Are rays better off in high ph/tds waters

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Rio Tocantins lab tests: ( one river that black rays are found in)

pH 6.6
uS 40
Acid capacity to pH9nmol.l n.d
acid capacity to pH 4.3 0.35
carbonate hardness (GD) 1.00
total earth alkalis (ca and Mg) nmol/l 0.14
as total hardness ( GD) 0.08

Calcium mg.l 3.6
magnesium 1.2
total iron 1.28
manganese 0.17
ammonium 0.08
nitrite 0.09
nitrate 2.00
chloride 4.00
sulfate 11.00
total phosphate 0.11
hydrogen carbonate 21.00
carbonate n.d
oxidative capacity ( Pot P utilization) 16.00

n.d = none detected


different rivers vary on some of these numbers but not by much.
these are extremely LOW mineral contents.
 
Agreed low but still there and this is one reading, did you look for highest or lowest?

Tds is around 100 ppm for amazon water, RO on a good unit is 0, that is a BIG difference. Even 10 ppm compared to zero is significant when talking about buffering and mineral content.

Anyway we are a long way off topic now. I think we can agree that perfect ray water might replicate the amazon if you can provide a level of water quality and stability that you are happy with. If you feel that messing around with ph and harness could be hard or a recipe for problems then stick with tap water that is clean.

I like the KISS principle and will not be shifting from "do not use RO wihtout re-mineralisation"

Everyone can take their choice and opinion as there is a lot of pro and con opinion on here (and some utter tosh too - not Davidw)
 
Just Toby said:
Tds is around 100 ppm for amazon water, RO on a good unit is 0, that is a BIG difference. Even 10 ppm compared to zero is significant when talking about buffering and mineral content.
Click to expand...


TDS of the Amazon is about 1/3 of other rivers, which do average around 100ppm.

http://eesc.columbia.edu/courses/w4885/lectures/tds.html

"the discharge-weighted mean TDS of all rivers to the ocean is in the range of 80-100 ppm, with tropical rivers such as the Amazon, Zaire & Orinoco averaging about 1/3 of this global "average" river; thus the large tropical rivers have TDS values appreciable less than the average........
Amazon TDS is only about 40 ppm,.....
..most of the large tributaries have TDS of 10 to 20 ppm......"
 
David, I was only just reading tds results from the amazon at 100 ppm, I wasnt quoting wildly..seems they vary eh?

Even if we take 40ppm, that's quite a big difference to tds 0 Barron RO water especially when comparing it to what we all agree is one of the most mineral deficient waters.
 
Just read some Heiko bleher results at 28ppm for collection areas for wild discus,mthe advice was....wait for it RO AND ADD SOME KENT SALTS TO REMINERALISE I.e. not RO straight...why because it is unstable and fragile, lacking in minerals.

Therefore I conclude that the amazon has lots of parasites and bacteria (for Calgary) low tds (for David) and you should remineralise RO (for me)

I am boring myself now so you lot must be really bored
 
HB is now selling Kent?
LOL
yes add back, but in most cases you don't need anything more than some of your regular tap water to remineralize.

Yes, a slow day at the 'office'
:)
 
Agreed, if you are dripping direct to tank with RO then the only choice is a tap water drip to mix as you have no reliable way of dosing with remineralisation therefore you would then need something to take out chlorine or maybe chloramine. Seems hard work and still have the waste issue therefore I prefer hma for simplicity and lack of waste.

I have a swimming pool so am automatically on a water meter, I suspect if Thames water found out any fish keepers were on drips then they would instal meters in a heart beat.
 
i think the point we were trying to make was that calgary was saying no minerals in the amazon water and that it was stupid to re-mineralize RO water as it was a waste of an RO unit (which would be removing the harmful stuff too, ie. chloramine) and that rays would be better off in water with no minerals as it replicated their natural habitat, and this is just untrue.

while less overall than other waters, the amazon rivers still do contain minerals, which we can all agree on. adding some minerals back into the water after removing anything harmful or unnecessary is not a stupid idea.
 
I have to buffer with coral gravel to keep ph kh gh stable and test water twice a week without fail. I know the risks of using neat ro direct to the tank but i have had no issues so far. I drip feed in the last chamber of the sump and the water is heavily airated with a blagdon koi air 65 in both tank and sump.
From what i understand the water composition of the amazon changes daily beause of rainfall washing different minerals from the land into it so how can anyone get a true reading of the water chemistry from it?
 
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