# RO water



## beans (Dec 7, 2004)

ok well i know thast RO means reverse osmosis but what does it do and should i get it for the 5 super red bellied ps im getin in my 75


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## SpAzZy (Mar 30, 2004)

you don't need an RO unit. it removes 95% of the trace elements found in tap water, and is only required/recommended for a saltwater tank. you need it if you're keeping expensive corals and inverts, because the trace elements could wipe out your entire tank.. with p's though, you don't need to do that, they'll be just fine with tap water and conditioner, buying the RO unit won't benefit you much unless you are using a drip system.


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## Husky_Jim (May 26, 2003)

SpAzZy said:


> you don't need an RO unit. it removes 95% of the trace elements found in tap water, and is only required/recommended for a saltwater tank. you need it if you're keeping expensive corals and inverts, because the trace elements could wipe out your entire tank.. with p's though, you don't need to do that, they'll be just fine with tap water and conditioner, buying the RO unit won't benefit you much unless you are using a drip system.
> [snapback]811126[/snapback]​


I totally dissagree with that.....

RO removes the heavy metals and various traces from the water,making the water with minimum GH and KH.
Depending on your water quality usually (at least here in Greece) tap water has 12 GH and 4 KH!
If you think that super reds have lived their life into rivers with 3-4 GH (120ppm of total hardness) then having your tank's water near 'Amazon' will only benefit your fish.

It is well known that if you want to breed South American fish then the RO Unit is a MUST ,cause many spieces require almost zero hardness in order to breed and for the eggs to hatch.....


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## Pterogho (Feb 8, 2004)

I won't just quote Jim's entire post, but never the less, I totally agree.

Where I live, the tap water reads 23 Gh and 16 Kh and 7.9 Ph.

If my RBP's where to live in this water, they would survive, but would rather be like Grey Bellied P's.
Thanks to my RO-kit, I can adjust these parameters to 6 Gh, 5 Kh and 6.8 Ph
and my P's show their colours like they where in for breeding.

.....and my my neontetras, aren't just something blue and red.
No! they are like brightly sparkling lanterns in the dark.

.... and a small group af diamondtetras actually managed to cast of fry, before the P's got to them.

Yup! RO-water, is not a nessecity, but it does indeed make a difference.


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## smithgrind_who (Mar 26, 2004)

I tried using RO water and it's a lot of work. But if one re-constitutes the water to the desired KH and pH, it will create better water quality.



DonH Sep 17 2004 said:


> RO water does not keep the water stable. It does the exact opposite... When mixed with tap water, it softens it by diluting the magnesium/calcium concentration and also reduces the alkalinity which provides buffering to keep pH stable. Using pure RO will result in a very unstable pH and ultimately a pH crash. The advantage is, it's basically pure water that's free of any contaminants so it's a good working base so you can alter water parameters to your specific needs.
> 
> Is it worth the money? Yes, if you want specific water conditions for breeding purposes or just want to attempt to duplicate their native water parameters (but your tap water has a high pH and is very hard). Other than that, most fish will be fine without it.


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## Daddy O (Jan 16, 2004)

I use ro water in combination with tap water to achive desired water paramaters if you use large amounts of ro water you will have to add kent ro right to the ro water.


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## beans (Dec 7, 2004)

i can put like 70% of ro water andput the rest tap and that would be fine right but just not like perfect but it would still be decent water right

Whats kent Ro


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## smithgrind_who (Mar 26, 2004)

Kent makes a product called RO Right that adds elements back to RO and deionized water.


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## beans (Dec 7, 2004)

where can i get that at petsmart or local fish shop


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