Ro Water Good For Tropical?

[wigglesmcgonk]

hey all

i was just wondering if RO water is good to use for water changes in my tanks or is it a big NO NO?

i am getting so many mixed signals about RO water i am not to sure who to belive so i thought i would ask on here to see if you guys and girls can tell me the answer

 

[OldMan47]

RO water is fine to use as a part of the water in a water change if your water has too many minerals in it for the fish that you keep. I very seldom use my RO for the fish because my fish are well suited to the water that I have out of my tap. In one tank, I have some killies that need lower mineral content than my tap water so I mix in 1/3 RO to 2/3 tap water. At the present time, they are the only tank getting RO. You must recognize that straight RO water has too few minerals for any fish in your tanks. That means the fish will suffer from trying to maintain their body chemistry if they go into water that pure. Some amount of minerals are needed by any fish. In an extreme case fish that live in salt water need lots of minerals, the sea salt, in their water. Products are made to "reconstitute" RO water by adding minerals but, unless there is something wrong with your tap water, you are usually better off using tap water and just thinking of RO as a way to dilute the tap water a bit when it is needed.

 

[waterdrop]

I'll add a second voice to agree with this. In all the cases of RO use I've seen reported here on TFF, RO is mixed like this to achieve a custom mineral level. If you are not used to thinking about these things like hardness and pH alteration, its very important to note that a plan to deviate in any way from your tap water is a very serious undertaking and should only be done if you have worked it all out and are really forced to by the fish you want and the water you have. Its not that you can't calculate it all up and do it, the real problem usually comes months or years later when you somehow have a breakdown in the steady providing of this altered water, usually because of a vacation or forgetfulness or something.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[raptorrex]

hey all

i was just wondering if RO water is good to use for water changes in my tanks or is it a big NO NO?

i am getting so many mixed signals about RO water i am not to sure who to belive so i thought i would ask on here to see if you guys and girls can tell me the answer

simple. for the vast majority no, RO is of no use to the freshwater keeper. some use it to remove nitrates, but reactors, though slower, do the same job with less waste. minerals are more of a problem. even so, unless you have wild caught fish like Discus, its still not required to use RO. many do use them. but the reason is they want to, not they need to. not many fish live in a totally stable ph enviroment, so quite why trying to create one is important to anyone, a fail to see. its a good toy, with a few uses, but little more, in fresh keeping

 

[meguro]

Not to hijack the thread but I always thought wild angelfish were more difficult than wild discus?

+1 to RO having limited use.