RO Water exclusively

haiau79

AC Members
Mar 4, 2008
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Hi,

Is it a problem for fish and plants to use RO water exclusively for water changes? Any problems with doing that?
 
Is it a problem for fish and plants to use RO water exclusively for water changes? Any problems with doing that?
Yes* unless a source for Gh exists such as plant ferts, occasional WCs with tap water, laterite in the substrate, etc.

TR

*I am assuming that you mean RO/DI water.
 
^ - preferably GH booster (in addition to any needed ferts etc.)

Consistency is good.

If all you need is to top off a bit of water, RO/DI is fine as the salts that provide GH do not evaporate out along with the water.
 
I see no reason to use RO exclusively myself. I use simple dechlorinated tap water and have had no problems with it.
 
I see no reason to use RO exclusively myself. I use simple dechlorinated tap water and have had no problems with it.
You are fortunate.

Some of us do not have decent tap water and/or have tap water the parameters of which change overnight due to varying sources of raw water.

TR
 
hmmm I use RO/DI exclusively and although is more expensive (and perhaps even overkill), knowing that my water is as good as it can possibly be beforehand gives me piece of mind.

Yup, I have to add RO RIGHT and I also toss in DISCUS ESSENTIALS in addition to my fert...
 
My tap water is bad for my fish. PH out of the tap is over 8.4, the carbonate hardness is the max the test kits can do 300+. Not sure about the other parameters, but I've been changing the 30% of the water every week and adding in RO water to soften it and lower the ph. The ph isnt really going down though, its still about 8.2 after 5 water changes.
 
you can also consider running peat though your filters to help soften the water. There are also plants (which escape me) that can help bring your ph down.

And (but not recommended), there are acidic buffers that can help.

do u have rocks in your tank? that doesn't help lower ph... how about your substrate? is it ph neutral?

CO2 also has a way of lowering ph...
 
My tap water is bad for my fish. PH out of the tap is over 8.4, the carbonate hardness is the max the test kits can do 300+. Not sure about the other parameters, but I've been changing the 30% of the water every week and adding in RO water to soften it and lower the ph. The ph isnt really going down though, its still about 8.2 after 5 water changes.
Something is wrong here.

If you are replacing your WC water with RO/DI water after five 30% WCs only17% of the original water should remain in your tank.

TR
 
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