I’ve been keeping fish for over a year now but only as a serious hobby since April this year. My test results are always good and never fluctuate drastically, that is apart from my No3 NitrAte results which is always very high, too high IMO. It comes out of the tap at around 20-40 and after a few days in the tank the water shows a vivid red colour when tested.
I’ve spoken to the guys at my LFS and they’ve suggested that I should invest in a RO unit. So this is my problem, I don’t know anything about them, how do they work? How long does it take and most importantly (In my house anyway) how much room would it take up?
Any help would be great!
Full Version: Reverse Osmosis
Tap water that has nitrates of 20-40ppm should not meet international water standards! You most definately should NOT be drinking it yourself. Man.............
RO..... There are types of filtration for water. Many involve passing the water through a carbon filter (the carbon does the same thing that it does in your filter - bind various polutants from the water. Others involve ion exchange - such as a "water softener".
The RO means that the water is passed through a membrane - this membrane is pourous only in one direction. The differencial concentrations on the two sides combined with the water pressure on the "goes-in-to" side will force the water through the membrane, leaving all the water inclusions (metals, minerals, etc) on the other side. What you get is water that has almost no mineral content ( Zero gH Zero kH) This makes for a perfect 7.0pH - but with no kH or buffer to hold it, it is a highly unstable pH.
If you are going to use RO water, you will need to ammend the water. You will need to add back in the minerals and the carbonates needed to put the gH and kH into the range for the fish. I amend my gH and kH both to 100ppm. This puts my pH to a stable 7.6. I have worked out a formula, use some of my well water in combination with the powdered minerals that are purchased. Even with the well water doing about 1/2 of the ammedments, I still spend a great deal of money for the mineral supplements. It is about $15. a month for those, plus shipping. The RO filter needs to be replaced at least once a year ( $79. @) and the two carbon and one micron filters need replacement about 3 times a year ($35 each change). Plumbing the unit and a larger storage tank (I have a 30 gal tank plus three 15 gallon tanks) was a challenge. I have to constantly test and monitor the well for it changes seasonally, and ammend my formula as needed. All water is run through the water softener, first to remove the majority of the minerals. This allows my membranes to stay working for an entire year.
The whole system needs daily back wash, cleaning and monitoring. I spend a lot of time and money on water - but then my well water is, for all intents and purposes, not potable!
Yours is not either. If this is tap water from a city supply, I would start by calling the city. A nitrate reading such as that is not healthy or acceptable. It should be looked into. HAving nitrates in your water usually means that there is a fertilized field somewhere along the water runoff - and the fertilizder is running into the watertable.... Perhaps all that is needed is a reminder to a farmer or a directional change to his field runoff.....
RO is a nice thing. RO alone will not work for fish.
RO..... There are types of filtration for water. Many involve passing the water through a carbon filter (the carbon does the same thing that it does in your filter - bind various polutants from the water. Others involve ion exchange - such as a "water softener".
The RO means that the water is passed through a membrane - this membrane is pourous only in one direction. The differencial concentrations on the two sides combined with the water pressure on the "goes-in-to" side will force the water through the membrane, leaving all the water inclusions (metals, minerals, etc) on the other side. What you get is water that has almost no mineral content ( Zero gH Zero kH) This makes for a perfect 7.0pH - but with no kH or buffer to hold it, it is a highly unstable pH.
If you are going to use RO water, you will need to ammend the water. You will need to add back in the minerals and the carbonates needed to put the gH and kH into the range for the fish. I amend my gH and kH both to 100ppm. This puts my pH to a stable 7.6. I have worked out a formula, use some of my well water in combination with the powdered minerals that are purchased. Even with the well water doing about 1/2 of the ammedments, I still spend a great deal of money for the mineral supplements. It is about $15. a month for those, plus shipping. The RO filter needs to be replaced at least once a year ( $79. @) and the two carbon and one micron filters need replacement about 3 times a year ($35 each change). Plumbing the unit and a larger storage tank (I have a 30 gal tank plus three 15 gallon tanks) was a challenge. I have to constantly test and monitor the well for it changes seasonally, and ammend my formula as needed. All water is run through the water softener, first to remove the majority of the minerals. This allows my membranes to stay working for an entire year.
The whole system needs daily back wash, cleaning and monitoring. I spend a lot of time and money on water - but then my well water is, for all intents and purposes, not potable!
Yours is not either. If this is tap water from a city supply, I would start by calling the city. A nitrate reading such as that is not healthy or acceptable. It should be looked into. HAving nitrates in your water usually means that there is a fertilized field somewhere along the water runoff - and the fertilizder is running into the watertable.... Perhaps all that is needed is a reminder to a farmer or a directional change to his field runoff.....
RO is a nice thing. RO alone will not work for fish.
In general this is used for saltwater tanks, goldfish dont need this at all 
Thanks for all in info guys. I don't think a RO unit is for me.
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.