Most likely a silly question

[Derbird]

After having water issues and starting to use RO/DI water on the salt tank I was wondering if it was good to use on the fresh tank as well.

 

I am probably over thinking this but here I go. When we make RO/DI water we strip out all of the trace elements and other particualtes out of the water. When we add the salt mix we put back the elements and other particles that our critters need to thrive. Now on a fresh tank I would not be adding these elements back to the water so would this pose a problem for my fish?

 

I seriosly don't think I really need to use the water. These fish could live in warm coffee and besides the jitters would be fine. But I am always trying to do better for my animals so...........

 

Thank you for your thoughts.

[matty]

If you have always used tap on the fresh water tank with no issues I would continue that. More water through the ro/di means more filter changes which is more money...I am cheap. (laugh)

[Derbird]

If you have always used tap on the fresh water tank with no issues I would continue that. More water through the ro/di means more filter changes which is more money...I am cheap. (laugh)

 

Yea they have always had tap. My well dosn't seem to like the dry season though. It went from haveing a TDS of 10-15 in the fall to 125 last month (scary). I have not seen anything bad in the freshwater tank but like I said I'm probably over thinking this (laugh)

 

Good thought on the filter changes though. I could use that money to buy some more corals (plotting)

[Kimberlee]

When you run tap through the RO it changes the PH, which is good for salt water but BAD for fresh.

[Derbird]

When you run tap through the RO it changes the PH' date=' which is good for salt water but BAD for fresh.[/quote']

 

I didn't know that. Thank you for the heads up.

[Jeramy]

I have a 25 gallon tank with one african cichlid in there and have been topping of the evap with bottled ro water for years. I should also mention though I almost never do water changes on this system though. It ha been over a year maybe more sence the last change. But he is one fat happy red zebra stripe fish with extreem anger managment issues. probabally 4" long. when I feed my salt water tank I give him the little bits of left over food about once a week wich put some small bit of salt in the system.

[cellowithgills]

I have used Kent RO Right for customers with discus and are on well water. Seems to do a pretty good job of re-mineralizing the water.

[CoralCrazy]

It would kinda depend on the fish. For my tank with African cichlids their water gets salt and trace elements added. But for our south Americans we don't add things to their water. I personally stick with well water for my fresh. Our planted tanks seem to do good on the well water to. Have thought about RO water for the African tank but never did it.

[MVPaquatics]

Running tap water through an RO will have minimal effect of pH directly. Portland area tap is usually around 7.2ish. Pure water is 7.0. It is more about the purity, and general and carbonate hardness.

 

RO water is too pure to sustain almost all life (they have found some bacteria that will live in PURE water). There is almost nothing to buffer the water. This can kill the fish in a number of ways. Firstly, the osmotic rush into the fish would probably kill it. If that didn’t, the drastic pH swings that would happen sure would.

 

 

I use RO water in freshwater tanks for a number of applications. For high end, very specific, tank (planted/discus) etc with KENT RO RIGHT ADDED. I also use it to top off evaporated water. Only pure water (for the most part) evaporates. If you have a freshwater tank filled with tap water, and you never change the water, but only add top-off water from the tap, the general hardness (cal/mag ions etc.) will steadily climb. By adding pure freshwater (RO), you keep these parameters stable.

 

It can also be used to lower hardness, and sometimes pH slightly. I also use it to stimulate breeding from certain freshwater fish...many tropical fish are stimulated to breed by the rainy season. Heavy rains in the tropics lowers hardness, and water temps, and this is an indicator to breed for many fish. I will sometimes do a large (20-30%) water change with RO water to replicate a large rain. The cooler temps and lowered hardness provide seasonality to the tank.

 

If you are on a well, using RO water and KENT RO RIGHT to reconstitute minerals will absolutely give you maximum control over your inhabitants

[Derbird]

Thank you everone for the replys. You taught me a lot of new information (clap)

 

I think I will stick with the well water for water changes and use the RO/DI for top off

[JimmyK]

I have a 30 cube planted tank with crystal red shrimp. I do a water change every few weeks of 50%. I use my ro reject water. Shrimp and plants are thriving for over a year now. I do more frequent water changes in the summer as the shrimp breed better in cooler water.