o.k. I am confused about RO systems.

let me see if I've got it straight or not. you connect the r.o. unit to a
faucet or water source. from that you will have one hose running into a
receptacle and another running into a waste receptacle. You ??have to have
your water running 24 -7?? or else the life span of your filter is going to
decrease significantly. How much are filters anyway? and how often do they
need to be replaced on average? What do you do if you go away for a few
days (whose got room to house a receptacle that will hold 3 days of water)
or if you just don't feel like changing water that on a military schedule.
Furthermore it seems like these things waste a horrendous amount of h2o? I
keep discus and don't like how my tap water fluctuates.
I see that a lot of people use R.O. systems but it seems like
waaaaaaayyyyyyy to much trouble. I have got to be missing out on something.
There has got to be some tricks associated with these to make them easier.
I mean I am all for the labor of love but man! Please tell me that I have
got something wrong or am missing out on somthing? I like the idea of pure
h2o to work with but am not rich by any means, and also like to enjoy my
fish more than fooling with plumbing.

also if anyone has come up with a better way to do water changes I am sure
we'd all like to hear about them.

Ben C

"Ben" wrote in message
...
o.k. I am confused about RO systems.

let me see if I've got it straight or not. you connect the r.o. unit to a
faucet or water source. from that you will have one hose running into a
receptacle and another running into a waste receptacle. You ??have to have
your water running 24 -7?? or else the life span of your filter is going to
decrease significantly. How much are filters anyway? and how often do they
need to be replaced on average? What do you do if you go away for a few
days (whose got room to house a receptacle that will hold 3 days of water)
or if you just don't feel like changing water that on a military schedule.
Furthermore it seems like these things waste a horrendous amount of h2o? I
keep discus and don't like how my tap water fluctuates.
I see that a lot of people use R.O. systems but it seems like
waaaaaaayyyyyyy to much trouble. I have got to be missing out on something.
There has got to be some tricks associated with these to make them easier.
I mean I am all for the labor of love but man! Please tell me that I have
got something wrong or am missing out on somthing? I like the idea of pure
h2o to work with but am not rich by any means, and also like to enjoy my
fish more than fooling with plumbing.

also if anyone has come up with a better way to do water changes I am sure
we'd all like to hear about them.

Ben C




Hi Ben,

That sounds like a lot of work and a lot of water to pay for unless you don't
directly pay for it. I've never owned an RO unit so I cannot offer any help
there. I have had a Discus though for about 2 months now. I change about 10% of
water daily which I hope to decrease in the future when I get a more proper
filter for my 360L (90g) aquarium.

--
Marvin
hlavac (at) rogers (dot) com

Ben,

Some clarifications on RO:

1. It is an enduring myth that RO water is required to grow aquatic plants. In
fact, it makes growing plants more difficult. RO removes many of the nutrients
that aquatic plants require. In general, folks with hard water have an easier
time growing aquatic plants than folks with soft water.

2. Brewing a gallon of RO water creates 3-10 gallons of waste water, depending
on the system. Whether this goes down the drain, or into your garden is up to
you.

3. I have no idea what you are talking about when you say the system must run
24-7.

Summary: Don't get RO water for aquatic plants, unless you have a good reason
OTHER THAN THE PLANTS to do so!

In my case, I choose to have a sof****er tank for sof****er fish. This makes it
more difficult to grow aquatic plants, as described above.

The key here is that my tank is a FULLY planted DISCUS tank.

"Brian" wrote in message
05.46...
1. It is an enduring myth that RO water is required to grow aquatic
plants. In fact, it makes growing plants more difficult. RO removes
many of the nutrients that aquatic plants require. In general, folks
with hard water have an easier time growing aquatic plants than folks
with soft water.

In my case, I choose to have a sof****er tank for sof****er fish. This
makes it more difficult to grow aquatic plants, as described above.


You're right about RO water not being beneficial to growing aquatic
plants. However, I must disagree with your statement that it is more
difficult to grow aquatic plants in soft water. My tap water is soft (KH=
20ppm, GH=40ppm) and I have no problem growing plants. For my CO2 injected
tanks, I can increase my hardness by adding a perforated container of
crushed coral to the tank. I keep my KH at 50 ppm only to keep my pH in an
acceptable range (I keep mine at 6.8). IMHO, soft water is much easier to
adjust than hard water. However, I agree that someone with hard water
should not try to make their water soft by adding nutrient depleted RO
water to their tank.

Brian

--
Brian's Planted Aquaria
http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~jrevenn

Dave is right on the money, it is harder to grow plants in soft water
than in hard. RO is really only necessary when the tap water contains
high levels of nitrates, phosphates or if keeping soft water fish.

Lobos

Dave Millman wrote in message ...
Ben,

Some clarifications on RO:

1. It is an enduring myth that RO water is required to grow aquatic plants. In
fact, it makes growing plants more difficult. RO removes many of the nutrients
that aquatic plants require. In general, folks with hard water have an easier
time growing aquatic plants than folks with soft water.

2. Brewing a gallon of RO water creates 3-10 gallons of waste water, depending
on the system. Whether this goes down the drain, or into your garden is up to
you.

3. I have no idea what you are talking about when you say the system must run
24-7.

Summary: Don't get RO water for aquatic plants, unless you have a good reason
OTHER THAN THE PLANTS to do so!

In my case, I choose to have a sof****er tank for sof****er fish. This makes it
more difficult to grow aquatic plants, as described above.

"Ben" wrote in message ...
The key here is that my tank is a FULLY planted DISCUS tank.

I've had Discus in KH of 5/GH 9 tap water, things breed, fish are
fine. Temp's 82F.
If the tap is real hard(6-8KH and 10+ GH) and if breeding is a real
concern etc, RO should likely be used.
If neither the tap nor the breeding issues are a real concern, the
answer would be a resounding "no".
RO is not needed if you have moderately soft tap water(like the above
water I had). If all you want to do is breed Discus and feed them as
much as they can eat , then do that, have barebottom tanks etc/large
daily water changes etc.
If your goal is both, follow the advice that's be given. KH-3-5, GH
3-10.

Regards,
Tom Barr