Water opinions?

[Moozillion]

Does anyone use RO (Reverse Osmosis) purified water to top up tanks?

 

[mark1]

i'm not familiar with ro water , if it's like distilled water , i don't think it's dangerous , but distilled water lacks minerals like calcium and potassium , distilled water pulls minerals from anything it touches, the consequences of that i don't know ....... was going to use it in an aquarium once until i looked into it , that was a long time ago , and ro water may be very different from distilled........

 

[Maro2Bear]

Seems to be fine to use as topping off as long as you are aware of the trade-offs.

Removes Healthy Minerals Present in Water and Decreases pH
Another disadvantage of reverse osmosis water filtration is that the effectiveness with which these systems filter water does not stop at only the bad contaminants. Reverse osmosis will also remove healthy minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium and other bicarbonates, as well as municipally-added fluoride which is good for teeth.

Additionally, by removing these minerals, the pH of the treated water decreases, making it more acidic.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/home-improvement/home/reverse-osmosis-water-pros-cons/

 

[jsheffield]

We have well water that tested as safe to drink, and tastes delicious, so I give it to my torts as well.

Jamie

 

[Tom]

Does anyone use RO (Reverse Osmosis) purified water to top up tanks?

For topping up water that has evaporated, you are replacing exactly what was lost. Should be fine. I wouldn't use it for water changes, or whole clean outs, but its great for topping off evaporation losses.

 

[mark1]

For topping up water that has evaporated, you are replacing exactly what was lost.

that is a good argument for actually doing just that .......those mineral deposits do build up , even on turtles shells .....

 

[Tom]

that is a good argument for actually doing just that .......those mineral deposits do build up , even on turtles shells .....

That is what we do with saltwater aquariums. As the water level drops due to evaporation, the minerals and salts become more concentrated. Adding back pure fresh water with no minerals in it restores those salt and mineral levels to exactly where they were/should be.

Many beginning salt-water aquarists replace that evaporated water with salt water, not realizing the problem they are causing. If they don't catch it when they check their salt level, their fish or inverts will eventually tell them.

 

[Moozillion]

For topping up water that has evaporated, you are replacing exactly what was lost. Should be fine. I wouldn't use it for water changes, or whole clean outs, but its great for topping off evaporation losses.

Thanks so much, Tom! I was hoping that was the case! 😃👍

 

[Moozillion]

Thanks everybody for your input!!! 😃👍❤️