Should I be using RO water or Tap+De-Chlorinator

[EvanWells]

Hello, I just setup my planted tank. The cycling process has just begun today. I have some plants in there and rocks obviously. It will be a shrimp tank in a couple months. But should I don't know much about planted tanks. The guy at the mom & pop pet store told me that I should use RO water and some Excel, that he sold me. So should I definitely use RO + Excel, or should I use Tap water and Prime DeCholorinator + Excel? Thanks for any help!
Evan

 

[Exigenn]

I don't know a ton on the planted side but i think the RO/Tap water is more about the inhabitants. I believe tap water has some nutrients that plants use as well. Personally i always use tap water and i only ever had 1 plant not grow.

 

[Fresh2o]

I would not use RO without some type of re-mineralizer. Without proper buffers, the pH is prone to fluctuation.
What is GH, KH, and pH of your tap water? Unless your tap water is really off, I would go ahead use it.


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[EvanWells]

I would not use RO without some type of re-mineralizer. Without proper buffers, the pH is prone to fluctuation.
What is GH, KH, and pH of your tap water? Unless your tap water is really off, I would go ahead use it.


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I just ordered one of those Pens to measure those things. Can you tell me what numbers I should have, ideally? I know the pH is 7.3 usually.

 

[Bmurray86]

What worked best for me is using RO water to replace evaporated water only so the minerals do not get out of hand over time. I had a 45 gallon fresh water planted CO2 tank and I did a 5 gallon tap water change every week. Whenever the water would evaporate during the week I replaced it with RO water to keep things stable. This method worked well for growing dwarf hair grass because it was picky about the water. Also where you live makes a difference in what plants will thrive in your tank because the water has different or more/less minerals than other places. If you want to use just RO water you will have to supplement the the tank to replace all the minerals that were stripped out of it during the RO process. For me it's easier to just use tap water for water changes and RO water to replace evaporated water. Hope this helps.


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