Hey all,

I am considering getting an RO Unit but was just wondering, current tap water is at around 7.5, what would the RO come out at do you think? Just wondering what your experiences have been with this.

Have been reading the outflow can be as low as 5.

As my rainwater tank water is currently at 7, this would make an obvious difference to the final ph of my tanks, just wondering if it would drop the ph too much lower or would my substrate buffer up as well as buffer down??

Thanks in advance RO people!! :)

Edited June 30, 201411 yr by newbreed

Mine is usually around 6-6.5 before I add SS minerals & this is not a problem as your KH will be zero & the substrate will influence the ph very quickly, as long as you don't add it to your tank too quickly.

with benibachi soil and ro my ph water stay 6-6.5. even with tap water benibachi was great buffer for tb or crs tank. value using ro also tds if your tap water tds very high tds

Tanks for the feedback guys, always using salty shrimp and beni so RO can only be a benefit, like BB always says, it rules out half the potential problems instantly.

Just wasn't sure how much it would alter the ph of the water going into the tanks, and how that would impact on tanks final ph.

RO theoritically doesn't have a PH, ALTHOUGH it gets influenced readily. If you breath on it (CO2), it'll show a low PH, vs oxygenating it (O2), it'll show a higher PH. Espacially with buffering soil, using tap water will exhaust the soil quickly, vs RO water where it'll influence it very quickly, and without too much effort.

Once you've gone to RO, there's no turning back :-)

Edited June 30, 201411 yr by BlueBolts

I have had some Benibachi soil for 18 months, have used only RO/ salty shrimp and the ph is still under 6. My tap water from a puratap filter is 7.5 and the one time I tested my RO it was 6.5. I use the RO for all my tanks but I did make a mistake and not buy the unit for an Aquarium so it doesn't have the DI filter cartridge - I can convert it for $50 which I will do next time I need a new cartridge.