Wow, I don;t think I have seen a more debatable thread in here than this. I have sand in my tank. I just got done cycling that tank and took all of my readings. My PH out of the faucet was 7.4. However, in the tank it was 7.8. I put a large piece of driftwood in the tank and it went to 7.0 within a day. I have since added 2 marimo moss balls and an anubias plant, and all levels are still stable. If anything, yes a piece of driftwood will lower your hardness, but more importantly, it will help keep it stable as you make changes.
Softening water? Lowering pH naturally?
- Thread starter M8D
- Start date
You could filter your water with peat moss... but so far none of this fish you mentioned (barring some absolutely extreme water parameters in your tap) would really require any modifications in my opinion. RO water is more pure than distilled and cheaper in the long run if you need a large quantity of water. Personally, I just use distilled water for my "pure" water needs (mixing ferts/water for spray bottles).
Ya got that one backwards. Distilled is pure water with no TDS. While RO can approach that, it still contains compounds other than H2O.
Mark
Distilled water is water that has many of its impurities removed through distillation. Distillation involves boiling the water and then condensing the steam into a clean container.
Reverse osmosis (RO) is a water purification technology that uses a membrane. When pressure is applied to the water over the membrane the water is demineralized and stripped of TDS.
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Reverse osmosis (RO) is a water purification technology that uses a membrane. When pressure is applied to the water over the membrane the water is demineralized and stripped of TDS.
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As strange as it may sound, distilled water isn't always distilled. 
In order to be called that it has to achieve a certain minimum level of purity. How that is accomplished is up to the manufacturer. (Often times, it's really RO water run through higher grade membranes.) Nonetheless, the end result is the same - it's the purest you can buy at a store.
In order to be called that it has to achieve a certain minimum level of purity. How that is accomplished is up to the manufacturer. (Often times, it's really RO water run through higher grade membranes.) Nonetheless, the end result is the same - it's the purest you can buy at a store.
I am not certain the guidlines for bottled water. but distilled water (as mentioned) is the process by which water is boiled and the steam condensed to collect 'pure' water.
not al bottled waters are distilled and this is where is can get confusing. many bottled water are either run thro large RO filters and re-buffered or are run thru large(very large) activated carbon filters.. some are not even run thru any filtration.
water that is called 'purified' are those that have under gone some sort of purification such as distilled, de-ionized, Reverse Osmosis etc.
bottled water is regulated by the FDA.
not al bottled waters are distilled and this is where is can get confusing. many bottled water are either run thro large RO filters and re-buffered or are run thru large(very large) activated carbon filters.. some are not even run thru any filtration.
water that is called 'purified' are those that have under gone some sort of purification such as distilled, de-ionized, Reverse Osmosis etc.
bottled water is regulated by the FDA.
Not to beat a dead horse, but there also is a difference between RO water and RODI water which is even purer than RO because the water goes through an additional deionized process.
I just use a straight RO filtration with my very hard So Cal tap water. I consistently get a reading of around 38ppm on my tds meter.
I just use a straight RO filtration with my very hard So Cal tap water. I consistently get a reading of around 38ppm on my tds meter.
We are both correct.
Distillation is as you describe. The FDA does not specify that bottled water labeled as "distilled" actually be created through distillation though. They only require that it achieve the minimum level of purity associated with the result of distillation (it's the most pure of the bottled waters). Distillation is pretty expensive in terms of energy consumption, and often the same result can be obtained more cheaply through the use of better RO membranes, multiple passes through RO membranes, and use of DI resin. Most of the bottled water available as "distilled" isn't actually. It really doesn't matter though - it's still good.
RO = reverse osmosis. Uses pressure to push the water across a membrane in the opposite direction of normal osmosis.
DI = de-ionized. Uses electrical current and a combination of acid and bases to remove ions from the water. Does not affect neutrally charged particles.
Distilled water is as described above with the boiling and cooling of the water.
The the amount of purity of the finished product is directly dependent upon the purity of the water going in. So if you start with very soft water a run though RO or DI systems can give the same finished product as distilled process of hard water. The FDA has established purity guidelines to make it more consistent.
In order to acheive the highest purity for laboratory usage they commonly do all three processes and 2 (doubled distilled) or 3 distilations (triple distilled - very rare). This stuff is such a powerful solvent that it can not be stored for very long as it dissolves glass.
DI = de-ionized. Uses electrical current and a combination of acid and bases to remove ions from the water. Does not affect neutrally charged particles.
Distilled water is as described above with the boiling and cooling of the water.
The the amount of purity of the finished product is directly dependent upon the purity of the water going in. So if you start with very soft water a run though RO or DI systems can give the same finished product as distilled process of hard water. The FDA has established purity guidelines to make it more consistent.
In order to acheive the highest purity for laboratory usage they commonly do all three processes and 2 (doubled distilled) or 3 distilations (triple distilled - very rare). This stuff is such a powerful solvent that it can not be stored for very long as it dissolves glass.
