OP
OP
nkd5024
Fish Fanatic
Uriel:
I've heard that some of the freshy's up here don't really like the salty's, so I just didn't want anyone to think that I was saying their method was wrong.
I know that RO water isn't good for freshwater fish as it takes EVERYTHING out of the water good or bad.
But I'm almost positive that using an RO/DI additive like Kent's liquid RO right will add back all the good minerals that are needed for fresh water fish and plants.
I have read many on other forums about many people using this method. A lot of the people either had a household RO unit for their drinking water or used to have saltwater aquariums and had the RO unit left over.
It seems that 8 oz. of de-chlorinator and RO-right seem to cost the same amount. I'm not sure if they both treat the same amount of water though.
Moochy13:
I agree with you that freshwater fish have a lot more lenience for less precise water parameters, and are a lot more enduring.
But just because the fish will tolerate being in such water, doesn't mean that they are at their optimum health and may cause lower life span, etc. although that may not matter to some people, since most fish are not too expensive.
25% water changes every week is very good for any tank, most salt water aquarists don't even do that.
A pH of 7.6 seems to be within the acceptable range of most freshwater fish. You are correct that in the marine world pH is a lot more sensitive and ideally should be 8.0-8.4, but can do alright down to 7.8 as long as the Alk. is high to keep that pH very stable.
As for hardness, it is the amount of dissolved calcium, magnesium, carbonates, bicarbonates, etc. in the water. It is a very complicated topic trying to understand the difference between alkalinity, carbonate hardness, and general hardness.
And I agree for most fresh water aquarists its not necessary to understand what it all is, but I do think you should test for your hardness even though its not that important unless you have discus or cichlids.
Thats cool that Discus can be kept in communities, but does anyone know how large a tank the smaller ones need?
Thanks guys,
Nick
I've heard that some of the freshy's up here don't really like the salty's, so I just didn't want anyone to think that I was saying their method was wrong.
I know that RO water isn't good for freshwater fish as it takes EVERYTHING out of the water good or bad.
But I'm almost positive that using an RO/DI additive like Kent's liquid RO right will add back all the good minerals that are needed for fresh water fish and plants.
I have read many on other forums about many people using this method. A lot of the people either had a household RO unit for their drinking water or used to have saltwater aquariums and had the RO unit left over.
It seems that 8 oz. of de-chlorinator and RO-right seem to cost the same amount. I'm not sure if they both treat the same amount of water though.
Moochy13:
I agree with you that freshwater fish have a lot more lenience for less precise water parameters, and are a lot more enduring.
But just because the fish will tolerate being in such water, doesn't mean that they are at their optimum health and may cause lower life span, etc. although that may not matter to some people, since most fish are not too expensive.
25% water changes every week is very good for any tank, most salt water aquarists don't even do that.
A pH of 7.6 seems to be within the acceptable range of most freshwater fish. You are correct that in the marine world pH is a lot more sensitive and ideally should be 8.0-8.4, but can do alright down to 7.8 as long as the Alk. is high to keep that pH very stable.
As for hardness, it is the amount of dissolved calcium, magnesium, carbonates, bicarbonates, etc. in the water. It is a very complicated topic trying to understand the difference between alkalinity, carbonate hardness, and general hardness.
And I agree for most fresh water aquarists its not necessary to understand what it all is, but I do think you should test for your hardness even though its not that important unless you have discus or cichlids.
Thats cool that Discus can be kept in communities, but does anyone know how large a tank the smaller ones need?
Thanks guys,
Nick
