Seems like whenever I add water to my tank I get a egg / sulfur smell coming from my tank - If I use spring water from the store I don't get any smell from the tank... Spring water is adding up in price so I was wondering about reverse osmosis to top off my tank? I was looking at a Whirlpool osmosis kit for home drinking water, but would this suffice for my aquarium? Is there a difference between a home drinking water osmosis kit as opposed to an aquarium kit? I was also looking at the AP tap water filter kit to do my top offs, but it looks like an RO unit would be more powerful...thoughts?
Reverse Osmosis unit? Tap water questions..
- Thread starter zzzzzxx
- Start date
Does your tap water have this smell?
I agree that the smell can be the water conditioner. However, it shouldn't be noticable after a few hours.
You also need to do water changes, not just 'top offs' as others pointed out. If you do use RO water, you will need to add minerals back to the water to make it safe for your fish. Straight RO water is far too acidic alone.
Cost is a big factor in both the initial purchase of an RO system, as well as the filters and membranes that must be replaced. Every unit filters the water to varying degrees, and how often you will need to replace those parts depends on how much RO water you make, and how 'hard' your water is to start with.
I have a 'portable' unit, since I don't own the house I currently live in and take it camping too. I get about 5 gallons of waste water for every gallon of RO water, so that, also, is an increase in cost on your water bill if you have one. Water pressure must be high to use the units, to force the water thru the membranes. My TDS (total dissolved solids) of tap water is 270ish normally. After processed through the RO system, its 6-7.
I agree that the smell can be the water conditioner. However, it shouldn't be noticable after a few hours.
You also need to do water changes, not just 'top offs' as others pointed out. If you do use RO water, you will need to add minerals back to the water to make it safe for your fish. Straight RO water is far too acidic alone.
Cost is a big factor in both the initial purchase of an RO system, as well as the filters and membranes that must be replaced. Every unit filters the water to varying degrees, and how often you will need to replace those parts depends on how much RO water you make, and how 'hard' your water is to start with.
I have a 'portable' unit, since I don't own the house I currently live in and take it camping too. I get about 5 gallons of waste water for every gallon of RO water, so that, also, is an increase in cost on your water bill if you have one. Water pressure must be high to use the units, to force the water thru the membranes. My TDS (total dissolved solids) of tap water is 270ish normally. After processed through the RO system, its 6-7.
Last edited: