# RO water or TAP water in a planted tank



## Pav123 (23 Dec 2018)

Hi, I have read quite a lot about RO water recently. But I've been lost in between and I just don't know what to do anymore.

Should I buy RO unit and start using RO water with my tanks - cut it with tap water and add The Aquascaper complete plant food which I already use

or

just carry on doing what I've been doing for past couple of years which is just tap water with sachem prime and The Aquascaper plant food.

I just add that I would like to keep some Amano and Red Cherry Shrimp in near future along with fishes I already have - neon tetras and harlequin rasboras.

I'm preparing to do new scape just after Christmas and I want the best possible start.

Please advise.


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## Zeus. (23 Dec 2018)

I have very hard water and use it straight from the tap and my Amanos, RCS and Green Tetras are all fine.
Unless there is a specific need for RO water for some livestock tap water should be fine.


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## Finn (23 Dec 2018)

Hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it! What's got you thinking some RO water would make things better for you? Amano and cherry shrimp are robust little chappies and appreciate some hardness to their water to boot, so you might make them unhappy (failed moults being a big worry) by watering down the good stuff too much. Caridina sp. can be a different story but so long as you're keeping your water stable and slightly acidic your garden variety crystal red shrimp should acclimate and be happy, though may not breed successfully.

Not to unnecessarily put you off RO, but it is an extra bother during maintenance, very resource hungry (lots of waste water production) and an additional expense with the high initial cost and subsequent long term running costs with filtration media and remineralising salts. Getting stuck into an RO system is advisable only in situations where you really really REALLY need to control the parameters of your water or where your tap water parameters are simply the opposite of what you're wanting to achieve (think breeding or keeping sensitive species of livestock or creating a blackwater biotope with hard London water). By the sounds of things you're not planning on doing either (though I could be wrong here!) so you should be sorted as you are!

Cheers!


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## Pav123 (23 Dec 2018)

I'm not planning to keep any of the sensitive live stock and only thing that get me thinking and looking around, researching about RO water is youtube channels I watch of well known people.

Some of them sometimes post on insta / youtube the way they do fill up tanks or saying what water they use, and that let me think maybe should I do the same


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## tam (23 Dec 2018)

Unless you have a specific problem that RO will fix then stick with tap


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## Pav123 (23 Dec 2018)

Thank you for suggestions. I will stick to tap water - I have no problems with it at all


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## dw1305 (23 Dec 2018)

Hi all,





Pav123 said:


> I will stick to tap water - I have no problems with it at all


You probably have <"fairly soft water"> because you live in Manchester, where your water comes from Lake District or Pennine reservoirs. 

I've used rain-water since the 1970's without any problems, but I've never lived in a city.

You should be able to get values from your water supplier (United Utilities etc.). The initial tap water pH will be above pH7, because the companies add NaOH to stop copper (Cu) and lead (Pb) going into solution from old pipes, but this doesn't add any carbonate buffering and you can largely ignore it.  

cheers Darrel


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## papa_c (23 Dec 2018)

Personally it's a ball ache in cutting RO, and ending up with the same parameters, tried it and it soon got boring and expensive. Water companies are paid to maintain the quality,. As said unless you have specific requirements for ultra soft water for to livestock requirements stock to tap. 

Aquarium gardens in my area use local tap which is rock hard with impressive results!


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## alto (24 Dec 2018)

If you’re happy with your plant growth and your livestock seem happy, forget mucking about with modified water - I did for several years after losing all stock when the water supplier decided to “upgrade” the system and not mention anything to customers 
As the memory faded I returned to tap, it just simplifies aquarium keeping 

There are some plants which are “easy” in soft water and less enthusiastic growers in harder water (there are also “easy” plants that languish about in my extremely soft water) - just find what suits your tap and your fishkeeping style


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## soggybongo (24 Dec 2018)

if you have the time and can afford the extra cost in producing ro/di water i would go down this route as you know exactly what you are getting and can make any adjustments easily where water from your tap can and will change all the time. you you will know what ppm is comming out of your tap but ppm of what? also any work carried out on your supply pipe work will be flushed/ cleaned which also adds god knows what into your water.


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