Hello All, I recently setup a ro system with a 50 gallon storage barrel because of very hard well water. I have heard many different ways of adding ro to your tank. Should i do 50/50, 60/40 with ro and tap or use a ph buffer to raise ph before adding? I am really confused on what i should do. I want to be around 7.2ph right now without adding any ro to my tank i am at 8.6+. Please any help would be appericated. Thanks!
Adding RO to freshwater tank.
- Thread starter neff11h4l
- Start date
Do you have any fish in the tank? If you do, you want to adjust the pH gradually over a period of time. From your post, I take it that your well water has a pH of 8.6. What is the pH of your RO water? It may be easier to fill you tank with RO water and adjust the pH with your tap water. pH adjustment can be tricky, due to the different buffering capacities of water sources.
I wouldn't worry about trying to reach a certain ph. You're better off re-mineralizing the RO water with a product like Kent RO Right. You add the powder based on level of hardness you're after, for the type of fish you keep.
i have 4 cats in there atm. A redtail, redtail/tiger hybrid, tiger shovel, and a marble. The ro water doesnt read a ph on the tester. Do you think RO right would be the best thing to add to my holding tank before adding to my fish tank? I would be happy with low to mid 7's ph.
I know a lot of people have to remineralise their water after adding RO so you might have to do that besides the PH adjustment
PH is not the important factor here, the water's hardness is. Fish from central and south america come from soft water with low TDS. THAT is what you should be worried about, not the ph. Have you tested your general hardness? Carbonate hardness? Total dissolved solids? These are GH, KH, and TDS tests. You should know what your tapwater is, and what levels you'd like the tank to be. RO water is pure and stripped of all minerals, even the essential ones.
That is why you can't keep fish in pure RO water. You need to use a product like Kent RO Right to add back the essential minerals that maintain some amount of hardness and your buffering capacity. Or, some people like to use an RO/tap mixture. What the exact ratio will be depends on your tapwater levels and what levels you want the tank to be. Somebody with a low TDS in their tapwater would maybe use more tapwater with the RO mixture. Somebody with 400ppm TDS would want to use less tapwater, maybe a 20/80 mix.
By focusing on ph and ignoring the other parameters, which influence ph, you're only looking at a slim piece of the puzzle. There's a lot more to your water than ph. Ph is the least important of them all.
That is why you can't keep fish in pure RO water. You need to use a product like Kent RO Right to add back the essential minerals that maintain some amount of hardness and your buffering capacity. Or, some people like to use an RO/tap mixture. What the exact ratio will be depends on your tapwater levels and what levels you want the tank to be. Somebody with a low TDS in their tapwater would maybe use more tapwater with the RO mixture. Somebody with 400ppm TDS would want to use less tapwater, maybe a 20/80 mix.
By focusing on ph and ignoring the other parameters, which influence ph, you're only looking at a slim piece of the puzzle. There's a lot more to your water than ph. Ph is the least important of them all.
Hey Thanks for the reply. My tds i know is 450. I just dont know if i should do the tap/ro or just treat the ro water before hand with ro right. What do you think?
450ppm wow that's pretty high! To put it in perspective, wild discus are found in waters ranging from 10-30ppm. As for using a tap mixture or an additive, that all depends on your tap water and your water change setup/routine. If your tap water is high in nitrates and heavy metals, you want to consider not using it at all. In my case, I was using a barrel with a float valve and a semi-automatic water changing system, so I had no way to use a tap/RO mixture. It would have been way too much work. So I decided to just go with the additive that costs a few bucks.
If you go for a tap/RO mix, you can use the water from the RO waste line, since it's all ready been stripped of chlorine/chloramines by the pre filters. You just have to figure out a way to store and mix it.
If you go for a tap/RO mix, you can use the water from the RO waste line, since it's all ready been stripped of chlorine/chloramines by the pre filters. You just have to figure out a way to store and mix it.
Hey jcardona1, thanks for the reply. Would you mind giving me a call? My number is 614-604-5195. I want to discuss this further if you dont mind. Thanks!
I would highly suggest not posting your phone number on a public internet forum. Best bet is to PM such personal information.