Tank Setups • Cheaper Alternatives / Commercial made Chem

[pharrix]

I have recently switched to RO water for my cichlids.

I purchased some RO Right chemical to add stuff back into the water to make it fish ready. I purchased 1 16oz container. I filled my storage tank up around 75 gals maybe more, but not too sure. To the directions of this container I would need approx 4 cups of this stuff to make the water hard, I do not believe it effects the ph, but not 100% sure.

Is there something else that I may have around the house that would get the water back to fish conditions or does it already fish condition ? I don't remember, what can I add to the water to make it hard and raise the ph and keep it there ?

Thanks in advance.

[rgr4475]

I am not familiar with reverse osmosis or the stuff you purchased. My water where I use to live was pretty soft and the PH was on the lower scale. I used the buffer recipe in the library section to make the water more suitable for my fish. Epsom salts to make the water harder, and baking soda to raise the PH.

[triscuit]

Yep- there are a lot of cheaper ways to get your water parameters to where you want them. I don't know what type of cichlids you have, but since you want to make your water hard- I'll assume we're talking rift lake cichlids. There's this article in the library you might find helpful.

My tap water is very soft, but with high pH. I use baking soda and Epsom salts to get my pH stable at 8.2, and my KH and GH up to about 12d for my fish. You'll need to figure out how much stuff per 10 gallons you're going to need for your water, but since you have a storage tank, that shouldn't be too hard. In addition to Epsom and soda, you may wish to add some trace minerals through the use of marine salt or a product like Seachem's Cichlid Trace. I don't think that's necessary though, because dust, fish food, substrate and other things in your tanks will be contributing more than trace levels of most nutrients.

[pharrix]

thanks for the quick responses.

I purchased cichlid essentials to help provide if I was missing something in the water. I may just do the buffer recipe and see what happens. Thanks again for the responses.

[BillD]

If you want your water harder why are you using RO? Have you considered a mix of tap and RO?

[triscuit]

Reverse osmosis removes a lot more than hardness... if NH3/NO3, chloramines, etc are present, RO is a great solution. Sometimes it's easier to build the ionic composition of water back up to appropriate levels than it is to mitigate harmful ions.

[pharrix]

Due to being on well water, using an ro system is the only way I can deliver constant water conditions between water changes.

[BillD]

Due to being on well water, using an ro system is the only way I can deliver constant water conditions between water changes.

interesting. What changes in the well water?

[pharrix]

well over the course of the last month or so, I noticed a considerable amount of calcium deposits in the water. My storage tank had several white things floating in it ( assuming they were calcium deposits). I'm sure they won't hurt the fish, but gives your water a terrible look, not to mention cakes everything in my storage tank and new 75 gal I was setting up.

[triscuit]

Flocculation!!


Pretty typical for ground water- everything changes when exposed to the atmosphere. Besides that, well water does change (sometimes for the worse) seasonally, in some places more than others.