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What Water To Use?

Fireman77

Fireman77

Member
Joined
24 May 2024
Messages
43
Location
Exeter, Devon
Just a week ago I set up and planted my first aquascape. The tank is 30cm square and at the moment is plants only. When I first filled the tank I used tap water without any dechlorinator as I did not have any at the time. The tank has been sitting since last Monday so I assume that it would benefit from a water change. I now have a bottle of Seachem Prime so I can add that to the any tap water I use. But what I would like to know is can I use RO water? I have some in store for my reef tank. If I can what additive products I would need to add to the RO water? Also, can rainwater from my garden water butt be used in aquascapes?
 
Fireman77 said:
Just a week ago I set up and planted my first aquascape. The tank is 30cm square and at the moment is plants only. When I first filled the tank I used tap water without any dechlorinator as I did not have any at the time of
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You don't need a dechlorinator if you don't have any livestock.
Fireman77 said:
But what I would like to know is can I use RO water? I have some in store for my reef tank. If I can what additive products I would need to add to the RO water?
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You can, there are commercial products you can buy, but you can DIY your own custom mix very easily. If you have hard, alkaline tap water? You can use a splash of that.
Fireman77 said:
Also, can rainwater from my garden water butt be used in aquascapes?
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A lot of us, who have hard tap water, use rainwater. I've been a rainwater user since the 1970s without any issues.

Cheers Darrel
 
Thank you Darrel for the information. Very helpful. One more question. The tank has been sitting for a week now. Should I have completed some water changes? Or when should I do the first water change and by what percentage?
 
Thanks to Darrel I use mostly Rainwater in my 60L and 37L Nano’s and I get very good plant growth, albeit easy to grow species from Tropica plus Moss. I only add DIY fertiliser once in a while. No CO2 and only a Sand substrate.

The 60L is a bit overgrown at the moment.

IMG_0524.jpeg
 
Hi all
MrClockOff said:
Hi there, I believe @dw1305 meant to say you don’t need dechlorinator at start but you will need one when you keep using tap water so your filter can build up beneficial bacteria.
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I'm not a tap water user, but if I was? I'd use a dechlorinator. I let the water I use stand for a while (to warm up), but that would also outgas chlorine. I'm less worried about chloramine, purely because the plants will mop up the ammonia.

Having said that, I honestly don't think it matters. If we had more heavily chlorinated supply, or were entirely reliant on the filter microbes, then it would.

Cheers Darrel
 
dw1305 said:
Hi all

I'm not a tap water user, but if I was? I'd use a dechlorinator. I let the water I use stand for a while (to warm up), but that would also outgas chlorine. I'm less worried about chloramine, purely because the plants will mop up the ammonia.

Having said that, I honestly don't think it matters. If we had more heavily chlorinated supply, or were entirely reliant on the filter microbes, then it would.

Cheers Darrel
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That is so surprising to me! How little chlorine are you dealing with? My city reports 1 ppm, so that's my frame of reference.
 
dw1305 said:
You can, there are commercial products you can buy, but you can DIY your own custom mix very easily. If you have hard, alkaline tap water? You can use a splash of that.
Click to expand...
I would also, esp if you have RO water at hand and a smallish tank, easier to add a little than to take something out of the water. Hard water makes growing plants more tricky
 
Hi all,
ElleDee said:
That is so surprising to me! How little chlorine are you dealing with? My city reports 1 ppm, so that's my frame of reference.
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The maximum in UK tap water is 0.5 ppm, that is the level that chlorine (Cl2) becomes detectable at by smell and taste.

The water companies can exceed this in "exceptional circumstances" to protect public safety.

Unfortunately our water companies and OFWAT (the Independent regulator) are <"no longer really distinguishable">, with senior management from the water companies transferring to OFWAT, in a relationship that could best be likened to the Mafia and the <"Jimmy Hoffa led Teamster Union">, the major difference being the Mafia had a <"greater sense of moral compass">.

Cheers Darrel
 
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Zeus. said:
I would also, esp if you have RO water at hand and a smallish tank, easier to add a little than to take something out of the water. Hard water makes growing plants more tricky
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Hello. Thank you. Could you explain to a beginner what ESP is?
 
Fireman77 said:
Especially! Thank you. I assume this text speak? I am 75 years and not a fan of texting. Not everyone will understand when texting terms are used especially when used in emails and forum posts. Could we please leave these terms to the use of mobile phones. 😁
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I will stick to what's in the Colin's English dictionary ;) so no change as its a standard abbreviation :D. Not a big fan of texting either myself.
 
Zeus. said:
I will stick to what's in the Colin's English dictionary ;) so no change as its a standard abbreviation :D. Not a big fan of texting either myself.
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Well I have learnt something there! They say you are never too old to learn. Well, I have always agreed with that. In my 75 years I did not know that ESP was an abbreviation. The reason I asked what ESP meant was because I thought it was short for something to do with aquascaping. This example is one of the great things about forums. Not that I'm learning about aquascaping I'm also learning things about the written English language! Anyone got a copy of the Colin's English Dictionary they don't want? :lol::lol::lol::lol:
 
dw1305 said:
You don't need a dechlorinator if you don't have any livestock.

You can, there are commercial products you can buy, but you can DIY your own custom mix very easily. If you have hard, alkaline tap water? You can use a splash of that.

A lot of us, who have hard tap water, use rainwater. I've been a rainwater user since the 1970s without any issues.

Cheers Darrel
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Hi.
Really interesting this one and brings up a few questions that could possibly be asked in another thread?

If you used a mix of Rain and Tap Water, would that have to be precisely mixed each week on a water change. Could it effect the tank if it fluctuated, like in the summer when it never ever ever rains!!?

Would Rain Water have a lower PH, which is said to be more of an ideal condition for growing plants, lets say compared to Surrey where i live?

What is the best way to collect and do you filter it in some way?

Too many questions maybe!

Si
 
si walker said:
If you used a mix of Rain and Tap Water, would that have to be precisely mixed each week on a water change. Could it effect the tank if it fluctuated, like in the summer when it never ever ever rains!!?
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If its approximately the same Volumes of each the parameters will remain reasonably constant.

Tap water does vary its parameters over the seasons also, eg. Nitrates go up if water source is near farming land as the farmer fertilise the land, water companies blend the water also to meet standards, they also have other means of hitting the guidelines.

Tap water mixed with rain water will fluctuate less than tap water alone IMO

So the only way to have constant parameters is to use RO water and remineralize it, after a visit to Green Aqua their tanks are at another level than showrooms that use tap water
 
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