I am setting up a new 55 gallon freshwater aquarium. I live in an area where the supply water has a high degree of hardness. Is it worthwhile for me to invest in a RO water purifier for my aquarium needs? What are some of the things I need to keep in mind in selecting one? What are some good brands?
2006-10-23 05:44:48 · 6 answers · asked by yayu 3 in Pets ➔ Fish
The aquarium that I am setting up now is for goldfish, but I will be setting up another one for tropical fish soon. So I will be sharing the RO system between the two.
2006-10-23 05:57:31 · update #1
Using RO can be a pain. It takes all the bad elements from the water and all the good ones too. You have to supplement the water before you can use it. Also is is horribly watseful of water resources, it can waster up to 9 gals for every usable gallon of water you get.
Personally I would rather stick to treated tap water.
2006-10-23 08:21:41 · answer #1 · answered by huggz 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
An RO system is quite expensive and it wastes about 7 gallons of water for every gallon it produces. As jules said, they are slow to produce. You need to think about the cost first. If that is not a problem, then go for it!
When you say high degree of hardness, do you mean a pH of 8.0 or higher? If not, you should not need to adjust it unless you plan to keep South American cichlids or some of the pH sensitive fish like neons and apistos.
Your high pH would be perfect for African cichlids (tropical fish), that is what they like. That is what I keep (72-80 degrees). My tap water is about 7.4 pH and I don't do anything to it except remove the chlorine. They spawn regularly for me and are very happy.
Goldfish (coldwater fish) are not picky, if you keep live plants in the tank, that will naturally lower the pH some. If you put a ball of peat moss in the filter, that will lower the pH more. The peat needs to be changed weekly. Michigan peat is the best to use.
Google "reverse osmosis" and you will find brands, prices and output figures that will help you make your decision.
2006-10-23 14:11:21 · answer #2 · answered by 8 In the corner 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Reverse Osmosis systems work well at taking EVERYTHING out of the water, so well that NOTHING can live iin it. You will need tto add supplements to it so the fish can live. If you do regular water changes, they are very slow. I think mine does like 2 gals. per day and when you've got a big tank, that can ttake forever! I use one with my salt water ttank because the salt I use replaces tthe necessary trace elementts the fish require. Mine is made by Kent-Marine, good, but there are lots out there. Golfish require lots of water changes as they produce massive ammonia, the RO system will be workiing non-stop. Depending how many Goldfish you keep iin a 55 gal. aquarium, you would need to do a 5 gal. water change per day (10%). Recomended rule, no more than 1 inch of fish per gal.. Goldfish (actually, small carp) will grow, I would put no more than 5 nice ones in to keep them healthy.
2006-10-23 12:52:23 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Note that despite some posts pH has little to do with directly with hardness. ( Water with a high kH will tend to have a high pH, but not always. Also a high kH will make it harder to change your pH.) Hard water isn't always a bad thing. A high kH will prevent rapid changes in pH, and a moderate to high gH is great for growing fish.
The real question is what do the fish you want require? Hardy fish like goldfish, guppy and bettas really don't care. (In fact RO is likely worse than your tap water.) Fish like molly love hard water and may develop conditions like shimmy in soft water. You should research the fish you want to have before purchasing a RO system.
2006-10-23 16:42:53 · answer #4 · answered by Sabersquirrel 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What kind of fish do you plan on keeping? Some fish like hard water, some don't.
2006-10-23 12:50:14 · answer #5 · answered by Nunya Biznis 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
african ciclids love hard water...
perfect match?
2006-10-23 14:12:39 · answer #6 · answered by professorminh 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋