I recently needed some distilled water for an experiment involving pseudo freshwater "liverock". I needed to know the ph, kh and gh before I started. The readings I got was ph 6.8-7.0, gh 0, kh 0. I cant imagine a watershed any place in the world that would have 0 hardness. Is there?
How do i lower my nitrates?
- Thread starter andyb325
- Start date
I'm a little disappointed with the remarks ref RO/DI water for freshwater tanks. I have a well and my water is totally unsuitable to freshwater or saltwater fish. So RO is the only way I can maintain a tank. DI is just extra special!
Some clarification for freshwater aquarium keepers with my problems. YOU want to get an RO unit, BUT, you have to use something like R/O Right to put back needed minerals, etc to make the water OK for your fish. The products that you can use will ensure you have appropriate KH, GH, and PH.
Many ppl say to mix your RO or distilled water with untreated water. NO. It is wrong headed to use an RO unit and then mix it with your well water, you don't have good water quality control if you do that. I am so happy that we have so many better ways to control our water now then we did in the 80's! Take advantage of them for crying out loud!
~D
Some clarification for freshwater aquarium keepers with my problems. YOU want to get an RO unit, BUT, you have to use something like R/O Right to put back needed minerals, etc to make the water OK for your fish. The products that you can use will ensure you have appropriate KH, GH, and PH.
Many ppl say to mix your RO or distilled water with untreated water. NO. It is wrong headed to use an RO unit and then mix it with your well water, you don't have good water quality control if you do that. I am so happy that we have so many better ways to control our water now then we did in the 80's! Take advantage of them for crying out loud!
~D
Better yet, get a few feet of airline tubing and an airline valve. Prop of the fish bag in some kind of container (I have a cylindrical cooler/thermos type thingy that is perfect when the lid is take off) or transfer the fish and water to a clean container. Place the fish in the container below your aquarium and set up a siphon with the airline from the tank to the container, and set the valve for it to drip. Just let it drip until the water is several times the original volume or the container is full. Then be sure to transfer the fish from the container to the aquarium with a net - never add the water. This is a really good and fairly inexpensive way to acclimate the fish to the water. I've even used a visegrip to control the water flow when I didn't have an airline valve around. And keep the Beagle away from the container of fish sitting on the floor - she'll be very curious.
Trinidad Pleco (Hypostomus punctatus), the ones I got from LiveAquaria are eating my Sword plants. Leaving large holes in them. Not good for a planted tank
