Realistic death rate with new fish???

[Fishguy2727]

GH and KH together only tell you Ca, Mg, and carbonates. TDS is the conductivity of the water. Pure water will not conduct electricity. You want pure water for RO. Otherwise you may be adding phosphate, silicate, ammonia, nitrite, copper, iron, and many other things. If you are paying for RO you want to get what you are paying for. If you are getting GH and KH that high I don't think it is RO water.

 

[ejaramillo01]

Agree with fish guy, in the reverse osmosis process, the idea is to force the water through a selective membrane, which will remove not just the big size molecules, but also ions, so salts and minerals are removed in the process.

 

[woofwoofgrrl]

It's obviously not 'pure' water since it has a GH and KH value. Since it has GH and KH it will, by default, have some level of conductivity, so I'm still not seeing what TDS will tell me.... sorry if I'm being dense...

 

[Fishguy2727]

It will tell you how far from pure it is. It is the most precise and most accurate way to measure how pure the water you are using is. This is important when trying to avoid certain issues. Again, it is not just GH and KH that matters, but that is all you get when testing GH and KH.

 

[beepboop]

I lost a lot of fish until I started using aquarium salt. I also drip acclimated and made sure my tank was cycled and fish introduced slowly. Salt really makes a difference. In fact, I just bought some fish that arrived at the store the same day. I wasn't sure they'd make it. They'd traveled to the store, the stress of the new water at the store, bright lights, and then I took them home. I drip acclimated them until the evening and put them in the tank in the dark. I didn't turn on any lights until the next day. They've been active, healthy, and eating well ever since.

 

[Shadowraven]

I lost a lot of fish until I started using aquarium salt. I also drip acclimated and made sure my tank was cycled and fish introduced slowly. Salt really makes a difference. In fact, I just bought some fish that arrived at the store the same day. I wasn't sure they'd make it. They'd traveled to the store, the stress of the new water at the store, bright lights, and then I took them home. I drip acclimated them until the evening and put them in the tank in the dark. I didn't turn on any lights until the next day. They've been active, healthy, and eating well ever since.

Just be careful about that. Salt is not necessarily the cure-all for everything and it is possible to overdo it. NEVER add salt to a tank with any Corydoras in it. That can kill them. I used to add salt when I first started keeping fish. I don't use it anymore.

 

[Fishguy2727]

I suggest never adding salt to a tank all of the time. Use it selectively to treat known problems or overall stress. However, IME cories and many of the other fish that are claimed to be too sensitive to it or not. Even stressed discus appreciate some salt in their water. But definitely don't go overboard. When in doubt use less. You can easily add more later. And don't forget to rely on water changes to keep water quality up, in many cases that is all the fix you need.

 

[woofwoofgrrl]

It will tell you how far from pure it is. It is the most precise and most accurate way to measure how pure the water you are using is. This is important when trying to avoid certain issues. Again, it is not just GH and KH that matters, but that is all you get when testing GH and KH.

What types of things will knowing the purity of my water help me avoid? I'm an information addict, so fill me in!!

 

[Fishguy2727]

It really depends on what you are trying to do. In general, if you are using RO or RO/DI water it means you need pure water, as in NOTHING is in it. It won't even conduct electricity (TDS is measured with conductivity). This is most common in saltwater aquariums, especially reefs. If you use water that is not this pure you are adding harmful things right in to your tank with water changes and topoff water. The most common problem with this is algae from the nitrate and phosphate coming from your tap.

In some cases this is needed in freshwater as well. Many Amazonian fish prefer very soft water (very low TDS). Most tap water is far from this. So many discus keepers will use RO water to dilute or completely replace tap water for water changes. This gives them the lower TDS the fish thrive in.

Some tap water is so hard that it will end up holding at 8.2 or above. This is obviously not ideal for most freshwater fish. I have also heard of people who simply couldn't get their nitrate concentration to go down no matter what the water changes schedule. They never thought to check the tap's and when they did they found out it was 20ppm or more.

 

[Shadowraven]

However, IME cories and many of the other fish that are claimed to be too sensitive to it or not.

Can they tolerate salt. Yes, most of them can. But only in very low concentrations of no more than 1-1/2 teaspoons to 10 gallons of water. From what I've read, there are some species of Corydoras that can't even tolerate it at that level.

Dr. Innes stated that in studies performed to determine the salt tolerance of various aquarium fish, Corydoras were the first to succumb. It is best not to confuse inexperienced aquarists about this issue since they could potentially kill some fish. Hence I tell them to avoid salt treatments with Corydoras in the tank. They ARE salt sensitive and I have seen evidence of them being in distress when too much salt was added to a tank by me.

 

[woofwoofgrrl]

The reason I've been looking at RO water is that I keep freshwater fish, and my tap is insanely hard. I picked up the brochure from the water vending machine when I was at the store yesterday - it's a 4 stage filter - sediment filter, activated carbon filter, a reverse osmosis filter that says it reduces dissolved solids, and then ultra violet light. The intent is drinking water so perhaps they leave come dissolved solids in it for taste? Anyway, it's better than my tap which is really awful.

So for freshwater tanks, am I looking at a potential problem from an unbalance of salts because of the reduction in dissolved solids in the filtering system, or should I go ahead and use it since it's much better parameters than my tap?

Thank!

 

[Shadowraven]

TSo for freshwater tanks, am I looking at a potential problem from an unbalance of salts because of the reduction in dissolved solids in the filtering system, or should I go ahead and use it since it's much better parameters than my tap?

Thank!

Don't really know the answer to that, yet. I'll check around and let you know what I find out.

 

[Fishguy2727]

For what you are doing (reducing overall TDS and not necessarily eliminating it) use the filtered drinking water. I would start out by using at as part of your water change water, not the only water used for a water change. This will slowly lower the TDS and hardness so the fish aready in can acclimate. Keep checking your tank's water though until you find a happy medium. If you don't keep checking it you could soften it too much and create an unstable pH/KH.

 

[Shadowraven]

Do what fishguy has suggested and you should be OK.

Don't ever radically change your water parameters when fish are in the tank. You can shock them which could result in deaths or sickness. Always do it slowly and acclimate the fish to the changed environment.

Thought I had answer about the RO, but still looking. Some marine aquarists are using it and appear to like it. I've read there could be some problems. I'm trying to find a reliable source of information. Will get back with you.

 

[Shadowraven]

This what I got on RO water so far.

It appears that you should never use RO alone in your aquarium. RO water is too pure, containing none of the essential minerals that fish need and get from the water. In fact since pure water is a strong solvent it can actually leach these minerals FROM the fish if used exclusively. RO water also has no buffering capacity to stabilize pH. It should be mixed with tap water if you are filling a tank from scratch. You'd have to play with the mix to find out what would be right in each situation depending on tap water quality.

That doesn't mean that it has no place in the aquarium. It can be a good choice to look at when topping off a tank. Water lost through evaporation doesn't take anything with it, so those minerals etc. are left behind. When you use tap water you are essentially adding more of the solids to the water. The RO water doesn't add anything additional so is a good choice for this use.

That appears to be it's effects and the consensus about it's use.

 

[woofwoofgrrl]

Thanks everyone! This has been very informative and helpful!