Ro Or Tap Water...

[Cris_L]

I live in a hardwater area and having kept piranah in the past i have always used RO water treated with the relevant minerals from the lfs...treated for soft water i think.

However now I have a community with the following...2 angels, 4 ghost cats, 1 small BGK, 9 young rainbows, 1 gold nugget plec, 1 small peacock eel, 1 tiny albino bristlenose, 1 ram.


After having a problem recently with a slight nitrite peak due to over feeding I realised I was unable to do an emergancy water change as i had no RO water and couldnt get to the lfs for a few days.

would it be best to go back to tap water or is RO really that much better. the PH of the RO is around 7, my local tap water is definately around 8.

thanks

 

[rocknurworld2006]

I live in a hardwater area and having kept piranah in the past i have always used RO water treated with the relevant minerals from the lfs...treated for soft water i think.

However now I have a community with the following...2 angels, 4 ghost cats, 1 small BGK, 9 young rainbows, 1 gold nugget plec, 1 small peacock eel, 1 tiny albino bristlenose, 1 ram.


After having a problem recently with a slight nitrite peak due to over feeding I realised I was unable to do an emergancy water change as i had no RO water and couldnt get to the lfs for a few days.

would it be best to go back to tap water or is RO really that much better. the PH of the RO is around 7, my local tap water is definately around 8.

thanks

have u tried lowering ph other ways eg bogwood, peat

 

[Cris_L]

I've tried bog wood, it helps a bit. ist more my water hardness that I'm concerned with tbh..

 

[mike os]

nothing there actually needs soft water.... what are your tap parameters?

 

[Cris_L]

Sorry i dont mean to sound stupid but what do you mean by parameters?

 

[mike os]

hardness ph nitrate

 

[Cris_L]

Ah i see, PH around 8 - 8.5, NitrAte about 5 (according to my test kit), not sure about hardness but I got this information from the water company website:
Hardness Level Hard No Standard Applies
Hardness Clark 19.1 No Standard Applies Degrees Clark
Hardness French 27.3 No Standard Applies French Degrees
Hardness German 15.5 No Standard Applies German Degrees
Aluminium 11 200 μgAl/l
Chloride 35.5 250 mgCl/l
Chlorine 0.08 No Standard Applies mg/l
Coliform bacteria 0 0 no./100ml
Colour 0.5 20 mg/l Pt/Co
Conductivity 516.2 2500 μS/cm at 20°C
E.coli bacteria 0 0 no./100ml
Fluoride 0.06 1.5 mgF/l
Iron 7 200 μgFe/l
Manganese 2.8 50 μgMn/l
Nitrate 25 50 mgNO3/l
Odour 0 3 at 25°C Dilution Number
Pesticides 0 0.5 μg/l
pH 7.41 6.5 - 10.0 pH Value
Sodium 19.4 200 mgNa/l
Taste 0 3 at 25°C Dilution Number

 

[rocknurworld2006]

Ah i see, PH around 8 - 8.5, NitrAte about 5 (according to my test kit), not sure about hardness but I got this information from the water company website:
Hardness Level Hard No Standard Applies
Hardness Clark 19.1 No Standard Applies Degrees Clark
Hardness French 27.3 No Standard Applies French Degrees
Hardness German 15.5 No Standard Applies German Degrees
Aluminium 11 200 μgAl/l
Chloride 35.5 250 mgCl/l
Chlorine 0.08 No Standard Applies mg/l
Coliform bacteria 0 0 no./100ml
Colour 0.5 20 mg/l Pt/Co
Conductivity 516.2 2500 μS/cm at 20°C
E.coli bacteria 0 0 no./100ml
Fluoride 0.06 1.5 mgF/l
Iron 7 200 μgFe/l
Manganese 2.8 50 μgMn/l
Nitrate 25 50 mgNO3/l
Odour 0 3 at 25°C Dilution Number
Pesticides 0 0.5 μg/l
pH 7.41 6.5 - 10.0 pH Value
Sodium 19.4 200 mgNa/l
Taste 0 3 at 25°C Dilution Number

that has got to be the most detailed water parameters ive ever seen posted lol

do u have nitrite and ammonia?

 

[Cris_L]

ha ha its just what I pulled off the waterboards website.

I dont know if I'll be taking abackward step to switch from RO to dechlorinated tap water.

 

[holidayinn]

RO water is definitely better, but IMO no point unless your water changes will use RO water also...Me personally, stuck to tap water as RO water is £3 per 5 gallons...doing a weekly/twice-weekly water change using RO water would cost too much!!!!

 

[Cris_L]

Yeah its costing me about £12 a month to use RO. I dont mind the additional cost if its definately worth it but if in all honesty the fish that I have will be fine in tap water I'll slowly change back.

 

[killudead]

ha ha its just what I pulled off the waterboards website.

I dont know if I'll be taking abackward step to switch from RO to dechlorinated tap water.

i have heard that just because that is the way it starts, that does not mean that the water at your house is exactly the same.
It goes through miles of used pipe to get to you, so it might be slightly different.

 

[mike os]

take some tap to your lfs & get tehm to test gh & Kh and Ph

 

[OldMan47]

A 15 degree hardness is fairly hard and the pH suggests that it also has a fairly high KH. I have water almost that hard and mix my water close to 50 / 50 tap and RO for my soft water fish. Most of my tanks are filled with livebearers so most I use straight tap water and they are fine. When you get the opportunity to collect clean rainwater I find it is slightly lower in pH and hardness than even my RO produces. That means I don't need to process much water for my water changes at certain times of year because I can get plenty of rainwater instead. As far as being able to make on the spot decisions to do a water change, I keep 15 gallons of RO water in 3 buckets at all times. That means I always have enough on hand to do a 30 gallon change on my 50 / 50 tank. If no emergencies come up, I use the water for my weekly tank maintenance and for top offs and refill as soon as I use some.