Jump to content

Ph of RO water


al4n

Recommended Posts

Hello all,

Just a question about the pH of RO water? What should it be when it comes out?

Reason i ask is when i did a ph test the results were 7.6ish that was with salty shrimp added, but that shouldn't affect ph right?

Thanks in advance for your input

Alan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is very difficult to accurately measure the pH of high-purity water. The low concentration of dissolved solids means the pH can swing wildly when anything is added to it: there's no buffering capacity. Just by breathing on RO water will change the PH....THEORICALLY.

High purity water *should* have a pH of 7.0 fresh out of the machine (be it an RO unit or distillation unit), but the presence of atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (which forms carbonic acid in solution) will quickly cause the pH to drop to ~5.6 upon exposure to air. With a fresh, clean RO membrane, there may be insufficient buffering capacity and the pH will drop to this point after a couple of hours or so. As the membrane ages, the pH may not move quite so quickly as there will be a higher level of dissolved salts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's what I was going to say BB, but not so scientifically, lol. Also the salty shrimp minerals should buff the water to the correct ph, Bee Shrimp - about 6.5 & Sulawesi Mineral - about 7.5 IME :encouragement:

image-74_zps4a76d508.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's what I was going to say BB' date=' but not so scientifically, lol. Also the salty shrimp minerals should buff the water to the correct ph, Bee Shrimp - about 6.5 & Sulawesi Mineral - about 7.5 IME :encouragement:

[img']http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/a580/Betta_lover/image-74_zps4a76d508.jpg

MUAHAH i have finally found out where you source your pics!!:smiley_simmons:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also quite a few of the budget priced RO units (mainly on ebay) contain alkaline filters which will increase the PH to anywhere from 7.5 to 8.5 or possibly even higher as they are made to produce drinking water and an alkaline based water is better for us to consume than acidic based water.

That was some info I read a while back when researching RO/DI units.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Sorry to hi-hack but would a unit like this; http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/3-S-35GPD-Aquarium-Reverse-Osmosis-Water-Filters-DI-Resin-Filter-Fish-Tanks-/120959533775?pt=AU_Pet_Supplies&hash=item1c29c002cfGive a high ph ?

Also quite a few of the budget priced RO units (mainly on ebay) contain alkaline filters which will increase the PH to anywhere from 7.5 to 8.5 or possibly even higher as they are made to produce drinking water and an alkaline based water is better for us to consume than acidic based water.That was some info I read a while back when researching RO/DI units.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Probably not as it doesn't have an alkalizer stage, from what I've read, the ph will probably be on the low side as the RO strips everything out of the water so there's nothing in the water to keep the ph up, I believe that it's so unstable that CO2 can drop the ph, adding salty shrimp stabilizes the ph :encouragement:

image-74_zps7b82468e.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nope that one will give a PH very close to neutral 7.0 + salty shrimp mix = perfect wp for shrimp

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also quite a few of the budget priced RO units (mainly on ebay) contain alkaline filters which will increase the PH to anywhere from 7.5 to 8.5 or possibly even higher as they are made to produce drinking water and an alkaline based water is better for us to consume than acidic based water.

That was some info I read a while back when researching RO/DI units.

Just stay away from the OS sellers and stick with Australian and you"ll be right. If unsure ask the seller questions and pay via paypal as insurance. If they scam you, you have the messages you asked them as proof in a Paypal dispute but I have never had this problem with Aussie sellers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Join Our Community!

    Register today, ask questions and share your shrimp and fish tank experiences with us!

  • Must Read SKF Articles

  • Posts

    • beanbag
      Hello folks,  The current problem I am having is that my Taiwan bee shrimp are molting before all their eggs have hatched.  Often the shrimp keep the eggs for 40+ days.  During that time, they lose about half or so, either due to dropping or duds or whatever.  Shortly before molting they look to have about a dozen left, and then they molt with about half a dozen eggs still on the shell.  Then the other shirmp will come and eat the shell.  These last few times, I have been getting around 0-3 surviving babies per batch.  I figure I can make the eggs hatch faster by raising the water temperature more (currently around 68F, which is already a few degrees higher than I used to keep it) or make the shrimp grow slower by feeding them less (protein).  Currently I feed Shrimp King complete every other day, and also a small dab of Shrimp Fit alternating days.  Maybe I can start alternating with more vegetable food like mulberry?  or just decrease the amount of food?
    • ngoomie
      Yeah, cancer risk was a thing I'd seen mentioned a lot when looking into gentian violet briefly. I kinda just figured it might only be as bad as the cancer risk of malachite green as well, but maybe I should look into it more. I've been doing a pretty good job of not getting it on my skin and also avoiding dunking my unprotected hands into the tank water while treating my fish at least, though. Maybe I'll just not use it once I'm done this course of medication anyways, because I know a store I can sometimes get to that's pretty distant carries both malachite green and methylene blue, and in pretty large quantities.
    • jayc
      Can't help you with Gentian Violet, sorry. It is banned in Australia violet for potential toxicity, and even possible cancer risks. I thought it was banned in Canada as well. At least, you now know why there isn't much info on gentian violet medication and it's use. But keep an eye on the snails after a week. If it affects the snails, it might not kill them immediately. So keep checking for up to a week. Much safer options out there. No point risking your own life over unsafe products.
    • ngoomie
      Hello! I have a tank that currently does not contain shrimp, but does contain neon tetras which I am currently treating for Ich, as well as some bladder snails. Shrimp will be a later addition, likely cherry shrimp but I'm still doing research just to be sure. Initially I'd intended to buy some sort of Ich-fighting product that contains malachite green after doing a decent bit of research on it, most of which indicated that it should be shrimp-safe so I'd be good if I ever needed to use it again once shrimp were actually introduced (though I should note I'm aware shrimp can't get Ich, I'm more wondering in case the tetras could get Ich again, or something else that responds to similar medication). I ended up not being able to find any MG-containing products without either having to travel quite far or wait multiple days for delivery (which I was worried could lead the Ich to be fatal), and ended up picking up 'Top Fin Ick Remedy', a product that contains gentian violet which is a triarylmethane dye like malachite green. The bottle has two slightly differently worded warnings about its use with invertebrates ("not recommended for" and "not safe for" respectively), but when I'd been researching malachite green, I'd also heard of products that contain MG but not any other ingredients that would be harmful to inverts still being branded with warnings that they could be harmful, just as a "just-in-case" since the manufacturer didn't test it on any inverts, and I'm wondering if maybe it could be a similar situation here. I'm having a very very hard time finding information about gentian violet's use in fishkeeping at all though, it seems currently extremely uncommon. What I will say though is that I'm on day 2 of treating my tetras with it, and the bladder snails seem just fine -- in fact today I noticed what looked to be a bladder snail that appeared to be newly hatched (because of its size) that I hadn't seen before that was zipping around the tank without issue. But obviously, shrimp are not snails, and bladder snails are also notoriously hardy little guys, so what I'm seeing right now could easily be totally inapplicable to cherry shrimp. It might even be inapplicable to other species of snails, for all I know. Has anyone else here ever used anything that contains gentian violet in a tank that actually does contain shrimp? Were they okay, or should I make sure to not use it once shrimp are added?
    • sdlTBfanUK
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58BrDSEY8KE  
×
×
  • Create New...