A good RODI filter that can screw directly onto most faucet heads will only set you back around $100 USD or less. But if your water comes out of the faucet with a high pH and high KH/GH, it is certainly worth using RODI water, which is essentially pure water that is created by forcing tap water through various semipermeable membranes. Either way, if your water is close to ideal right out of the faucet (minus chlorine/chloramine), there is no need for using RODI water. Another option is to obtain the water chemistry values from your municipality’s water department. In general, it is best to test your local tap water before adding it to your tank. Unfortunately, water priming products are often not able to remove all of these substances (another reason to use RO water if necessary). Dissolved cations present in tap water can increase water hardness. Again, trace metals such as copper can be extremely dangerous for shrimp. Dissolved silicates can encourage the growth of diatomaceous algae dissolved phosphates, often present in abundance in tap water, can contribute to algae growth in general. If tap water is used, it’s essential to use some sort of conditioning product.īeyond these potentially harmful substances, there are often other substances present in tap water that can result in suboptimal conditions for plant growth and livestock. It is for this reason that I use remineralized RODI (RODI stands for reverse-osmosis deionization) water, which I will explain in greater detail shortly. Simply leaving the water out in a bucket overnight (the idea is that chlorine in the tap water will evaporate) is not sufficient to remove all potentially toxic contaminants, most notably chloramine (increasingly used by municipal water departments) or dissolved heavy metals. Very frequently, this is caused by tap water that is not fully conditioned for use in an aquarium. Occasionally people will DM me on my Instagram account describing a scenario where fish and shrimp always seem stressed (or even die) after water changes.
#Planted fish tank hd free
In my tanks, the pH is generally 6.8-7, the GH is 4-6 dH, the KH is relatively low (my pH stays at a relatively stable value due to the presence of an acidic substrate and driftwood) the TDS is around 90-100 ppm (parts per million).Īt the most fundamental level, it’s important for water to be free of chlorine and other contaminants. Anecdotally, I have also noticed that if KH and GH get too high, certain filamentous algae varieties tend to thrive at a higher rate than normal.įinally, the TDS (total dissolved solids) is a measure of other dissolved substances in the water an especially high value can be a sign of poor water quality. In general, plants and most tropical fish/shrimp do best in a range of 4-8 dH (dH stands for ‘degree hardness’), which would be considered somewhat soft. GH is a measure of dissolved magnesium and calcium ions, and this is what people generally mean when they talk about “soft” or “hard” water.
A KH value lower than 4.5 dH necessitates monitoring the pH for swings if swings aren’t happening, I would not worry too much about it being low. These pH swings are primarily a problem if there is a low KH and CO2 is being intermittently injected into the water CO2 tends to temporarily make the water more acidic, and when the CO2 is turned off for the evening, the pH can swing wildly up to a higher level, stressing out the tank’s inhabitants. A high KH has no direct effect on fish health at normal levels, but some shrimp and plants that prefer acidic conditions do not like high KH levels, which can raise the pH. An oversimplification of the way this works is that the negatively charged carbonate wants to bind to the positively charged hydrogen ions (H+), resulting in a neutral charge and thus a net effect of stabilizing the pH through the reduction of free H+ ions. The KH is a measure of how well the water will resist swings in pH through the presence of a dissolved buffering element (carbonate). This measure is obtained by quantifying the number of hydrogen ions (H+) present in a given volume of water. The pH is a measure of how acidic the water is, with a lower pH being more acidic any pH within a range of 6.5-7.5 will be OK for most fish and plants. The main parameters that aquarists monitor are pH, GH, KH, and TDS, and each is super important! Here is my simple breakdown of what all mumbo jumbo actually means.
The way people talk about water parameters can be confusing, but an understanding of what makes “good water” in a planted tank is critical for maintaining a healthy aquascape. Just like we couldn’t survive breathing toxic air, plants and livestock will have a difficult time thriving in subpar water. Out of all the ingredients that go into a successful planted tank- lighting, filtration, substrate, fertilization hardscape among them - I would argue that the quality of the water used in the tank may be most important.
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