How to use RO water in planted tank

[Mijo51380]

Hi all I just got my RO how would I use it in a planted tank what do I have to do?

 

[Rivercats]

Why are you need to use RO? You have to be very consistent when using it and should have a test kit for Gh, Kh, and Ph.

RO can be used two ways... first it can be used to cut tap water to lower kh, gh, ph, ammonia, phosphates, etc., levels in tap water. Or it can be used as the sole water source which means it will have to be remineralized with Seachem Equilibrium for planted tanks.

 

[Mijo51380]

I want to use it because my water is super hard

 

[jetajockey]

As mentioned, just use it to cut the hardness of your tap water. You'll have to play with it to figure out how much to use to get it where you want it.

 

[Mijo51380]

With my water being hard should I switch to RO slowly so I don't kill any fish

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

How hard are we taking? I have liquid rock tap water and my plants and fish do fine. I only use remineralized RO for my shrimp tank because the shrimp are sensitive to high TDS, GH/KH, and pH. Otherwise, I don't bother.

 

[Coursair]

With my water being hard should I switch to RO slowly so I don't kill any fish

You can't use straight RO without remineralizing...it's too pure for plants.

I use part tap/part distilled to lower PH and TDS for Shrimp.


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[Sk3lly]

With my water being hard should I switch to RO slowly so I don't kill any fish

If you are going to use it, slowly introduce the RO over a number of weeks. Too much too soon and you may change the water chemistry to fast and kill your fish.

I bought myself a RODI machine because of the exact problems you have. Its taken me 6 weeks and my tank water is still not where i want it to be. GH and KH values are lowering nicely though. Oh and i cut mine with my tap water. Currently 3 parts RODI for 1 part tap. I dont know if this will be my final ratio until i see my GH and KH drop begin to level out at the readings i want. Constant testing and recording is what im doing

 

[Sk3lly]

I should say that for the first 2 weeks i used 1 part RODI to 3 parts tap on my water change.
The next 3 weeks i used 2 parts RODI to 2 parts tap
Last week i used 3 parts RODI to 1 part tap. This is the ratio im hoping to stick with

 

[Grumble69]

I tested my gh & kh with 100% tap, 75% tap/25% ro, 50% tap/50% ro, and 25%tap/75%ro. Once I figured out where I wanted to be, I just did my partial weekly water changes with 100% ro. After a few weeks, my tank was where I wanted it to be and I started doing my water changes with the mix of tap & ro.