Water Chemistry ?'s

[EAC007219]

I live in a house that has well water. There are low levels of arsenic in the water at 10ppb. I used 90% RO water to fill the tank and the remaining 10% well water. I've read that 100% RO water is not good for fish because some minerals are still needed, even by soft water fish. I did add aquarium salt and stability to the tank on day one of start up. The substrate is 1.5" depth black diamond sand. I have a piece of large piece mopani and Malaysian driftwood

I specifically am setting up the tank for a bd hybrid Ray, although there are 20 Diamond Tetras in the tank now just to seed my Aqueon Proflex 4 wet dry. My ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are all zero. pH is 7.6, the gh in the tank is 5.6 and the kh is 1.68

I feel like my tank water is good. I'm questioning the best way to do the needed frequent water changes once the Ray is in the tank. My well water is actually softer than I thought it would be. My tap water gh is 6.72 and kh is 4.48. pH is 7.8 and zero nitrates.

I'm under the impression that carbon removes arsenic. Ideally I wound like to be able to perform water changes with my tap water. Would you more experienced fish keepers fill a container with tap water and run a canister filter with carbon or purigen to remove the low levels of arsenic?? Or would installing a carbon filtration system for the home be a a better option, as long as the cartridge is changed regularly??

 

[Beetlebug515]

I honestly can't answer about the arsenic. What I can say though, is a Kh of less than 2 could lead to a ph crash. Kh that low will allow your ph to fluctuate more easily and with the high filtration demands of a ray this could lead to problems. Additionally, as far as I know, rays are not soft water fish. Fish that are used to harder water could have serious problems in water that is very soft. Every fish absorbs minerals from the water, some fish faster than others. Rift lake cichlids are a good example. They come from very hard mineral rich water and the rate at which they absorb those minerals is very high. Keeping them is soft water is detrimental as there are not enough minerals present to keep the osmotic process going efficiently.

 

[Drstrangelove]

Activated carbon does appear to remove arsenic, although it varies by pH. I found at least one actual study that tested that, so I think that's accurate. Luckily, in your case, high pH is better for the removal process.

If I was using RO almost exclusively for arsenic, I'd probably research carbon blocks as an option.

 

[Tech]

10ppb is the current EPA maximum for humans, not sure how sensitive your rays will be to it but I would likely go with the home carbon filter option. Their pretty simple to maintain and run, I've got one inline with a particulate filter on my system.

To actually know if your rays will do well in your water you will have to try it out. Nothing is grossly out of wack as far as I can see but only time can tell as google has nothing on it.

 

[boldtogether]

I know this won't be the popular answer....but 10ppb is such a small amount, I wonder what other, equally "bad" chemicals are present in your water...you may be surprised. The question is, what water did these rays come from and what is deemed "ideal" for rays? Why so much worry about miniscule chemicals in water already deamed safe to DRINK for humans? I'm sorry if I seem to be less than concerned for your situation, but I seriously think your rays will be fine with your regimen.