Should I use R/O water for my stingray tank

[Miles]

I've got extremely hard water with a ph of 8.5 and my leos,pearl,henlie,motoros and castexi all do fine with it and have no problems. My motoros are reaching maturity and my male is making attemps to breed so I see no problems with you using tap water for yours.
If you are planing on getting a more sensitive ray like a flower or tiger I would suggest using a mixture of r/o and tap at first and then slowly phasing out the r/o to just tap. I have had problems with wildcaught flowers not acclimating well in just tap. I can give you more details if you are getting a sensitive ray.

It almost seems like you have something buffering it..

Any calcium based ocean type materials in the tank? seashells, etc?

Its hard to believe that small amount of tap water will buffer it like that..



You have 2 drip lines coming out of your R/O.. your not using the water from both right?


I would talk with the other Canadian raykeepers and see what they say.. The problem with R/O water is it is near impossible to produce enough R/O water to meet the demands of the water change schedules that stingrays require.. and even then, it's unstable.

 

[Nic]

i wouldnt advise getting a sensative ray like flower or tiger for a starter ray.... not a smart idea imo.... tap water is best rays will adjust

 

[skynoch]

It almost seems like you have something buffering it..

Any calcium based ocean type materials in the tank? seashells, etc?

Its hard to believe that small amount of tap water will buffer it like that..



You have 2 drip lines coming out of your R/O.. your not using the water from both right?


I would talk with the other Canadian raykeepers and see what they say.. The problem with R/O water is it is near impossible to produce enough R/O water to meet the demands of the water change schedules that stingrays require.. and even then, it's unstable.

Good point I was also wondering this because at a 10% ratio of r/o to tap I don't have as high of a kh and gh. Maybe your r/o filters are dirty.
My r/o system produces 700 gpd, so you will need a good system to keep up as miles was saying. The other problem comes when you have a problem and need alot of r/o water at once (ammonia spike ect..) it's pretty hard on the body lugging 5 gallon drinking water containers to do a 50% water change.

 

[skynoch]

i wouldnt advise getting a sensative ray like flower or tiger for a starter ray.... not a smart idea imo.... tap water is best rays will adjust

 

[ronin_man]

lol guys ok i'll post some pics so you can see my tank any whatnot to check what i have in it and see what you think from there gimme a bit to find the pics(cant remember where i put them) and about the R/O unit, its brand new prefilters and membrane as of 5 weeks ago when i first started setup on the tank and yes i have a Clean line(blue) that ran into my tank, and a dirty line (red) that i ran into jugs and dumpped.

 

[ronin_man]

ok heres some pics of the tank so you can see whats in it, please let me know if you see anything that you think shouldnt be in there (note everything in take has been rounded to take off sharp edges)

oh and just incase filtration is a question too i am running:
rena xp4 with:
2x 20ppi foam
2x 30ppi foam
2x bio chem stars 20 stars each
2x 1L ceramic rings
3x nitra-zorb 7.4oz each
2x zeo-lite (ammonia remover pads)
1X xp microfiltration+ pad

and

aquaclear 500 (now called 110) with:
1x foam filter
1x activated carbon
1x ammonia remover
1x biomax insert


and now on with the pics.

 

[Kolossus]

Great discussion...I am going through the same process of debate (RO or not) with a new ray setup (380gallon) sense flooding in my area has effected the tap water quality (Tap ph now 8.2-8.5). I started mixing RO with tap, per the advice of a local LFS owner, in my other tanks.

Not to derail the topic at hand but I just have a side question and see no need to start a whole knew thread as it is relative to this discussion---Should I continue mixing 1 gallon of tap for every 10 gallons of RO in an effort to achieve a 7-7.2 ph for some future rays in my new, currently cycling tank?

 

[Nic]

no i would keep them at what ever comes out of the tap.... add sediment and carbon prefilters to combat any water problems and jsut use the tap water...

 

[skynoch]

Great discussion...I am going through the same process of debate (RO or not) with a new ray setup (380gallon) sense flooding in my area has effected the tap water quality (Tap ph now 8.2-8.5). I started mixing RO with tap, per the advice of a local LFS owner, in my other tanks.

Not to derail the topic at hand but I just have a side question and see no need to start a whole knew thread as it is relative to this discussion---Should I continue mixing 1 gallon of tap for every 10 gallons of RO in an effort to achieve a 7-7.2 ph for some future rays in my new, currently cycling tank?

Your rays will do fine in a ph of 8.5 as all my rays except 2 are in that high of ph. You can use a mixture of r/o and tap but will soon find it a pain to do so with no beneits.
Like nic said the best thing to do is use a prefilter and carbon block to filter your water.
Try using the above in drip system and you'll find it the best way to go.

 

[skynoch]

ok heres some pics of the tank so you can see whats in it, please let me know if you see anything that you think shouldnt be in there (note everything in take has been rounded to take off sharp edges)

oh and just incase filtration is a question too i am running:
rena xp4 with:
2x 20ppi foam
2x 30ppi foam
2x bio chem stars 20 stars each
2x 1L ceramic rings
3x nitra-zorb 7.4oz each
2x zeo-lite (ammonia remover pads)
1X xp microfiltration+ pad

and

aquaclear 500 (now called 110) with:
1x foam filter
1x activated carbon
1x ammonia remover
1x biomax insert


and now on with the pics.

your setup looks good. If you want to use r/o make sure you monitor your gh and kh and use some water additives to put back some of what you took out. (r/o right, discuss essential)
My goal right now is to get my sensitive rays to 100% tap which i'm up to a 50% mix from a 10% tap mix.