I find myself going the store once a week (been doing this for 6 months now), lugging heavy jugs around etc. The fish really seem to do well with the RO water and my tap water has fairly high nitrates. But am I wasting my time/effort of should I keep doing it?
RO water ... is it worth it?
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rreekers
Aquarium Advice FINatic
maybe do partial RO. maybe 50/50
Supra
Aquarium Advice Freak
I wouldn't risk it
Supra
Oops thought you were talking bout saltwater
Supra
Oops thought you were talking bout saltwater
Penncentralfan
Aquarium Advice Regular
With freshwater you don't need RO. I'd let the water sit in buckets for a few days and treat with any conditioner and you'll be fine. You only need to do about 10-20 percent water changes so tap water will be fine.
MrPillow
Aquarium Advice Freak
Most members here recommend (and a number actually practice...) 50% weekly changes. Depending on stocking level, 10-20% is not adequate and theres never any harm in doing a larger change than "necessary". The cleaner your water, the healthier the fish. Period.
librarygirl
Look It Up
Are you using 100% RO water? Are you adding back the minerals with something like Seachem Replenish or RO Rite? If not you need to. RO water is basically distilled water, which is not only stripped of toxins but minerals too and fish need minerals. 
How high are your tap water's nitrates exactly? It's possible they aren't as high as you think or you could do half RO water and half tap water; that would at least add trace minerals to the water without having to add them in. If you change water sources though do it slowly with a few small water changes so as not to shock the fish.
How high are your tap water's nitrates exactly? It's possible they aren't as high as you think or you could do half RO water and half tap water; that would at least add trace minerals to the water without having to add them in. If you change water sources though do it slowly with a few small water changes so as not to shock the fish.
Phranque
Aquarium Advice Addict
Ever thought of buying your own RO unit?? With what you've spent on RO water, you could have likely bought one already, not to mention the gas prices to get there & back weekly.
Also, you definitely do not want to use straight RO water for your changes. Not only do the fish need some of the nutrients, the water itself needs them to maintain stability. RO removes everything from the water, including KH (carbonate hardness) which buffers the pH. If you have 0 KH, you run the serious risk of a pH crash where just about everything in your tank will meet a rather speedy demise. You either need to replentish with something like "RO Right" or blend with tap water. My tap water is KH of about 18, so I blend roughly 25% tap / 75% RO to maintain a KH of about 4.5 to 5, which keeps a pH of 7.4 to 7.8.
Also, you definitely do not want to use straight RO water for your changes. Not only do the fish need some of the nutrients, the water itself needs them to maintain stability. RO removes everything from the water, including KH (carbonate hardness) which buffers the pH. If you have 0 KH, you run the serious risk of a pH crash where just about everything in your tank will meet a rather speedy demise. You either need to replentish with something like "RO Right" or blend with tap water. My tap water is KH of about 18, so I blend roughly 25% tap / 75% RO to maintain a KH of about 4.5 to 5, which keeps a pH of 7.4 to 7.8.
Penncentralfan
Aquarium Advice Regular
I know that there are people who are completely opposed to my advice, but in a cycled settled tank as long as your ammonia, and nitrite levels are zero the main purpose of water changes is to keep nitrate levels down. I know this is old school thinking, but weekly 10-20 percent water changes using a gravel vacuum will keep nitrate levels acceptable and most importantly not introduce violent changes in the water chemistry.
Treated tap water is fine if you keep water changes down to 10-20 percent. In all honesty 50 percent water changes weekly for a tank above 20 gallons gets to be a chore and increasingly harder and harder to maintain and drains the fun out of the hobby. Yes I'm old school, but as long as you do routine maintenance like changing filter media and cleaning the glass and decorations when needed you're fine.
Treated tap water is fine if you keep water changes down to 10-20 percent. In all honesty 50 percent water changes weekly for a tank above 20 gallons gets to be a chore and increasingly harder and harder to maintain and drains the fun out of the hobby. Yes I'm old school, but as long as you do routine maintenance like changing filter media and cleaning the glass and decorations when needed you're fine.
MrPillow
Aquarium Advice Freak
You should only change filter media as rarely as possible. Use it until it is literally falling apart - rinse it weekly in dechlorinated water and stick it back in the filter. The only thing changing media often will do is keep your BB on the fritz, and run up a nice income for the filter company.
Nitrate elimination isn't the only purpose of water changes. Over time, due to evaporation, minerals, organics, and other chemicals build up in the water column and become increasingly concentrated. If you do it properly, large water changes have little to no risk of "violent changes in water chemistry", and can ONLY increase the health of your system by maintaining an overall lower level of all toxins. If you have heavy stocking, or many other situations present in your tank, 10-20% weekly is often not enough. It may be enough in the sense that you stay slightly below the recommended level of toxins, but you can always do better. Too much trouble changing water? Buy a Python, or Aqeuon water changer!
Nitrate elimination isn't the only purpose of water changes. Over time, due to evaporation, minerals, organics, and other chemicals build up in the water column and become increasingly concentrated. If you do it properly, large water changes have little to no risk of "violent changes in water chemistry", and can ONLY increase the health of your system by maintaining an overall lower level of all toxins. If you have heavy stocking, or many other situations present in your tank, 10-20% weekly is often not enough. It may be enough in the sense that you stay slightly below the recommended level of toxins, but you can always do better. Too much trouble changing water? Buy a Python, or Aqeuon water changer!
aqua_chem
Aquarium Advice Addict
Ever since python-type water changers entered the scene, large water changes are basically trivial compared to before. The only difference between a 20% water change on a 50g tank and a 20% water change is about ten minutes, more or less.
+1
50% pwc highly recommended on every FW/BW system.
I'm changing the water for my 120g by sitting on the couch. I lift buckets when I feel like I'm not getting enough exercise
Then you could use fast-growing plants to absorb some of the nitrates, but there's nothing wrong with using RO water.
Are you using 100% RO water? Are you adding back the minerals with something like Seachem Replenish or RO Rite? If not you need to. RO water is basically distilled water, which is not only stripped of toxins but minerals too and fish need minerals.
How high are your tap water's nitrates exactly? It's possible they aren't as high as you think or you could do half RO water and half tap water; that would at least add trace minerals to the water without having to add them in. If you change water sources though do it slowly with a few small water changes so as not to shock the fish.
my tap water's nitrates are about 20 ppm and the ammonia is zero or close to zero. I did add the 'RO Right' today as well.
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