John Lee Posted May 13, 2023 Share Posted May 13, 2023 Hello all, I have made the jump from salt to fresh water aquascape. I am using a sump with socks and a sponge. I am in week one of a three week dark start. I had an ATO setup for the salt tank but removed it thinking that I would just deal with the evaporation on my own. I now know the benefit I had with the ATO and am thinking on re-adding it back. Here are my questions and I hope you can help..... Currently I am using R/O, to replenish the evaporated water during the dark start. Therefore I am not adding any additional dechlorinater(Fritz). I really want to dose as little as possible so I am thinking I should veer away from R/O and use treated tap water either manually or reinstate my ATO system. Thoughts? If I reinstate the ATO, which I am leaning strongly towards and decide to stay with the R/O water, what is the best way to dose properly the correct "additives" to maintain a healthy planted tank. Otherwise I can just use the ATO w/treated water and stay focused on the major things like ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. Perhaps since I am just getting started, its best to stay with the treated water for now? I appreciate in advance any wisdom you can share. Thanks John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted May 13, 2023 Share Posted May 13, 2023 Mineralizing in fresh water is super easy and infinitely cheaper than salt water. Depending on live stock of course, at max you'll need 3 things. They are Ca, Mg and a carbonate source. You can choose not to run carbonates but make sure the live stock aren't something like African Cichlids or Endlers. Those type of fish will be more comfortable in a higher pH ranges. As far as plants go, NPK and Micros. You can do simple all in one fertilizers or dry fertilizer. Dry fertilizer is much much cheaper and is pretty simple to use. That's all you need. You can choose these all in one mineralizing products but they are a rip off and add unnecessary TDS to the system. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennie Posted May 13, 2023 Share Posted May 13, 2023 Def RO water if it does not bother you to do some calculations and try to match the same parameters all the time. I use RO in my small tanks and I believe it is better because it is impossible to know everything we have in the tap. Also in my experience, shrimp and fish do better in RO water as you can match the ideal parameters easily. However I am too lazy to stock RO for my biggest tank so I just go by tap there. Does it have a negative impact on fish? I don't think so. But I still believe RO is a better choice. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Vercetti Posted May 13, 2023 Share Posted May 13, 2023 I vote for RO water top offs and treated tap water for the water changes. Assuming that your tap water parameters are relatively stable, my logic is this: evaporated water leaves behind it's minerals. An auto top off with RO water will keep parameters stable. This is how I avoid the slow onset of aquarium mineral content creeping up over time. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Lee Posted May 13, 2023 Author Share Posted May 13, 2023 I forgot to mention that my TDS meter says it is 172 for untreated(tap) water. R/O of course is zero or very close to it. According to my chart, 172 is considered moderately hard. According to the my cities zip code the water hardness is 94ppm. Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted May 13, 2023 Share Posted May 13, 2023 (edited) That's not terrible. If you can get the Ca and Mg of the tap water, you might just be able to use tap. I run my tanks around 185. That's 5.2dGH 0dKH and 30ppm NO3, 7ppm PO4 and 31ppm K. Micros to .45 Fe. When I get home, I'll double check the TDS to verify. Haven't looked in a while. Edited May 13, 2023 by Mmiller2001 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Lee Posted May 14, 2023 Author Share Posted May 14, 2023 MMiller2001, the average level for my area regarding calcium is 27.0ppm and magnesium is 3.99ppm. BTW, I copied your document for algae prevention as I am sure eventually that will be helpful. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted May 14, 2023 Share Posted May 14, 2023 On 5/14/2023 at 8:02 AM, John Lee said: MMiller2001, the average level for my area regarding calcium is 27.0ppm and magnesium is 3.99ppm. BTW, I copied your document for algae prevention as I am sure eventually that will be helpful. Thanks Wow, I think you could just go tap. Add 4ppm Mg and you'll have a 3:1 Ca:Mg GH. What's the KH of the tap water? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Lee Posted May 14, 2023 Author Share Posted May 14, 2023 On 5/14/2023 at 9:11 AM, Mmiller2001 said: Wow, I think you could just go tap. Add 4ppm Mg and you'll have a 3:1 Ca:Mg GH. What's the KH of the tap water? Well, if KH equals alkalinity then it's 87.1ppm. On 5/14/2023 at 9:17 AM, John Lee said: Well, if KH equals alkalinity then it's 87.1ppm. Sorry, it's carbonate hardness....not sure on this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted May 14, 2023 Share Posted May 14, 2023 On 5/14/2023 at 8:17 AM, John Lee said: Well, if KH equals alkalinity then it's 87.1ppm. That's not bad. Honestly, if you wanted keep things easy, tap water is definitely an option. I personally use RODI because I want absolute control, and I can exclude my water from being a source of unknown factors. The only issue you would need to manage is the micro chelate. Here's my tank TDS 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Lee Posted May 14, 2023 Author Share Posted May 14, 2023 On 5/14/2023 at 9:26 AM, Mmiller2001 said: That's not bad. Honestly, if you wanted keep things easy, tap water is definitely an option. I personally use RODI because I want absolute control, and I can exclude my water from being a source of unknown factors. The only issue you would need to manage is the micro chelate. Here's my tank TDS If you are controlling your water then that is pretty darn good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Lee Posted May 14, 2023 Author Share Posted May 14, 2023 On 5/14/2023 at 9:26 AM, Mmiller2001 said: That's not bad. Honestly, if you wanted keep things easy, tap water is definitely an option. I personally use RODI because I want absolute control, and I can exclude my water from being a source of unknown factors. The only issue you would need to manage is the micro chelate. Here's my tank TDS If you are controlling your water then that is pretty darn good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted May 14, 2023 Share Posted May 14, 2023 On 5/14/2023 at 9:31 AM, John Lee said: If you are controlling your water then that is pretty darn good. It's pretty easy to do. The worst part is filling the storage with RO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Lee Posted May 14, 2023 Author Share Posted May 14, 2023 On 5/14/2023 at 10:41 AM, Mmiller2001 said: It's pretty easy to do. The worst part is filling the storage with RO. Alright then, I still need to tighten up on my cable management and I have lost the extra storage space I was hoping to gain without it, but the ATO is back up and running with treated tap. At least water level won't be a concern. I hope this strategy works out as making RO is more costly per gallon and slower to make with my setup. Finishing week one of the dark start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted May 14, 2023 Share Posted May 14, 2023 The ATO water is ideally 0 TDS water. You can use tap if you keep up on larger water changes to keep TDS as smooth as possible. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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