Right now I have a freshwater aquarium with danios, rams, and plants. It has been set up for about 3 months and has been cycled. The water is very hard, alkaline and high ph. I want to soften it by doing a partial water change with r/o water. Is this safe? I read somewhere that the fish and plants need some of the nutrients in "normal" water and I'm afraid that by changing the water with r/o water it could strip all of the good stuff from my water and leave the fish and plants with not enough nutrients. Any help will be much appreciated.
how do I soften water using r/o water
- Thread starter schoch79
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When switching water types, you need to know that plants will re-adjust as well. Plants will acclimate to their new enviornment, so they may die off, but once acclimated, they will be fine.
I would use 80-90% RO and 20-10% tap. This should provide enough calcium and magnesium. Fish may re-acclimate, but they tend to fare better than plants do.
I would use 80-90% RO and 20-10% tap. This should provide enough calcium and magnesium. Fish may re-acclimate, but they tend to fare better than plants do.
My tap water runs at a ph of about 8.5+ and extremely hard. I experimented mixing ratios with r/o water and testing until I found the ideal mixture. I brought my 55 down to that level gradually and didn't lose a single fish or plant. If your fish are healthy now, I would recommend changing the levels gradually over 3-5 days at least for the best results.