# Am I wasting my time with RO



## Fran (11 May 2013)

Hi all, looking for some advice on my water change regime. I'm currently using about 90% RO water for my water changes because I have soft water fish (rummynose and Denison barbs). I have learned from this forum that plants are quite adaptable so am not worried about using my tap water. Anyway, my tank water at the end of my 6 day EI dosing is TDS 400. My tapwater is 375 TDS. Would it be okay to gradually cut down my RO water ratio to 0%. Will my fish and plants be okay and do I nned to adjust my dosing, currently 75mls of micro and macro ferts on alternative days?


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## jimwalsh (11 May 2013)

My Rummys live very happily in 100% local tap water which is very very hard


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## ceg4048 (12 May 2013)

Yes, you are wasting your time with RO unless you intend to breed those fish you mentioned. It's much  more important to replace large amounts of the water to remove pollutants. The TDS that you measure is not composed 100% of the added salts. Much of that 400 value is due to pollution.

Cheers,


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## Fran (12 May 2013)

Okay. Thanks for the replies. I'm going to stop using RO gradually over the next few weeks. Will make my life much easier.


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## Juliusz (15 May 2013)

Hmm... I have put my RO unit in the kitchen under the sink and added third tap. So there is no difference if use tap or RO water - just wonder how RO water affects your life?


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## Fran (15 May 2013)

Thats good for you Juliusz. I only had a basic portable RO unit and had to use a separate pump to boost the domestic water pressure. Had to put RO water in large barrel and heat with a heater and small circulation pump and then pump into the tank. So, as you can see it was a bit of a chore.


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## biffster (15 May 2013)

just by pass your RO membrane and just use the three 
pods as a HMA filter that just removes heavy metals and other 
rubbish in tap water and there is no waste with HMA filter


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## Juliusz (15 May 2013)

Fran said:


> Thats good for you Juliusz. I only had a basic portable RO unit and had to use a separate pump to boost the domestic water pressure.


 Shame, as almost all current RO units come with a pump built-in. I have to say - I do not re-heat the water either. As I change about 10% water daily and it is done in the evening/early night, I kind of mimic nature, where temperature drops during night 

I agree with the comment about HMA filter if you don't need RO.


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## biffster (16 May 2013)

Juliusz said:


> Shame, as almost all current RO units come with a pump built-in. I have to say - I do not re-heat the water either. As I change about 10% water daily and it is done in the evening/early night, I kind of mimic nature, where temperature drops during night
> 
> I agree with the comment about HMA filter if you don't need RO.


 

we dont heat the water up and all tanks get two water changes 
a week at 35 to 40%  with no problems and everything is breeding lol


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## Fran (16 May 2013)

I am planning on using my tap water and declorinator (Interpret Tapsafe). Surely this would take care of any harmful substances and therefore there would be no need for a HMA filter.


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## ceg4048 (17 May 2013)

Fran, as I mentioned, you need to worry more about changing your water and getting rid of organic pollution. That will kill your fish a lot faster than the trace amounts of heavy metals. If you are worried about heavy metals just go to the website of your municipal water supplier and look at the water report. If the heavy metal concentration levels, such as lead are in the parts per billion range then there is nothing to worry about. The data are available for anyone to view. There is no need to fret about some issue that may not even exist. If the water is not heavily chlorinated then there is not a need to add dechlorinator, but the pollution in your tank due to food, fish waste and plant waste is a constant danger and is 100X to 1000X more prevalent. Many of the people who worry about heavy metals without even checking their water report to see if there is actually a real risk are the same ones that refuse to perform regular and large water changes. More fish die of hypoxia due to dirty water caused by overfeeding and poor water change schedules than due to heavy metals, by FAR. Keep your tank clean, use your dechlorinator at water change and get on with it.

Cheers,


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## Fran (17 May 2013)

Cheers for that. Feel happier about things now. I have found out the following about my local water:

Aluminium : parametric value 200ug/l, result <10
Ammonium : parametric value 0.3mg/l, result <0.08
Iron : parametric value<100ug/l number per 100ml, result <100
Nitrites : parametric value 0.5 mg/l, result < 0.018
Ph 7.2

Not sure if these levels are high or low? I have been doing a weekly water change but must admit it was not 50%. More like 25% and am now having some algae issues. Have recently corrected flow issues and hope that a pristine tank will develop shortly as I will be now carrying out 50% wc.


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## GHNelson (17 May 2013)

jimwalsh said:


> My Rummys live very happily in 100% local tap water which is very very hard


Hard water...its more like concrete.
hoggie


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## ceg4048 (17 May 2013)

Fran said:


> Not sure if these levels are high or low? I have been doing a weekly water change but must admit it was not 50%. More like 25% and am now having some algae issues. Have recently corrected flow issues and hope that a pristine tank will develop shortly as I will be now carrying out 50% wc.


They are negligible so you can ignore them. If your tank is CO2 injected the Iron content is too low.
In any case these are NOT the heavy metals that one needs to worry about.
Silver (Ag), Copper (Cu), Mercury (Hg), Lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd), Selenium (Se), Arsenic (As), Nickle (Ni) and Zinc (Zn) are the ones to worry about, and if the number after the word "result" has the units "ug/l" then there really is nothing to worry about because ug/l is equal to 1 milligram of the metal dissolved in 1000L of water. So that's the same as PPB, or parts per Billion which is 1000X less concentrated than PPM (parts per Million).

The same actually goes for content like pesticides, herbicides and bacteria. Anything that is in the ug/l range of measured values is negligible. If those heavy metals are in the "mg/l" (ppm) range then there might be something to worry about.

Also, there is no law that says you are limited to 50%. I'm a water change fanatic and I'll do 99% water changes when possible. Clean your substrate couple times a year to get the gunk out. Clean your filter to make it more efficient and to remove gunk. Gunk kills.
Clean the surface of the plants of the slimy coating. Worry more about that and you will have less algae and happier fish.

Cheers,


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## Fran (18 May 2013)

Thanks for your help on this. Feeling less worried now.


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## Kogre (5 Jun 2013)

I like that there are people on this forum as helpful and blunt as Clive. I always feel educated in some fashion after reading one of his posts.


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## Fran (9 Jun 2013)

Hi, just an update for those interested. Rummys and Dennison barbs are doing fine. Appear happy as always. However, like everything in this hoby, solve one problem and another pops up. This time its my PH so going to have to start another thread I reckon.


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## Kogre (9 Jun 2013)

Whats up with our pH?


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## Fran (9 Jun 2013)

Hi, started a new thread in "water chemistry". Tap water is 6.8 and tank is 8.1????


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