# remineralizing ro



## a rix (1 Dec 2015)

Hi iam about to setup my tank and was wondering if i would need to remineralize my ro wilst cycling iam using ada power sand special and aquasoil amazonia.

Many thanks Anthony rix


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## Andy D (1 Dec 2015)

What's your plan to 'cycle' the tank?


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## a rix (1 Dec 2015)

Well as the soil leaches ammonia i just going to let the bacteria form naturally wilst testing regularly and doing water changes


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## Martin in Holland (2 Dec 2015)

Why do you think you need RO water? Is the water from the tap where you live so bad?


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## a rix (2 Dec 2015)

Yes we live in a very limestoney area so our water is extremely hard indeed


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## ian_m (2 Dec 2015)

a rix said:


> Yes we live in a very limestoney area so our water is extremely hard indeed


So is mine @ 22' Clark and no issues growing plants and keeping fish.

Why do you think you need RO water ?


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## a rix (2 Dec 2015)

Having come from marines we always used ro and ive been advised to use ot on my planted tank as well


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## ian_m (2 Dec 2015)

a rix said:


> Having come from marines we always used ro and ive been advised to use ot on my planted tank as well


Not necessary, really much better and easier to work with the water you have, especially when changing of 50% per week. Just remember to add dechlorinator and you are good to go.

Examples of tanks showing water hardness make no difference....
http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/wanted-pictures-of-tanks-kh-related.36141/#post-388992

Spend all your time worrying about getting CO2 rate and distribution optimal, rather than wasting effort on water hardness.


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## a rix (2 Dec 2015)

Excellent thanks for the help iam planning on keeping tetras would this make a difference as i thought they need a soft water


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## ian_m (2 Dec 2015)

I have both Cardninal Tetra's and plain Tetra's in my hard water, some over two years old. Not seen any problems with them.


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## a rix (2 Dec 2015)

Brilliant thanks very much for all your help


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## ian_m (2 Dec 2015)

Cardinal Tetra's enjoying hard water.





Cardinal Tetra's enjoying a "yellow" drop checker.


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## dw1305 (2 Dec 2015)

Hi all,





a rix said:


> i would need to remineralize my ro





a rix said:


> Yes we live in a very limestoney area so our water is extremely hard indeed





a rix said:


> Excellent thanks for the help iam planning on keeping tetras would this make a difference as i thought they need a soft water





ian_m said:


> I have both Cardinal Tetra's and plain Tetra's in my hard water, some over two years old. Not seen any problems with them.


 I'm going to differ in view from the others, but I think it is better to keep soft water fish in soft water.

You don't need to remineralise your RO using a specific salt mix. 

I use rain-water, rather than RO, but I have hard tap water (about 18dKH), and  I cut my rain-water with a minimal amount of tap to give me some dGH/dKH.

I don't use a specific amount of tap, or measure pH or dGH/dKH, but I use conductivity as an indicator of the "sweet spot" for the tank. The conductivity will be quite high while your substrate cycles, so I'd probably add 10% tap until some sort of stability in readings occurs.

Have a look at <"Weak & stunted growth...">, <Substrate advice....> and <"Setting up a new tank">.

cheers Darrel


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## a rix (2 Dec 2015)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all,   I'm going to differ in view from the others, but I think it is better to keep soft water fish in soft water.
> 
> You don't need to remineralise your RO using a specific salt mix.
> 
> ...


An interesting point that'swhy i mentioned the tetras i would rather my fish and plants flourish not just survive. I can get the ro water free so cost isn't an issue


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## Martin in Holland (3 Dec 2015)

If indeed you have really hard water and you can get RO water for free....yes I would suggest mixing your tap water with RO to give your fish the best they can get, just keep it as stable as you possibly can. Mixing RO and tap water will remineralise your water, but as you are coming from marine tanks, do not use RO/DI water, this would be to clear of everything.


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## a rix (3 Dec 2015)

So to my first question would i need to remineralize wilst cycling my substrate


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## Andy D (3 Dec 2015)

My understanding is that some kH is needed for the cycling process so I would assume some form of remineralisation would be needed to provide this?


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## a rix (3 Dec 2015)

Excellent thanks for that


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## dw1305 (3 Dec 2015)

Hi all, 





Andy D said:


> My understanding is that some kH is needed for the cycling process so I would assume some form of remineralisation would be needed to provide this?


I would add some tap water. It doesn't have to me very much.

cheers Darrel


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## a rix (3 Dec 2015)

Have got some sera mineral salt for when the tank is up and running  so i may use that


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## dw1305 (3 Dec 2015)

Hi all, 





a rix said:


> sera mineral salt


It won't raise the dKH, <"just the dGH">,  your tap water will raise both dGH/dKH, or you can use a DIY mix from <"James' Planted Tank">.  

From the link 





> ...... sera mineral salt directly provides all important trace elements as well as valuable calcium, magnesium and potassium in pure form without any polluting additives.


I would love SERA to explain to me the exact meaning of this, and why their K+ ions are special and different from all the other K+ ions in the universe.

I'm a bit of a skeptic about proprietary salt mixes. Compounds like "Epsom Salts" (MgSO4.7H2O), calcium chloride (CaCl2) , potassium bicarbonate (KHCO3) etc are really cheap to buy as salts, but magically become thousands of percent more expensive when combined as a proprietary salt mix.

cheers Darrel


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## Martin in Holland (4 Dec 2015)

The only honest explanation  from SERA would be ; Marketing


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## zozo (14 Dec 2015)

A swiss company sells Ancient Sea Salt with a very modern price tag.. Now somebody called the company and asked how the hell can you sell Sea salt without having a sea in Switserland. They explained the salt is mined froam a deposit in a mountain which was under the sea level many millions of years ago.. And this makes it very special Ancient Sea salt.

Even better is a Dutch story, we have a very special  and healthy Dutch miniral water in the supermarket named "Barle Duc" also  with a very modern price tag.. Now they investigated this stuff.. It seems Barle Duc is the French name for the city of Utrecht.. Thats where the water comes from, now they investigated a little further and it seems there is only one water supply where the whole area around Utrecht can get its water from. So actualy Barle Duc is Utrecht tap water.. So the supermarkets sell Utrecht tap water in a bottle for 10 x the price a Utrecht inhabitant pays for when he gets it from his tap. The expaination the company gave was realy hillarious.

In Dutch when you get decieved or be duped we call it literaly translated "Being Bottled" the company spokesman when asked about them selling this stuff as special water replied playfully. "Yes the world likes to be bottled".. LOL.. And people are still buying it..


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## dw1305 (14 Dec 2015)

Hi all, 





zozo said:


> So the supermarkets sell Utrecht tap water in a bottle for 10 x the price a Utrecht inhabitant pays for when he gets it from his tap.


Same in the UK, about 10% of the bottled water sold is bottled tap water. I don't understand it either.

cheers Darrel


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## zozo (14 Dec 2015)

I believe the only country i know of being honest about it is Norway.. There the water is for free.. At least it was when i was there in 1992, but i gess it still is. Even when traveling by train when the waitress comes with the drinks.. You can get a little bottle "Ett Glas Vatten" for free. But don't buy limonade..  they rip you off...


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## Martin in Holland (15 Dec 2015)

I never understood why we all of a sudden needed to start drinking water from a bottle while we always drank tap water which is of an excellent quality..... but there is marketing again, it makes you believe you need something which you didn't need before. Some of us also bought a TwinStar, did we really needed it? Yes I've got one too...somewhere in a box


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