R/O water will it affect plants?

pacersfan09

pacersfan09

AVGN
Aug 3, 2007
367
0
0
36
Indiana
For the desired ph that i want and the desired hardness I am going to use a ratio of R/O water 5 to 1 tap water. My tap water is very hard right and this gives me about a neutral ph. I was just wondering if it would affect plant growth if so i might have to go with fake plants.
 
Lupin said:
RO practically has no mineral contents so you have to replenish that by adding nutrients to it.:)
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will a little bit of tap water replenish the minerals or is it not a significant amount unless i use half RO water and half tap water? But i have tried half and half and the ph is still about 7.6-7.8
 
Test a 50/50 blend for GH, KH. If they're good, go for it. Going w/ less than half tap invites trouble because potential variation in the tapwater over time. If GH drops off, you'll have problems. If you can't go w/ at least half tap, I'd go all RO and add GH booster for the sake of consistency.
 
pacersfan09 said:
will a little bit of tap water replenish the minerals or is it not a significant amount unless i use half RO water and half tap water? But i have tried half and half and the ph is still about 7.6-7.8
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I have seen these happen if people are using tap water that has been run through a water softener. If you have one bypass it and then use the water. If not use the ideas that Squak listed above.

True RO removes the TDS (total dissolved solids) and therefore has little to no mineral content. Plants:hearts:Minerals.
 
As long as your willing to do the work in providing consistent water parameters you should be good. This involves testing replacement water to ensure consistency. As others have already mentioned, don't do it blindly. The other suggestion I have is don't be too hung up on pH, IME alkilinity, general hardness, TDS etc. are your important concerns. As long as your water provides adequate and appropriate mineral measurements, the ratio of RO water and tap water is inconsequential.

Good Luck

PS I'm not sure what hardness and pH your trying to attain, but I will mention unless your trying to cultivate some especially difficult plant, most plants will do fine in just about any water you can drink.
 
Theoretically RO water has a pH of 7, completely neutral. In practise, the pH of RO water that is completely devoid of buffers can swing wildly due to any potential influence, like the CO2 in your breath. What is the gH, kH of your water? These are the parameters that are important to your fish.
 
Might think about going straight R/O and use additives for alkalinity and plant nutrition. Look into Seachem's 'R/O Right', a pre-mixed buffering salt designed for R/O Water.
 
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