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RO water.

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  • 01-11-2014 4:33pm
    #1
    Berserker
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,046 ✭✭✭


    I have seen this on sale in the two main aquariums in Dublin. From reading up on it, I understand that it is water that has been purified but if I start using this in my barb aquarium instead of tap water, do I still need to dechlorinate my water?


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    #2
    fred funk }{
    Registered Users Posts: 6,827 ✭✭✭fred funk }{


    No. No need for dechlorinator. Just be aware that an RO unit wastes a lot of water and wastes about 3 parts to an end product of 1.


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    #3
    CruelCoin
    Registered Users Posts: 4,468 ✭✭✭CruelCoin


    R/O has been run through a tiny tiny filter, microns small.

    The only thing left in the water are H2O molecules and some viruses which are infintisimaly small.

    No chlorine, no minerals, no polutants, no nothing......

    Mind you, you cannot use only RO, as this lack of pretty much everything makes the water unstable, and your fish need minerals in the water, as do your plants if you have any. You may need to look at re-mineralisation salts to reconstitute the water.


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    #4
    Sleepy
    Registered Users Posts: 24,239 ✭✭✭✭Sleepy


    Just to add to CruelCoin's comment: were you to keep fish in purely RO water, it will eventually dissolve them!


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    #5
    fred funk }{
    Registered Users Posts: 6,827 ✭✭✭fred funk }{


    I use RO water in my African tank. I need to add a buffer mix to increase the ph, kh and gh.

    As a result, I need to do less water changes and I know exactly what's in the water.


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    #6
    Berserker
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,046 ✭✭✭Berserker


    CruelCoin wrote: »
    Mind you, you cannot use only RO, as this lack of pretty much everything makes the water unstable, and your fish need minerals in the water, as do your plants if you have any. You may need to look at re-mineralisation salts to reconstitute the water.
    Sleepy wrote: »
    Just to add to CruelCoin's comment: were you to keep fish in purely RO water, it will eventually dissolve them!

    Slightly confused now. An RO water only tank is not good, so would it be best to do a RO water change once a month and the standard 'tap' water change for the rest of the month. Is RO water more suited to specific fish? My primary tank is a 180L tiger barb tank, for example.


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    #7
    CruelCoin
    Registered Users Posts: 4,468 ✭✭✭CruelCoin


    Berserker wrote: »
    Slightly confused now. An RO water only tank is not good, so would it be best to do a RO water change once a month and the standard 'tap' water change for the rest of the month. Is RO water more suited to specific fish? My primary tank is a 180L tiger barb tank, for example.

    Its' main use is for the keeping of really sensitive species, such as discus, which require extremely clean water.

    No matter what the tank it is going into, you should be adding remineralisation salts.
    By going this way, you end up with pristine clean/polutant free water, that you can modify with the salts to the exact requirements of your fish.
    For example, if you are keeping soft-water fish, you would add less salts than if you were keeping hard-water fish.
    You can make the water suit the fish! That's the main benefit.

    In my area, i have liquid rock coming out of the taps. 400ppm.......The hardness scale tops out at 250ppm for "extreme hard water".
    So, no amount of peat is going to soften that water, which means i could only stock hard-water fish. RO lets me change that.


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    #8
    vibe666
    Registered Users Posts: 13,016 ✭✭✭✭vibe666


    CruelCoin wrote: »
    In my area, i have liquid rock coming out of the taps. 400ppm.......The hardness scale tops out at 250ppm for "extreme hard water".

    you're not in Dublin 15 as well are you? sounds like our tap water!

    seriously, it can eat through a kettle in about 6 months. :(

    not for much longer though, I'm emigrating next month but that means I'll have to get rid of everything. :(


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    #9
    CruelCoin
    Registered Users Posts: 4,468 ✭✭✭CruelCoin


    vibe666 wrote: »
    you're not in Dublin 15 as well are you? sounds like our tap water!

    seriously, it can eat through a kettle in about 6 months. :(

    not for much longer though, I'm emigrating next month but that means I'll have to get rid of everything. :(

    What do you have in terms of fish? I could look at taking a few on?


    There is a trick i like to play on visitors to the house.

    1 - Fill a pint glass with ice
    2 - jam it full with cold water from the tap.
    3 - BEHOLD! SNOWGLOBE!

    When the water is warm, the lime is in solution, disolved in the water.
    When you rapidly cool the water, the lime comes out of solution and solidifies, giving you water with loads of lime flakes, making the glass look like a snowglobe.


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