murph3400
Aquarium Advice Activist
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2017
- Messages
- 111
Is R/O water absolutely necessary for initial set up and water changes?
Any suggestion on how to test my tap water??
So water test. No nitrites or nitrates. No chlorine. PH 8.0 hardness approx 250.Test for gH(hardness), kH and pH. You can either buy test kits or have someone test it for you.
Many fish stores will do these tests for free if you have one in your area.
So I guess I will test the tap water. Looking for hardness I guess right?
So water test. No nitrites or nitrates. No chlorine. PH 8.0 hardness approx 250.
Dwarf cichlids preferrably RamsThat is decently hard and alkaline. What kind of fish were you planning on keeping?
Thank you my gh converts to like 14Rams prefer softer water..
I raise my rams in my tap which is 7.6pH , 2-3 kh , 9 gh. With an average TDS of 360..
I think TDS is a better measurement of water then all the others and basically a necessity if you are going to mix ro and tap together.
Get a HM3 TDS pen.It is the better of pens out there..
https://www.amazon.com/HM-Digital-T...8&qid=1501964300&sr=8-3&keywords=tds+meter+hm
I think you might find it cheaper , but don't accept substitutes...
I have American Water co on Long Island NY. I believe they draw from wellsI'm with bandit, tds will tell you everything and nothing at the same time! 700tds? There's a whole.bunch of something in your tap water. You'll have to to test down the line to figure it out. Here's a tip I picked up in my new water source (town). Find out where they get the water, if you live by a huge river system they may actually pull it directly from the river. If the highway dept. Dumps 800,837,756 lbs of salt on the road every winter than a high tds May indicate salt in your tap water, not so great for soft water cichlids and plants... city water was way better ime
Big question is there a way to soften the water without removing all minerals like R/O or will I need to mix R/O with tap??I'm with bandit, tds will tell you everything and nothing at the same time! 700tds? There's a whole.bunch of something in your tap water. You'll have to to test down the line to figure it out. Here's a tip I picked up in my new water source (town). Find out where they get the water, if you live by a huge river system they may actually pull it directly from the river. If the highway dept. Dumps 800,837,756 lbs of salt on the road every winter than a high tds May indicate salt in your tap water, not so great for soft water cichlids and plants... city water was way better ime
Sorry to sound stupid but remin and equalibrium I assume are supplementsCut it, I cut it 70/30 with tap most of the time, winters months I use mostly ro and remin with equilibrium
So my tds reading is about 170I'm with bandit, tds will tell you everything and nothing at the same time! 700tds? There's a whole.bunch of something in your tap water. You'll have to to test down the line to figure it out. Here's a tip I picked up in my new water source (town). Find out where they get the water, if you live by a huge river system they may actually pull it directly from the river. If the highway dept. Dumps 800,837,756 lbs of salt on the road every winter than a high tds May indicate salt in your tap water, not so great for soft water cichlids and plants... city water was way better ime