RO whats your secret resipe

[Kory]

I have had in the past problems with my tap water and have been reading on using all RO water still haven't fully decided. I read a long article that said that said to use eather Wonder shells, or Seachem Replenish along with Seachem Acid buffer and Seachem Alkline Buffer in the proper ratio to get the PH where you wanted this would also buffer the water somewhat to avoid PH swings. Dose this sound about right. If you use stright RO whats your resipe.

The Tank Specs
55G
Reana XP4
Wavepoint 4x45 T5HO only run 2 bulbs
no CO2
I'm currently compleatly redoing this tank and it is currently empty trying the dry start methoed.

It will have German Blue Ram Pair
8 Oto's
15 Pygmy cory's
and 15 Chili rasbora's

At least that is the plan as of now I have some time as I plan on using a 20L quarntine and keep each group of fish for 6 weeks.

Thanks
Kory

[happi]

i use 100% RO, no KH buffering needed and there is no PH crashes, this is a old myth and many people still follow it. but it does not have any harm on plants or fishes. i only dose GH booster to bring the hardness around 2dgh.

i have german blue rams living under these condtions, happy and healthy and had fries many time from them, they would spawn every week and a half.

[Cthulhu]

I used RO/DI water for many years for my low tech 25g, I simply added SeachemEquilibrium.

I'm still wondering if I should use it for my 95g. If I do, I'll use GH Booster instead of Equilibrium.

[AaronT]

I agree, no KH buffering needed; especially with the species of fish you'll be keeping. Just add Seachem Equilibrium or your own mix to get the GH up to 4-5 degrees.

[Kory]

Something elses I was unclear of was is it required to use Prime or other decloranitor when using only RO? I always have jsut to be safe.

Kory

[dafil]

What are Kh & Gh in tap?
I have Kh=10 and Gh=13 in tap.
50/50 -RO/tap and I have no problems with apisto cacadue and rasbora`s
no need equilibrium or Gh booster

[AaronT]

You don't need to use dechlorinator if you use pure RO water.

[Momotaro]

My tap water is super hard. In the past, I used to mix RO with my hard tap water to bring the KH up to about 3.

It worked for me.

[Diana]

Pure RO does need a few minerals added, but not the complex recipe you are asking about.

GH (calcium and magnesium) = Seachem Equilibrium or Barr's GH Booster.
KH (carbonates, bicarbonates) = baking soda, or potassium bicarbonate
All other minerals = aquarium plant fertilizer: KNO3, KH2PO4, K2SO4, trace such as CSM+B

For the fish you list a very low level of minerals is just fine.
GH no higher than about 3 degrees is OK, unless the plants remove the calcium and magnesium so fast that the GH drops too much between adding it or water changes. You could add it with the other fertilizers in small amounts, if needed.
KH as low as 1 degree is fine. Nitrifying bacteria get their carbon from carbonates. Plants are the biggest nitrogen removers in a well planted tank, but I think it is a good idea to keep some bacteria happy, too.

I only use pH as a guide to see if things are stable, not as an absolute number in itself.

[AaronT]

In light of Diana's response I remembered this 'recipe'. http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/RO.htm

It's one of the best out there I think.

[Kory]

I tested my tap with a test strip (I know they can be inacurate but it was all I had my test kit went out of date years ago) and the gh was low 0 to 30 and the kh was off the chart high. I'm not sure what would cause that. That is part of why I was wanting to go all RO because When I use to test more regularly granted it was several years back it seemed that the tap wate would very week to week so I was looking for something more constiant that I could just get in a routine.

Kory

[AaronT]

If you have a place for a large storage vessel to mix the RO then definitely give it a try. Otherwise it's a bit of a pain to mix it in buckets; especially in those emergency water change situations.