can somebody explain ro water etc to me please (confused)

[liamb]

well im looking into geting groups of plecos to breed hopefully. but read that most plecos wont breed unless have RO water or that it helps them alot? but tried reading about it but confusing to me :lol:. can anyb:loldy explain it all to me in a duggy way lol that will be easier?
what is RO water?
why does it help?
how do i go about geting some?
will plecos breed without it?
basically the groups im looking into getting are any of these or a few of these-
l201
l333
l134
l183
and some bristlenose
will these need it to breed?
thanks liam

 

[D-MAC]

R/O water is water that has been passed through a semi impermeable membrane that only allows water in its purest form through...99% of minerals and other toxic items are held back and flushed away to waste...R/O in its pure form is not good for fish as it is, so you can mix it with additives like "R/O Right" which depending on how much is added replaces the essential minerals that is needed for each particular fish...Some mix 50/50 R/O and tap water...This is not my prefered way as I don't see the point of removing all the crap just to put back 50% back in.
Some shops sell R/o water as they have more than they need...Just check with your local fish shop.

 

[Joby]

In a nutshall RO will bring your PH to netural and soften and cleanse your water. You really need to find out what yours is like from the tap first. I had a friend in Sheffield and his water was like it had come out of an RO straight from the tap the lucky thing.

Mine here in Wolverhampton was rock hard and PH was high so although my fish spawned the fry had trouble breaking out of the egg shells. Now I use RO and HMA together I've had 100% hatch rate :thumbup:

So test your water and depending on the results and which fish you would like to keep depends on if you need to use RO :thumbup:

 

[macvsog23]

http://www.plecoplanet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8754

 

[liamb]

just got a sample of water out of the tap and tested it with king british 6in1 test strip and the reading were-
ph-7.2
kh-180
gh-500
no3-0
no2-0

 

[macvsog23]

Kh is way to high I would check again
Gh is also way to high
Look for a kh of around 6 to 8

 

[liamb]

thats what i got 2nd time aswell so havent a clue

 

[D-MAC]

Kh is way to high I would check again
Gh is also way to high
Look for a kh of around 6 to 8

Hi Bob
The test strips measure in ppm/(mg/l and not dKH... The readings are still too high

 

[macvsog23]

Hi Bob
The test strips measure in ppm/(mg/l and not dKH... The readings are still too high

Ahh!
Now old twots like me cant understand meteric
I was woundering how that sort of water could get past the water regs?!!

Regards Bob

 

[liamb]

So what would i after buy etc to get started? And how do i no how much RO water to add to tank water? Do i need to do this for me to breed l134? Its just totally confusing me to be fair with metals, hardness and stuff like that

 

[liamb]

Infact scrap that lol its 2 complicated for me just going to do as iv done in the past and keep it simple not going to mess about spending 100's on something i no nothing about. If the fish breed they breed if not so be it aslong as i can enjoy watching them and get experience im happy

 

[macvsog23]

Hi

The art of keeping water is not a black art and the rewards of spawning the fish every one is struggling to just keep alive is great.
For me it is all down to keeping the fish alive in a natural environment.
May I say your first mistake is you fell at the first hurdle.
You were given information that you did not understand some thing we all started with.
Let me try to return you to the fold.
Water is not just wet stuff its the environment these fish live in, we drink water so it has to be free of any thing that will damage us. This is the problem nature never designed fish to live in water so chemically treated.Fish don't drink water they just live in it.
They absorb every thing that controls the life they live from the water.
Any small deviation from the water they naturally live in will cause damage or kill them.
basically all life requires the 3 functions respiratory, circulatory & neurological one fails the rest fail, with fish this is the main problem the water if it is not as they normally survive in will cause over time a problem admittedly the nearer the natural conditions the better chance they have.
RO Water has been striped of all the components apart from H2O and a very small amount of crap.

My advice to you is to do as you said and just try to keep a few plecos but as you go get to understand water believe me the water is the key.
Tap water is just not the best for any fish.

I would look around for people in your area who keep plecos see how they do it get that hands on experience. but as i said just get the information in small amounts .

 

[Joby]

Work with what you have for now and see how they get on. If they breed but you don't get survivors then its time to re-think and maybe try to introduce some RO. It really isn't as complicated as it looks as I can do it

 

[liamb]

thanks again everyone
i will just do as joby and macvsog said and see how it goes for the time being and hopefully in time i will understand it more and hopefully see a few setups and get a better idea. but first iv just gota source some plecos as they arent of great abundence or im just not looking in the right places lol.
thanks again

 

[D-MAC]

they arent of great abundence or im just not looking in the right places lol.
thanks again

I would agree that you're not looking in the right places. lol, and if you find 397's give me a shout.:thumbup:

 

[macvsog23]

thanks again everyone
i will just do as joby and macvsog said and see how it goes for the time being and hopefully in time i will understand it more and hopefully see a few setups and get a better idea. but first iv just gota source some plecos as they arent of great abundence or im just not looking in the right places lol.
thanks again

If you ask around on the forum you will find a few members selling plecos
i have L400 and L100 juvies for sale tight now and I am sure a few more members are selling juvies right now

 

[Brengun]

There are other ways to tweak water perameters down. Driftwood can help, as can the break down of organic matter like indian almond leaves, or you could put some peat balls in your canister.

RO water is a way of bringing it down as is pure rain water but not in 100% concentrations in the tank. If you do 100% you are going to have to add back such minerals as calcium carbonate.

Often just keeping the water changes up to date and the pollution levels down is just fine. If the fish are happy and healthy they will breed.

 

[R Richardson]

Reverse Osmosis Water

Reverse osmosis is really easy mate, all you have to do is know how hard your tap water is and what the fish normally live in making a mix of tap water and reverse osmosis water till you have the fishes normal living conditions.
If you then want the fish to breed all you need to do is halve the amount of tap water you normally mix in and increase the water currant in the tank aswell as the tanks temperature, usually plecos like a small amount of the currant to hit the entrance to their breeding caves so that fanning the eggs is less difficult for them and as always plecos love it when their water has air bubbles of pin head size in the water from the main aeration source because that shows you that there is tonnes of dissolved oxygen(Do) in the water.
Rohan R
Ps. if you need to know anything further send me a message and i'll explain it in easier terms again, the fun part is getting your head around the lingo really.

 

[liamb]

Ok starting to understand it abit better know i think, so im going to pick up 2 3foot tanks today. Should i add half tap water half ro water? I will cycle this until all perimeters are ok. What would be the best but cheepest wavemaker to buy for water current?

 

[liamb]

Were or who is the best person to ask about a group of l134, l183, l201 or l333 please