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Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V3 #984
On Thu, 22 Apr 1999, AliceF wrote:
>
> I'm thinking of buying bottled water for my planted tank as I'm having so
> much trouble with my local water. When I asked the seller, they sent me the
> following description of the mineral content - vis a vis milligrams per liter
> Bicarbonate 22.0
> Chloride 5.1
> Flouride ND (None detectable)
> Nitrate 0.3
> Silica 7.3
> Sulfate 5.0
> Calcium 19.0
> Magnesium 1.2
> Potassium 0.4
> Sodium 3.0
> TDS (by meter) 38.0
> Total Dissolved Solids
>
> Total Hardness 16.0
> pH 6.5
It's fine drinking water. You'll need to add bicarbonate to boost the
alkalinity. You'll probably also need to add potassium and trace
elements. Magnesium is low, but probably sufficient.
I've seen analyses much like this on other commercial bottled water. I
suspect that they start with RO water and add a small concentration of
salts to give it a little taste. The salts are not balanced for plants.
You might be better off buying plain RO water, then reconstituting it with
a product sold for that purpose (RO Right, etc).
Roger Miller
In Albuquerque, where the hummingbirds have arrived