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Locked down and short on RO

Gaina

Member
Joined
28 Jan 2018
Messages
80
Location
Somerset
Hi All,

I run my 125l aquarium on remineralised RO Water and I have hengels rasbora and Amano shrimp.

My LFS has closed completely and I've got enough water for one 10% water change plus top-ups. If we are only going to be in this situation for 3 weeks, I might just manage, but any longer and things could get difficult.

I've been considering my options and here's what I've concluded:

1 - Softening 'pillows'. The main drawback with these appears to be that they can increase the salt in your water.

2 - Buy water online (it needs to be delivered to my door).

3 - Buy an RO Unit. This would be the obvious solution, except I don't have space in an easily accessible area to hook it up. Would a drinking water filter system suffice?

4. Small water changes with tap water or 10% with a 50/50 mix of tap/RO. My tap GH is very near the limit my fish can stand, and incorrect water hardness was the reason I lost fish when I was a 'newbie', so obviously I'm reluctant to go there (also my tap water frequently smells like chemicals, but I always keep tap water conditioner on hand).

I also wondered of there an additive which is the opposite of remineraliser and allows you to soften water by a specific amount.

My aquarium parameters are as follows:

Tank:
Gh - 9
Kh - 4
Ph - 7.5
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 20+ (still in safe zone according to my test kit, but definitely less than 30).

Tap:
Gh - 13-14 (I'd say 13.5)
Kh - 12
Ph - 7.5
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 5 max


Any advice gratefully recived!
 
incorrect water hardness was the reason I lost fish when I was a 'newbie',
You may have been misinformed there, possibly by some-one selling RO water and remineraliser.

"Tap:
Gh - 13-14 (I'd say 13.5)
Kh - 12
Ph - 7.5
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 5 max"
should not be a problem for T. hengeli or Amanos.

I would do small water changes to avoid sudden changes, and gradually let the tank water match your tap water parameters.

Definitely use a good water conditioner is you can smell chemicals (chlorine?).
If do you want to soften the water, there are softeners (including 'pillows') for aquarium use. You are right about non-aquarium ones, they replace the hardness with salt, which would be a bigger problem.
 
I’m another rainwater advocate. However if that’s not possible, I wouldn’t be too bothered about acclimating them to tap for a shortish period. I’ve done this over dry summers before, while London water is definitely not ideal, I still feel it’s better than not changing water at all.
 
Spotless water have an outlet in Bristol if that is any good?

https://spotlesswater.co.uk/Locations

@Geoffrey Rea has used one, it is very good, zero tds and easy to use I understand.


Nb. The ones that say coming soon aren’t. Instead they have a deal planned with a major supermarket to provide it there.

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

I was looking at that site earlier. Unfortunately I have a parent who's under the 12 week stay at home as she's classed as vulnerable, and I live at home so I don't want to risk brining anything home.
 
I’m another rainwater advocate. However if that’s not possible, I wouldn’t be too bothered about acclimating them to tap for a shortish period. I’ve done this over dry summers before, while London water is definitely not ideal, I still feel it’s better than not changing water at all.

Thanks, I had heard London water was pretty poor! :angelic:

I guess if I start with 50/50 tap/ro water changes at 10‰ will get me through this initial 3 week period and with at tank my size it's going to take quiet a while to match my tap parameters. :)
 
You may have been misinformed there, possibly by some-one selling RO water and remineraliser.

"Tap:
Gh - 13-14 (I'd say 13.5)
Kh - 12
Ph - 7.5
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 5 max"
should not be a problem for T. hengeli or Amanos.

I would do small water changes to avoid sudden changes, and gradually let the tank water match your tap water parameters.

Definitely use a good water conditioner is you can smell chemicals (chlorine?).
If do you want to soften the water, there are softeners (including 'pillows') for aquarium use. You are right about non-aquarium ones, they replace the hardness with salt, which would be a bigger problem.

Thank you :) The info about gh for this species was from all the reliable species profiles online like 'seriously fish' as well as books I have. The max these sources said they can tolerate is 14gh.

I've got a full bottle of tap water conditioner and I can get more online thank goodness!
 
I love fish books, got a huge collection. But I have found they often tell me things I know are wrong, often apparently copied from one book to another.
My T. hengeli used to thrive and breed in the tap water at my last house, 17 - 18°DH.
 
I have kept both of those species and I live in Somerset, I know it doesn't fix your present problem it may be worthwhile to acclimatise them to your tap as it will save a lot of effort in the future.
Makes water changes easier anyway
 
I also use rainwater from a butt, with a little tapwater mixed in to give me the hardness I want. I don’t worry at all about airborne pollutants because we’ve made such progress on that in the last 30-40 years that I don’t think it’s an issue any more. The only thing that would give me cause for concern is if I ever have work done on the roof that might introduce new tiles or sealants that might leach things into the rainwater - I would probably stop using rain for a few months.

I've never tested my rainwater to be honest! Might do that tomorrow.
You don’t need to test your rainwater. It’ll be zero for all the major parameters you can test for: KH, GH, NH₃, NO₂⁻, NO₃⁻, etc. The pH will be governed by the level of CO₂ in it, which will probably be very low. I doubt acid rain is too much of a problem.
 
I love fish books, got a huge collection. But I have found they often tell me things I know are wrong, often apparently copied from one book to another.
My T. hengeli used to thrive and breed in the tap water at my last house, 17 - 18°DH.

Thank you, that's useful to know. :) I will see the next few weeks as an experiment and seriously consider putting them back on tap.
 
You wouldn’t be able to use a portable RO unit? Simply screw into a faucet and then store it away when your done.

I live with my parents so it's not just me that messing around with an RO unit would impact (I'm not paying the water bill!), and up until now, getting my water from Maidenhead Aquatics has been working out well. :)
 
Thank you so much for everyone's help. :) I think I've got a good short term plan:

50/50 RO/tap water changes every 10 days will mean I've got enough RO for 2 water changes plus top-ups, and there won't be any mad parameter swings. That should see me through the 3 week lockdown then I'll reassess things after that.

On the bright side, if I can get back to tap it means I can have those cherry shrimp I've been coveting. 'Every cloud...' and all that :D.
 
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