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Re: RO water in planted aquaria



John Kleineberg wrote:

> When keeping a reef I only used RO water.  I'm now putting together a 75 gal
> planted Discus aquarium.  My RO filter of course eliminates nearly all
> minerals, additives, etc.
> Is RO water a good or bad choice for a planted aquarium... should some trace
> minerals be added to the water?

Bad.

It's an extra cost, an extra hassle, it must be reconstituted to add
back essential elements and unless the reconstitution is done correctly
there are many problems attributable to the RO water (just read through
the archives and see how many of the people reporting tough problems are
using RO water).  It's way better to use tap water and put your
left-over time and resources into watching your tanks and on other
enjoyable pursuits.

Almost all public water supplies provide water that is just fine for
growing plants; some private water supplies need treatment.  Also, some
public water supplies add chemicals (phosphates, for instance) that
complicate things.    In the specific case of phosphates, it's probably
better to use a phosphate-removing product rather than RO, which removes
most everything -- good and bad.  Unless you have some specific need to
treat your water you shouldn't think twice about using RO.  If you do
use RO, then brace yourself for problems.


Roger Miller