I SWITCHED TO R/O and NOW...

catfishtabbi

I've set up a 10g holding tank using r/o water i added r/o right and blackwater expert. my ph has went from 7.0 to 6.8 now 6.2, i'm not sure if it's completed.my readings are ph 6.2, alk 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 0.very very soft. Shouldn't there be some alkalinity (hardness)? What should i add, a breeder said some treated tap water, but they're treating our water w/ chlorine bleach and thats why i sued r/o.
Could it be i do not so much black water expert? Do i need to add more r/o right? Do i need to add freshwater essentials? PLEASE ANSWER THANK YOU

1077

Tapwater added to RO water wil replace minerals needed by fish and plants. Tapwater can be made safe for fish by using dechlorinator such as PRIME or Amquel+. both of these will detoxify AMMONIA, CHLORINE, and CHLORAMINES making RO water unnecessary to keep most fishes with the exception of some of the wild caught specimens which are rare or for breeding some sensitive fish such as Discus.

Many people begin chasing the ideal PH that they believe their fish needs when in fact most fish can and do adapt to ph values that tapwater provides so long as the ph is stable. There are exceptions with some fish that are wild caught from very soft water, Cichlids that require harder water with higher ph values ,and some fishthat will spawn in softer water with lower ph more readily than harder water.

Were it me,, (and it's not) I would run a bucket of tapwater, treat it with dechlorinator such as the two mentioned, and let the bucket set for twentyfour hours. Then test the ph of this water. That will be your ph and you should purchase fish that will be comfortable with your ph rather than attempting to adjust the water to suit the fish. this nearly always leads to trouble. As long as your ph is not below6.0 or above 8.6 there are few fish that you cannot keep.

thespiff

I wholeheartedly agree. This is an aquarium, not a chemistry experiment. Today you might think you want both of those things, but trust me if 6 months down the road you are living in fear every day that you didn't dose enough chemicals or you dosed too much...this will stop being an enjoyable hobby. Weekly water changes and daily feedings are enough work as it is.

catfishtabbi

Well i once thought this way too.this is S.FLA and our water is awful full of bleach, phosphorus, nitrates and is very hard, plain swamp water.There is a chemist who's has a suit against the county, for fish loss! I perform hi-tech water changes that require expensive additives like lots o' tests. novaqua+, phosguard, acid up/down
and carbon (to see thru your water). Now r/o clean 7.0 just add r/o right straight in the water container and tweek the ph a bit. I just need to be sure about the alk (hardness). I did an exp with both tap and r/o 1g with half the recc. amount of BWE the ph stabalized at 6.8 on tap and 6.2 on r/o, but alk 0, now 6.2 is too low right now, do you know if i could safely add more r/o right ( trace minerals ) or fresh water essentials to increase the alk ? See how great that is i run my 50 g at 6.8.

onefish2fish

i thought alk and hardness were 2 different things. alk being alkalinity and hardness being GH.

catfishtabbi

No, no alk is your buffering capacity, it is the resistance that keeps your ph stable, it precipitates minerals that may cause your ph to fluctuate.So the lower your alk the lower the ability to maintain ph, so it drops.See the harder the water the higher the ph.Reduce hardness you reduce ph . Alk and GH share relativity.

onefish2fish

right i know alk and ph share common grounds what i didnt know what that GH was calcium and magnesium, i deal with all these measurements daily in saltwater. see that you learn something new everyday;
Water Hardness