RO Vs tap

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badazz07sti

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 7, 2009
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Hello MFK! About 3 months ago I switched from tap water to ro in order to lower the ph for my dovii. My taps ph is around 8.2 and the ro was around 7.8. I want to increase my water changes to twice a week, but with every water change I have to go buy the ro water. It's turning into a major hassle. I know a stable ph is better than fluctuating, so I want to do whats best for him and stock with it. Is RO any better for the fish even if I use conditioner for the tap water? My RO expense would go up to $32 a month. Any advice is much appreciated.

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Is the dovii wild? Why are you worried about a ph of 8.2? Most captive bred fish can tolerate a wide range of pH, and Central American cichlids are quite hardy.
 
Modest_Man said:
Is the dovii wild? Why are you worried about a ph of 8.2? Most captive bred fish can tolerate a wide range of pH, and Central American cichlids are quite hardy.
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No hes not wild. Regular nicaraguan from Rapps. I guess I just want whats best for him so I tried the RO. Live and learn I guess. Now that I think of it 2 WC's a week with tap is probably better than 1 WC/week with the RO :screwy: Thanks for the reply modest_man

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Yea and RO doesn't have the necessary minerals that tap water does. I think if you wanted to do 2 wc's a week then you could alternate ro, tap and ur PH would balance out at about 8.


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Oh man that makes things easier! It's gotten old having to buy the water then filling up the bath tub to warm it. What a waste. Thanks again for the replies.

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I agree with the above. RO water is a poor choice unless you add a mineral product to it. I bet your dovii will love that 8.2 pH (just watch for any ammonia - very toxic at that pH.)
 
RO is safe to use when you are using it in combination with your tap. Straight RO does not contain minerals necessary for fish to metabolize. Pure RO out of a bottle should have a Ph of 5-6 and a Kh of zero. Once aerated, the Ph should come up to 7, while the Kh will remain at zero. If your RO water is 7.8 out of the bottle, I question whether it truly is RO water. Perhaps you were stating that the Ph was 7.8 in the tank after adding the RO water. If this is the case, your tap water likely has a high Kh and Gh, and will require more RO water to bring the Ph down.
If the Dovii keepers say 8.2 is fine, I would save the money and stop buying RO.
 
8.2 is a great pH for dovii. RO is more harmful, dovii come from very mineral rich water. Just use a chlorine neutralizer when adding tap water.
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ditto
 
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