Reverse Osmosis

[schizo_fish]

What is a reverse osmosis unit? and what does it do? im going to set up a new 30 gallon aquarium and was wondering what all the fuss is about these things, and wether i might need one. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

 

[The-Wolf]

As far as I know these are for marine set ups.
Hopefully an expert will reply in more detail

 

[Fordaz]

Reverse Osmosis units purify water. You can hook them up to your tap and they'll filter out all the crap that's in the drinking water (including salt, which will leave you with very soft water).

They're mostly used for people who have marine aquariums (marine salt is added afterwards to create a perfect environment for the marine life).

They're terribly expensive, though.

 

[schizo_fish]

thanks, i think i'll pass on this for now

 

[Lateral Line]

They remove almost all of the disolved solids from tap water, they produce, depending on the quality of the unit, (which is reflected in the price), and the quality of the tap water, very pure water.

I have used RO units for more then 15 years now because I need soft water for breeding.

Something to be aware of is the water they produce is too pure to be used straight from the unit. It has no buffering capability and can swing wildly in pH. It is necessary to stabilise the RO water by using certain salts. Kent RO right is what I use.

Unless you are breeding difficult fish or want to top up marine tanks without adding additional salts, they are not necessary.

 

[Teelie]

If you can find a water store or Wal-Mart, go with that. I can get a gallon for 25¢ just down the street from me. In the long run a unit would be cheaper but for the time being it works for me.

Wal-Mart sells purified water for like 58¢ around here so I don't go there but it might be a better alternative for you, depending on where you live.

I use it for my freshwater to bring the pH down and keep it there safely.

 

[rob280783]

Unless you're planning to keep Discus, an RO unit for a community tank isn't really necessary. It can be useful though if you have really hard tap water.