# First Water and RO questions



## wilamzq (11 Mar 2019)

Hi,

I have set up a hardscape consisted of some lava rocks and a Tropica Aquasoil which I intend to use it for plants mostly (HC carpet & parvula mini) .  
I bought this RO filter https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aquili-osmosis-Complete-treatment-Aquarium/dp/B07C9LQJBX
and I am wondering If I made a mistake for buying the NPS model which removes also no3, po4 and sio2. Do you think that after adding the water I will need to remineralize it? Was this purchase of the filter wrong?

Thank you in advance!


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## ian_m (11 Mar 2019)

You will need to remineralize RO water before use, of which you can buy commercial remineraliser salts of make your own. Of course you can just cut your RO water with tap water to add back minerals, which is what a lot of people do.

Why are you using RO water ?


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## wilamzq (12 Mar 2019)

Hi Ian, 

Thank you for your reply, well I am using RO because the water here it is quite hard PH < 8.2 with lots of minerals so investing 50 pounds for a RO filter in order to have better control of the water parameters wasnt sound a bad idea for me.. I am new in the hobby and maybe I felt in the trap of overspending but feel free to express your criticism!

Cheers


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## Edvet (12 Mar 2019)

Most plants and a lot of fish don't care about hardness. Lots od beautifull tanks from people with "liquid rock".


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## wilamzq (12 Mar 2019)

True Edvent, but I read (google told me )  that HC (Cuba) which I am planning to fill my tank with has 5-7.5 PH requirement...


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## ian_m (12 Mar 2019)

wilamzq said:


> True Edvent, but I read (google told me ) that HC (Cuba) which I am planning to fill my tank with has 5-7.5 PH requirement...


Don't believe all you read on Goggle !!.

My HC grows absolutely fine, and is currently taking over the tank, pushing other plants out the way, with 22' Clark (26dGH) hard water. Plants don't really care about water hardness and can generally thrive better in hard water. I don't have plant growth issues with hard water.

Hard water is also less likely to suffer pH swings when things start going wrong.

You are much better to work with your tap water you have as it is makes water changes so much easier and quicker, less likely to be missed and less likely for things to go wrong.

Remember to test your RO water as RO units are not 100% guaranteed to remove chloramine (& chlorine) and can leave chlorine and/or ammonia in your RO water if all RO units filters and membranes are not "top notch". Or just add Prime to your RO water, job done.

Much much much more important than water hardness is competent and decent CO2 flow & distribution, sufficient light levels (I have 4 off T5 HO tubes), clean water & decent filtration and finally a selection of fishes that won't dig it up !!!


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