Willie
01-01-2017, 03:07 PM
I like to focus one thread on the merits of using 100% R/O water without any additives. It's a controversial topic, so I like to hear from those of you with actual experience.
I've keep discus in tap water for most of my hobby period, but there was a time when I had to go to R/O. About 10 years ago, the road in front of my house was torn up for a new water pipe. Once the pipe was connected, I had immediate problems. I meant that my fish would die immediately after a 100% water change. I lost several pairs, a tank full of fry and a bunch of nice angelfish. In those days, I changed 100% of my water once a week.
In desperation, I bought a heavy duty R/O system. Those of you who got the Merlin System from GE know how good it is. In the summer, I could fill a 55-gallon barrel of R/O in about 75 minutes. The R/O to waste ratio was 1:1. This got worse in the winter, but not substantially worse. With every water change, I put in the requisite amount of R/O Right. The fish eventually recovered and started spawning again. Then I got cheap.
R/O Right tells you what ions it contains, but not the proportion. Given the rapidity with which it dissolves, I suspect it was mostly just NaCl. It's expensive and I didn't like the idea of adding ions, spending money to make R/O water, then dumping the whole thing out and starting all over again every week. So I stopped using R/O Right and kept up the water changes. Guess what? There was no change in behavior. I made 100% water changes with R/O weekly, the fish kept spawning, the fry kept growing.
Now, I've been given many reasons why I have to add R/O Right.
1. Fish won't get enough Mg, Ca, etc. Of course, how much do they get via food vs absorption across the gills? My fish get beefheart, which comes from an animal with more than enough Mg, Ca, etc. This animal provides Ca, Mg to your children - no R/O Right added!
2. R/O water has no buffering capacity. True, but it has no pH either. No fish was ever burnt after a water change. I would also add that the Amazon has extremely soft, low pH, water, so that's not a problem.
Four years after the new pipe was installed, I went back to tap water. Now it's 100% water change with conditioned tap everyday.
This industry is filled with marketing hype. Heaters, filters, UV systems "rated" for various tank sizes, bacterial cultures that will cycle your tank, magical elixirs that will imitate black water conditions,...
Bring it on! Willie :eek:
I've keep discus in tap water for most of my hobby period, but there was a time when I had to go to R/O. About 10 years ago, the road in front of my house was torn up for a new water pipe. Once the pipe was connected, I had immediate problems. I meant that my fish would die immediately after a 100% water change. I lost several pairs, a tank full of fry and a bunch of nice angelfish. In those days, I changed 100% of my water once a week.
In desperation, I bought a heavy duty R/O system. Those of you who got the Merlin System from GE know how good it is. In the summer, I could fill a 55-gallon barrel of R/O in about 75 minutes. The R/O to waste ratio was 1:1. This got worse in the winter, but not substantially worse. With every water change, I put in the requisite amount of R/O Right. The fish eventually recovered and started spawning again. Then I got cheap.
R/O Right tells you what ions it contains, but not the proportion. Given the rapidity with which it dissolves, I suspect it was mostly just NaCl. It's expensive and I didn't like the idea of adding ions, spending money to make R/O water, then dumping the whole thing out and starting all over again every week. So I stopped using R/O Right and kept up the water changes. Guess what? There was no change in behavior. I made 100% water changes with R/O weekly, the fish kept spawning, the fry kept growing.
Now, I've been given many reasons why I have to add R/O Right.
1. Fish won't get enough Mg, Ca, etc. Of course, how much do they get via food vs absorption across the gills? My fish get beefheart, which comes from an animal with more than enough Mg, Ca, etc. This animal provides Ca, Mg to your children - no R/O Right added!
2. R/O water has no buffering capacity. True, but it has no pH either. No fish was ever burnt after a water change. I would also add that the Amazon has extremely soft, low pH, water, so that's not a problem.
Four years after the new pipe was installed, I went back to tap water. Now it's 100% water change with conditioned tap everyday.
This industry is filled with marketing hype. Heaters, filters, UV systems "rated" for various tank sizes, bacterial cultures that will cycle your tank, magical elixirs that will imitate black water conditions,...
Bring it on! Willie :eek: