Filtered Water

Hi I am contemplting in buying one of those filters that fit on the tap, I think they are about R300. Would this be a good idea so that i can use it to fill my tank?

 

Rather go buy yourself R 300 's worth of fish - I won't go for that option - My mother in laww sells purifiers on the side line and she tested the water from these gadgets the before and after are almost the same and it doesn't remove any heavy metals like a RO systym

 

Those systems basically pass the water through charcoal. You can but R20.00 worth of Activated Charcoal and put that into your fish filter, and get the same effect.

 

you know Zoom, those charcoal are also used in gas masks to purify the air, when dealing with smelly air and other gases...

 

hmm, i see, what about those reverse osmosis systems?

 

They are good.. but you never use 100% RO water with tropical tanks.

 

cool, thnx for all the input

 

why would you not use 100% RO water in tropical tanks?

i am still learning about RO systems

 

If you go for a planted tank, sometimes you need softer water... generally speaking SA has very soft water already, so you need to harden the water)... but on the rare ocasion where you want softer water, you would you a proportion of RO water to tap water. I believe RO water is more aimed for Marine tanks.

 

RO water is COMPLETELY stripped of EVERYTHING. do a search on the forum - its been talked about before.

 

Which is why I said is softend the water... something WE DO NOT NEED in most areas of SA, as our water actually needs to be HARDENED for plants.

 

correct

 

so tap water is whats best?? just add the required additives, hmm bit like petrol, all one and the same just with added additives

 

I use a simple cheap above the counter filter .3 micron filter / carbon block and UV light .... works great for plants and fish in JHB water. No RO slow filtering or additives (unless you count fish food and plant fertilizer).


When time comes to do water changes > 400 liters. I simply run a 10 mm clear pipe from the filter to the tanks. Not sure how affective the UV is after a 1.5 year use ... should probably look at replacing that ... the other filters are replaced every 8 - 14 months.

 

F-Fish... can I ask what purpose it is that you use filtered water for your tank?

 

My understanding is that this removes the NH2Cl (chloramine) in the tap water. I do not age the water or add any neutralizing products. I have also noticed that the few times that we had water disruptions and subsequent repairs non-filtered water was cloudy but the filtered water clear (probably the .3 micron filter?). UV light (if new) should be an effective viricide and bactericide.