Swapping To Ro Water

[vintage3]

I have 2 tanks a 55 gallon community and a 17 gallon betta/cory/adf.


I have been using dechlorinator on my tap water for all the water changes.
I change 25% on each tank weekly.

The 55 gallon has bee running for 6 months and the 17 gallon has been running for a month.

My dad has an RO unit which he uses for his marine tank.

I was wondering if I could save some money and use RO water for my water changes instead of using tap water with dechlorinator?

 

[OldMan47]

RO is missing all of the minerals that are needed by the fish. If you use RO, you need to either mix it with tap water or add minerals back in. The minerals are a bit expensive compared to buying a bit of dechlorinator. It will cost you more to use RO than to use tap water because of the chemical costs. It does give you the option of making whatever kind of water you want, which is why they are used for saltwater. I find that a 500 ml bottle of dechlorinator will last me years and only cost about $12 plus shipping. That is for maintaining 16 separate tanks. A single jar of the RORight cost about that much but would only last a few months if I had to reconstitute water for all of my tanks. RO is a great water to use when refilling a tank that is low because it avoids the problem of concentrating the minerals that come from your tap.

 

[raptorrex]

I have 2 tanks a 55 gallon community and a 17 gallon betta/cory/adf.


I have been using dechlorinator on my tap water for all the water changes.
I change 25% on each tank weekly.

The 55 gallon has bee running for 6 months and the 17 gallon has been running for a month.

My dad has an RO unit which he uses for his marine tank.

I was wondering if I could save some money and use RO water for my water changes instead of using tap water with dechlorinator?

local problems dependent, there is little benefit and a lot of work, using RO for freshwater. its wasteful (5-1) potentially dangerous (RO can be very bad if the water has any organic contaminants. RO does not remove organics like bacteria) and its, very slow to filter.
all in all it causes more problems than it solves, bit like opening your bedroom window with a sledgehammer. for marine, its a must. for freshwater the only benefit is in the heads of those who use it. interestingly ALL manufacturers of these things state the water must be TOTALLY safe before the filter is used RO is not what many think, " the perfect water cleaner". in truth it kills the water to a point where, consistant, human consumption is to be avoided. it has its uses, just fresh water fish is not one of them.

 

[petertr]

Is there a reason to change to RO water? If its only the expense of the dechlor, then you're buying the wrong dechlor!


Get some concentrated POND dechlor. Its the exact same stuff, just stronger - so you use less. Its miles cheaper.

 

[Darkstar]

for freshwater the only benefit is in the heads of those who use it.

Not quite true, depending on your local water and if your trying to breed certain fish then ro can definitely help....

 

[raptorrex]

for freshwater the only benefit is in the heads of those who use it.

Not quite true, depending on your local water and if your trying to breed certain fish then ro can definitely help....

even discus, in the UK, are breed in tap water. there is no reason to use RO for freshwater, you can if, "you wish", but it is because, "you wish", not because it is needed! sure some water needs treating for the, more, sensitive fish. RO is not the answer to that! we have a mod here who keeps sensitive fish, very sensitive, yet he gets by on tap. he lives in a, supposed, bad water area too.

 

[vintage3]

ok im not going to use RO water then if its going to cause problems.

 

[Darkstar]

even discus, in the UK, are breed in tap water. there is no reason to use RO for freshwater, you can if, "you wish", but it is because, "you wish", not because it is needed! sure some water needs treating for the, more, sensitive fish. RO is not the answer to that! we have a mod here who keeps sensitive fish, very sensitive, yet he gets by on tap. he lives in a, supposed, bad water area too.

Ending comments in exclamation marks doesn't increase the validity of the claim.

However it looks like my experience disagrees with your assumptions....so we'll have to agree to disagree.

 

[petertr]

for freshwater the only benefit is in the heads of those who use it.

Not quite true, depending on your local water and if your trying to breed certain fish then ro can definitely help....

even discus, in the UK, are breed in tap water. there is no reason to use RO for freshwater, you can if, "you wish", but it is because, "you wish", not because it is needed! sure some water needs treating for the, more, sensitive fish. RO is not the answer to that! we have a mod here who keeps sensitive fish, very sensitive, yet he gets by on tap. he lives in a, supposed, bad water area too.

You'd do very well to breed discus in my tap water.

You can bond housebricks with the stuff

 

[raptorrex]

You'd do very well to breed discus in my tap water.

You can bond housebricks with the stuff

possibly so, but it is done, and by people on here.

as for the comment from darkstar, people do things in different ways, and they all get to the same place. RO is not a necessity for any freshwater fish, though it can be used very successfully. as people do keep and breed discus in tap. that is unless you that know for a fact nobody does.

 

[rabbut]

Both Boboboy and Darkstar are correct, despite contradicting eachother

While on the whole, RO has no benefits in most FW situations, there are a few scenarios where it's useful. To breed Discus, Angles, or any other egg laying soft-water fish in a hard water area, you need to use RO. However, if you have good tapwater, like in scotland (on the whole) or in Leeds, Angels, Discus and other softwater fish require no RO to breed

OP, whats your KH reading from the tap?

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Darkstar]

While on the whole, RO has no benefits in most FW situations, there are a few scenarios where it's useful. To breed Discus, Angles, or any other egg laying soft-water fish in a hard water area, you need to use RO. However, if you have good tapwater, like in scotland (on the whole) or in Leeds, Angels, Discus and other softwater fish require no RO to breed

Agreed, and that's exactly what I was saying.

 

[raptorrex]

Both Boboboy and Darkstar are correct, despite contradicting eachother

While on the whole, RO has no benefits in most FW situations, there are a few scenarios where it's useful. To breed Discus, Angles, or any other egg laying soft-water fish in a hard water area, you need to use RO. However, if you have good tapwater, like in scotland (on the whole) or in Leeds, Angels, Discus and other softwater fish require no RO to breed

OP, whats your KH reading from the tap?

All the best
Rabbut

humm, there are far less wasteful ways of softening the water than using RO. same goes for removing nitrates and heavy metals. people CHOOSE to use it, it is not a necessity.

 

[Darkstar]

there is little benefit and a lot of work, using RO for freshwater

No more work or time involved than a normal water change...I know, I do it.

we have a mod here who keeps sensitive fish, very sensitive, yet he gets by on tap. he lives in a, supposed, bad water area too.

I didn't say keep fish, I can keep zebs in my pH quite happily..., I said breed and mine won't in water with a Ph as high as it is where I live.

as people do keep and breed discus in tap

and are they WC or TB? My zebs are WC.

all in all it causes more problems than it solves, bit like opening your bedroom window with a sledgehammer

Simply not true imo. Basic precautions are required but it is certainly not the demon you're making it out to be.
I would agree that in this case the o/p has absolutely no reason to be using it, but like anything in life, it has it's place...and while it isn't the answer to everything, it certainly is a valid answer to some things.

 

[rabbut]

Both Boboboy and Darkstar are correct, despite contradicting eachother

While on the whole, RO has no benefits in most FW situations, there are a few scenarios where it's useful. To breed Discus, Angles, or any other egg laying soft-water fish in a hard water area, you need to use RO. However, if you have good tapwater, like in scotland (on the whole) or in Leeds, Angels, Discus and other softwater fish require no RO to breed

OP, whats your KH reading from the tap?

All the best
Rabbut

humm, there are far less wasteful ways of softening the water than using RO. same goes for removing nitrates and heavy metals. people CHOOSE to use it, it is not a necessity.

Please give an example I have not yet come across anything that sofens the water like claimed, while actually being both effective and less wasteful of resources. There are bottles of hardness pillows available from the LFS, but IME, they don't work.... DI water still contains hardness... There is distilled water, that while not as wasteful water wise, wastes lots of heat/power in the distilling process...

All the best
Rabbut