An RO unit doesn't only change the PH of the water. It takes the total dissolved solids (tds) out so traces of metals, chlorine etc. The end product howeve isn't actually that good to use as there are bits i there that fish could need.
Also if you are wanting to change the PH of an exsisting tank you need to do it slowly so you don't shock the fish with such a drastic change.

Yea I know but the pH would drop to 7 and if there is no kh/gh I could change to the pH I want and add some of the metals for the hardness though right?

 

[StandbySetting]

You're better off keeping a stable PH as a pose to a fluctuating one that needs constant maintenance, out of interest what substrate are you using in the tank, and any rocks?

 

[mikeyy_lol]

I have 2 tanks, both with the argos playsand people use here with one of them having a quite large piece of bogwood in it and the other with a couple of stones but nothing too flashy.

I have celestial pearl danio in the tank with the bogwood and they just sit under the same plant 24/7 not showing any colour at all! I guess its because of the hardness?

 

[Tizer]

how many of them? just sounds like they are too scared to roam.

 

[mikeyy_lol]

how many of them? just sounds like they are too scared to roam.

6, but currently theres only those 2 ADFs, and a few kuhlis in the tank anyway and it's 60L! I've also seen a few wrigglers in there which I assume were from the CPDs but I don't see how thats possible! I was going to up the number to 10 but they sell for £3.50 each where I am and thats alot for a student to pay if theyre just going to hide in the corner with no colour aswell!

 

[StandbySetting]

Celestial Danio's are very timid for the first few months in the tank they're in, getting some plants in will help also, they need places where the light isn't as intense, it's quite possible that you've got CPD fry, they're not hard to breed at all, the stones you describe, what are they exactly? Could you take them out and do the 'vinegar test'? Whereby you place a drop of vinegar on the rock and if it effervesces then the rock isn't suitable as it will raise the PH.

 

[mikeyy_lol]

Celestial Danio's are very timid for the first few months in the tank they're in, getting some plants in will help also, they need places where the light isn't as intense, it's quite possible that you've got CPD fry, they're not hard to breed at all, the stones you describe, what are they exactly? Could you take them out and do the 'vinegar test'? Whereby you place a drop of vinegar on the rock and if it effervesces then the rock isn't suitable as it will raise the PH.

Nope, no effervescence. Is there any other way to lower the pH that doesn't come with the tea stained look? My girlfriend likes it in the 60L but I really dont! So want something Ill be able to slowly lower the pH and hardness of the tank without the drastic colour change.

 

[StandbySetting]

Not really, the tannins that dissolve into the water create humic acid, you could experiment with acids etc but it's really not worth it, what's the PH of the water that comes out of your tap after 24 hours?