• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

Britta filtered water good for plants?

Dominik K

Member
Joined
14 Jun 2021
Messages
80
Location
Southampton
Hi all
My tank is currently getting established.
Im doing a dry start method.

Heavy misting twice a day.

Lots of sources recomend rain water, however given the current wrather its unlikely im going to get any rain water.

I live in the south of england.
I dont want to use straight up tap water because frankly, i dont know whats in it. Isuspect it would be fine for plants but I dont want to risk contaminating the soil with some unwanted stuff.

We drink britta filtered water at home, and i just wondered, would it be any good for plants?
 
From a quick glance at the britta filters I would have to say it would be a waste of your time to use it for your tank.

Looks like it is a carbon filter and ion-exchange resin used to reduce hardness. The plants will be fine with it and so will your tank in 99% of cases.
 
Hi all
My tank is currently getting established.
Im doing a dry start method.

Heavy misting twice a day.

Lots of sources recomend rain water, however given the current wrather its unlikely im going to get any rain water.

I live in the south of england.
I dont want to use straight up tap water because frankly, i dont know whats in it. Isuspect it would be fine for plants but I dont want to risk contaminating the soil with some unwanted stuff.

We drink britta filtered water at home, and i just wondered, would it be any good for plants?
Hello,
Tap water is fine for your plants and in fact may be better for the plants than filtered water, however, use whatever water you deem appropriate. I don't see any reason tap water should be a problem for your sediment.
There is no excuse for not knowing what's in your water. Your municipal water supplier will have an annual or biannual water report uploaded to their website. Simply google the term "[name of municipal supplier] water report". The report will be available listing the minima and maxima of each component as well as the mean value measured at various location in the distribution network.

Here is a typical link from which to start=> Water Quality Information in Southampton | Water Hardness Tool by Harvey Water Softeners

If you continue to fear your own water you will become easy prey for suppliers who specialize in fear mongering in order to profit from that fear by selling you something you do not need.

Cheers,
 
Hi,

I've got a Britta filter here just dip tested it, and all it's done is remove the chlorine but that could also have gassed off. It's an old filter so I'm now interested in what a fresh one looks like!

Depending on the soil you have you could be in for a surprise anyway once fully filled as I've gone from a pH of 8+ from the tap down to 6, KH also really reduced & just from the Tropica soil. If your pH / hardness is low naturally then the soil will just buffer for longer.

Means water changes here can't be the bucket pour of old (shrimp won't like it) but it's worth the slow drip feed back for how much the plants / fish appreciate the lower PH in my short experience of using soil.

I also thought about using rainwater and filtering through carbon first but it's just a lot, lot easier to use the hot and cold tap and a squirt of Prime, especially now seeing how much the soil affects the parameters.
 
Lots of sources recomend rain water, however given the current wrather its unlikely im going to get any rain water.
I don’t know about dry start, but for terrariums etc rain is good if you’ve got hard tap water (like me) so you can avoid getting marks on your glassware. I use rain water collected in a butt for my small shrimp tanks + remineraliser (this has been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster with changing weather and tiny wild beasties, but fundamentally all fine). As others have said, for bigger tanks tap is far easier, and apart from the chlorine nothing to worry about.
 
Dont waste your money, use dechlorinated tapwater its cheaper and quicker that waiting for it to permeate through the filter.
 
As a point of interest, I use rainwater in my 60L and 37L most of the time but for quick top ups I sometimes use tap and Zero filtered water. The water in my area is quite hard so I don’t like to use tap on its own or I’ll get unwanted deposits on the glass and hardware. Fish and Shrimps seem happy and the plants grow well.
 
Back
Top