I'm wanting to start up a new tank but it's been a long time. I was wonder if anyone could give me advice about the water I use. I get all the free RO (reverse osmosis) water I want if I wanted to use that to start the tank or I could use tap water which I'm from a small town in Nebraska and we don't have any chlorine added to our water but it is somewhat hard I think there's about 110 parts per million in the water but I have soft water access also. If someone could give me advice on which to use that would be great. would RO water be better or should I use my tap?
RO water vs. tap water?
- Thread starter doozie01
- Start date
use normal tap water.
RO water has no buffering capacity in a perfect world and also lacks dissolved minerals that are of benefit to your fish.
and its cheaper not to use it.
It has its applications, but more normal use, RO water is not necessary
RO water has no buffering capacity in a perfect world and also lacks dissolved minerals that are of benefit to your fish.
and its cheaper not to use it.
It has its applications, but more normal use, RO water is not necessary
hi doozie01, I think it depends on what fish species you are going to keep, imo RO water is always useful, even in hard water setups (african cichlids) to replace water lost to evaporation. In my soft water tanks I use mixed tap+RO water in order to obtain a hardness of 4-6 DH.
Ha!! Already postin the questions huh? Crazy kewl.
Like Lucho said, it really depends on what species you want to keep, how large your tanks are, and the like. I only used RO water towards the end of my stay in Nebraska, but I could definately see the benefits of it. Of course, I kept mainly SA cichlids and the like. If you plan on keepin heathen African cichlids then the tap would be PERFECT for them...as it is relatively hard and alkaline. Most fish species will adapt to the parameters of your water though, so its really not neccessary to change it unless you have intentions of breedin certain species.
Generally, SA (South American) cichlids, Characins (tetras, wolffish, piranha), arowana, gourami, loaches, and the sort like soft water, acidic water. CA (Central American) cichlids, some barbs, African cichlids, and a whole pleuthroa of other fishies like hard water, alkaline water.
Since you've got access to 'free' RO water, might as well take advantage of it! You can do like he said and do 50/50 with tap, or 75% RO water and 25% tap. OR you can just do 100% RO. All you would have to do is get some old panty hose, cut one of the legs, and fill it with CRUSHED ARGONITE CORAL. Tie it off and stick it in one of the filters or somewhere unnoticeable in the tank. This will help buffer your tank and keep those dreaded pH crashes from happening. HTH a bit....
Like Lucho said, it really depends on what species you want to keep, how large your tanks are, and the like. I only used RO water towards the end of my stay in Nebraska, but I could definately see the benefits of it. Of course, I kept mainly SA cichlids and the like. If you plan on keepin heathen African cichlids then the tap would be PERFECT for them...as it is relatively hard and alkaline. Most fish species will adapt to the parameters of your water though, so its really not neccessary to change it unless you have intentions of breedin certain species.
Generally, SA (South American) cichlids, Characins (tetras, wolffish, piranha), arowana, gourami, loaches, and the sort like soft water, acidic water. CA (Central American) cichlids, some barbs, African cichlids, and a whole pleuthroa of other fishies like hard water, alkaline water.
Since you've got access to 'free' RO water, might as well take advantage of it! You can do like he said and do 50/50 with tap, or 75% RO water and 25% tap. OR you can just do 100% RO. All you would have to do is get some old panty hose, cut one of the legs, and fill it with CRUSHED ARGONITE CORAL. Tie it off and stick it in one of the filters or somewhere unnoticeable in the tank. This will help buffer your tank and keep those dreaded pH crashes from happening. HTH a bit....
agreed. What I was getting at in my post was for most of the above fish, there is no need to complicate things by using/mixing RO water..unless you are trying to breed certain species or want to keep saltwater etc.
eg. you can keep tetras, gouamis, loaches and barbs all in normal 7.2-4 tap water
and they will live long and happy lives
eg. you can keep tetras, gouamis, loaches and barbs all in normal 7.2-4 tap water
and they will live long and happy lives
thanks for the advice i did mix RO with tap and so we'll see what happens. I'm getting so excited to set up a tank!! It's been too long!! I haven't quit decided what fish I want to get yet but I'm not going to worry about it until I get some bacteria in my water then I'll worry about species. thanks again.
doozie01;951483; said:
When you do decide you want some fish, be sure to check out all of our vendors....some of them have fish that you would never even imagine!! So great!! Nebraska is great also as there are no illegal/restricted species, so the possibilities are endless....only down side is you have to order most of the stuff cuz the LFS suck....bad.
About the bacteria, get some raw market shrimp/salad shrimp, thaw it out, and put one full piece per 50gal. of water. That will help just start your cycle....
Good lord, just treat the water and get it in the tank. I use some stress coat and salt with each water change.
