OK,Now lets talk water..

O

ozzy

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Hello again AC
so what type of water is best for FW,tapwater,RO/DI ...???
what type of params do I want in FW planted tanks ??
I'm sure if I went for the same params I do in my salt tank I would have a problem,do I treat the water in anyway ??
in my salt tank I add a buffer for my cal & alk....so do I add any type of buffers to fresh water ??
and last but not least,what to test for in a planted aquarium ??
thanks again guys,you all have been a great help
 
I personaly belive that Bore water is best as its (usually) devoid of impurites. This however may not be your option because
your bore water may have too high or too low PH
or disolved solids or whatever.
So you have to check.

If Bore water falls through the best water you can have
is from an osmosis unit. You can have those from as low as U$200
I think.

If youll be planting the tank, keeping the right CO2/KH balance
will assist in the plant growth and it also should make the fish
happy.

Tap water is an option but I never had to use it.
Naturally you need to use dechlorinator.
Check with the water people (or LFS) what chlorinators they use.
In some areas they use a super strong mofo that some
dechlorinators do not remove.
 
As long as you use a good dechlorinator (also get one that does chloramines) then tap water is fine. First let some tap water sit out for at least 24 hours then test. If the pH and hardness are fine for the fish you want to keep then presto you got it made. If the pH is way off then you have to decide what to do. Lower the pH is pretty easy by adding in RO or distilled water to your tap water till you get what you want, or else peat or driftwood will work as well.

The first thing you want to do is decide what is going in the tank and then figure out from there what you need to do.
 
Freshwater is more various than the seawater of open seas in the tropics, which is pretty much the same round the world. So it depends on what you have to work with (we have no hint) and what you plan to do.

The character of your borewater aka wellwater depends entirely on your aquifer. There's no such entity as "borewater" pure and simple. It may be quite polluted with arsenic or cadmium, especially in desert areas, or may contain high levels of nitratesand phosphates in agricultural areas.

In a planted tank you don't want any more carbonate buffering than a minimum to keep pH stable.

Rainwater is an alternative to R/O water that is often overlooked.

There is good introductory material concerning water at www.thekrib.com Don't neglect the FAQs there.
 
WetmanNY - Care to justify or expand on

"In a planted tank you don't want any more carbonate buffering than a minimum to keep pH stable."

I question that statement as leading to water modifications which are a waste of time and money. Whyever not? There are very, very few plants which care a whit about the KH of the water. Plants care about CO2 and light and macro- and micronutrients, not pH/KH.

Certain fish care about pH/KH for breeding, but not so much for maintenance. But that is not the topic question.

The rest of it, I agree.
 
Because the rising kH and pH both react out weak carbonic acid, making much less of it unavailable to plants. When CO2 is dissolved it becomes carbonic acid.
I agree 99% of water manipulation is a waste of effort tho'g
 
In a planted tank you don't want any more carbonate buffering than a minimum to keep pH stable.
So what is a good KH for a planted tank?I maintain a KH of 10.9dkh in my reef with a ph of 8.2
and I'm sure this is a bit high for FW..
wetmanNY thanks for the link,I'll give it a look tonight
 
RTR, I didn't mean to endorse largely fruitless water modification, but my firm impression is (I've been wrong so often before, but how're ya gonna learn?) my impression is, that if you add carbonate to water you reduce the available CO2. So, you want to add just enough carbonate to stabilize pH, but not more than that minimum-- whatever the figures might be...

I run planted tanks on a disgracefully low KH myself...
 
Originally posted by wetmanNY
... .... ....Rainwater is an alternative to R/O water that is often overlooked.
....
Click to expand...
Maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't trust that. And, it wouldn't be reliable enough for regular water changes - except on smaller tanks. Out of curiousity, I'll post the question.. :confused:
 
R/O water is "soft" water...

My tap water here in central Florida is extremely "hard" water, and not too good for Discus. So I went out and spent $$ on a R/O De-ionizing system. It makes 50 gallons of 'pure' water a day.
 
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