RO/DI for Freshwater?

[Bartman]

Is it OK to use RO/DI water for my FW tanks? I thought I read somewhere that it wasn't a good idea.

[Invigor]

i do for my angels..they don't seem to mind. I have some blackwater additive stuff I add for fun..don't know if it really does anything.

[Old Guy]

Using RO will help keep the algae growth down.

[Skimmerking]

I know of people doing it for thier DIscus too. its better for them...

less stressful/..

[Chaloupa]

I use RO-DI for my discus...they seem to be thriving so...seems like a good idea to me!

[Xtasia]

For some fish and plants RO is recommended (such as some cichlids and discus) but for most fish I think dechlorinated tapwater is fine. RO/DI water tends to be pretty unstable. Just like you have to be really careful picking corals and fish that like similiar temps, and parameters, FW plants and fish require careful consideration re: temp. water hardness and ph.

[Scuba Steve]

for fresh water rays it's needed

[Bartman]

Originally Posted by Xtasia

RO/DI water tends to be pretty unstable.

Just curious, what do you mean by 'unstable'?

[G1GY]

Originally Posted by Invigor

i do for my angels..they don't seem to mind. I have some blackwater additive stuff I add for fun..don't know if it really does anything.

Angels (And most other south american fish) prefer soft water and the blackwater extract does the same thing as adding peat or a new peice of mopani bog wood.

[StirCrazy]

one thing to note, if you use RO water and nothing else like was mentioned it is unstable.. PH will be all over as there is nothing to buffer it alk will be nuts... not recommended in any book. what is recommended is that if you use RO, then you must use a re-mineralizer or something like that.. ie black water extract, discus buffer ect.. this will re buffer the water to proper levels as you won't have anything left in the water to buffer it.

Steve