r.o. water in my freshwater aquarium?

[dmann]

i want to put a R.O. system with a automatic top off. to my sump but dont know what positive or negative affects the R.O water will have,

 

[jpappy789]

Pure RO water will kill fish...why not just save money and use tap water?

 

[Hebily]

R.O. as a top - off only (replacing evaporation) should be fine. Whenever you remove water (for a water change), you need to replace it with water of appropriate hardness. Since R.O. is PURE, it has 0 gh, and will cause osmotic shock.

*** the purity of the water depends on the R.O. unit. Some units will put out water that would still be safe. Many do not.

 

[Zaffy]

R.O. as a top - off only (replacing evaporation) should be fine. Whenever you remove water (for a water change), you need to replace it with water of appropriate hardness. Since R.O. is PURE, it has 0 gh, and will cause osmotic shock.

I agree with this one. I use tap myself though.

 

[jpappy789]

I agree, as a topoff it would work...but not as 100% of your tank water.

 

[jm1212]

first of all, RO water isnt necessary for FW tanks like it is with SW tanks. your fish will be fine with whatever tap water you have.

second, consider the fact that RO water is devoid of anything except for H2O

 

[Star_Rider]

i want to put a R.O. system with a automatic top off. to my sump but dont know what positive or negative affects the R.O water will have,

it's fine in this situation.
do water changes with normal water let the auto top off with ro do the auto top off.

 

[ToeJam]

it's fine in this situation.
do water changes with normal water let the auto top off with ro do the auto top off.

Thats unless you live in Spanaway :lol::evil_lol: Oh great ever changing water supply of nastyness of doom... ok it's not that bad...but anyone from spanaway I have to give a hard time!

I actually asked this question in here a while back and even read other sites on it.

It is true the Ro water is devoid of all the bad elements ...but also the good you need in the FW tank. So if one is to use pure RO for huge changes using that FW salts to replenish the nutrients in it would be a smart idea.

I haven't tried this yet on my spare tank yet. Never got around to it. Reef tank keeps me busy enough as it is.

 

[dmann]

ok so this is the situation, i work in ny city two weeks at a time. so i am home for two weeks at a time. i want to top off my tank for two weeks. should i just get onother sump with a float switch and a thirty gallon tub. or can i hook up the ro to my faucet.i ts a 180 gal tank so the evap. is substantial. thanks for the input

 

[Carla G]

There is some stuff made by Seachem called Freshtrace, which provides all the minerals needed by fish. I use it in my tanks because we have pretty crappy water where I live and we now have a filter on the kitchen tap, so I use that for the fishtank. It's not RO though, but if I were to use RO I would use the Freshtrace religiously.