Tap water vs. RO

[DeepAsHadal]

Would reverse osmosis be preferred to tap water?

I know it requires to remineralize or maybe mixing with the tap. But after all the water conditioners and hassle needed to treat the tap water I wonder if it would be worth it? I want to keep a 10-20 gallon betta tank, and would probably drink it myself...

I tested my tap with an API kit, 3ppm ammonia, 0 nitrites and nitrates. The PH measured 8.6. I don't have a hardness tester but these are averages posted in the city's water report.

Alkalinity (as CaCO3) - 73 mg/L
pH - 8.7 (SU)
Calcium (as Ca) - 30 mg/L
Magnesium (as Mg) - 14 mg/L
Sodium (as Na) - 27 mg/L
Sulfate - 61 mg/L
Bicarbonate (as CaCO3) - 71 mg/L
Chloride - 37 mg/L
Hardness (as CaCO3) - 130 mg/L (7.6 grains/gallon)

Thanks for reading.

 

[Brookster123]

Drink the ro?? Not good for you. I'm not saying you're crazy but you'd be crazy to set up ro for a domestic betta. Ro is kind of a pain in the butt.

 

[SaraB]

Drink the ro?? Not good for you.

Some people have RO systems in there houses because it's safer than the tap water to drink. Not sure what you think RO water is.

Regular tap water is fine for bettas. Your dechlorinator (like prime) takes out all the bad stuff. If you don't trust yours then try testing it first to see what's all in it after using the dechlorinator.

Side note: RO is usually just used for saltwater tanks.

 

[Brookster123]

Some people have RO systems in there houses because it's safer than the tap water to drink. Not sure what you think RO water is.

Regular tap water is fine for bettas. Your dechlorinator (like prime) takes out all the bad stuff. If you don't trust yours then try testing it first to see what's all in it after using the dechlorinator.

Side note: RO is usually just used for saltwater tanks.

Its just water, no minerals, better off drinking spring water, I understand needing one in place if you have horrible tap water.

 

[SaraB]

Oh no that's not what you said. You said it was "crazy" as if it was some sort of poison.

 

[Brookster123]

Oh no that's not what you said. You said it was "crazy" as if it was some sort of poison.

I said "you'd be crazy to set up ro for a domestic betta". Its right up there ^^^^.

 

[ZxC]

Optimizing water quality for any size tank is not crazy....

I do it for little 5 gallons...

 

[TMaier]

Our tap water is very inconsistent. PH and Ammonia are very high. Personally I don’t like the city pumping me up with chem’s. Fluoride, chlorine, chloramine etc. I drink RO, we remineralize it for ourselves. The ph is still a little high from the carbon.

I use DI that I remineralize for the tanks.

 

[Brookster123]

Our tap water is very inconsistent. PH and Ammonia are very high. Personally I don’t like the city pumping me up with chem’s. Fluoride, chlorine, chloramine etc. I drink RO, we remineralize it for ourselves. The ph is still a little high from the carbon.

I use DI that I remineralize for the tanks.

I dont drink my tap unfiltered either. It's from the Charles river. Farm runoff has it constantly changing. I do keep all types of sa cichlids and discus, brackish puffers, they get the tap, stopped using the ro for anything but my reef tank.