Ro water vs. Stressyme

J

jabari

Guest
Im trying to decide whether or not i should use RO water when i do my water changes or just use tap water with stressyme added to it. One guy at a pet store said he just adds stressym to his tap water when he does a water change and his fish are fine...and he doesn't get the high phosphates that can be associated with the usage of RO water....Let me know which one is probably the best choice and which does more for the well being of my tank?
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
I think it would be a really bad decision to not use RO water. You are removing sooo much bad stuff that doesn't get "neutralized" by supplements. You would save yourself a lot of headaches in the future.
Your fish may be fine no doubt -- but I would never run a saltwater tank without RO and preferably RO/DI (what I use).
 
beaslbob

beaslbob

Well-Known Member
If you are going to have delicate corals like sps types then RO/DI may be required.
But with a tank balanced out and stablized with macro algaes untreated tap water just used for top off is fine. I do use cold water from a commonly used faucet and let it run for 30 seconds or so to fluch out the pipes.
I do not recommend the use of any chemicals using that system. but if you are doing a 10% water change you may need to dechlorinate the tap.
I have never used stressyme. I have a 55g that had fish and corals in it for 3+ years with straight untreated tap water.
my .02
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
I'm not sure how your tap water tests but it would decimate my corals, start a huge algae outbreak, and not sure my fish would survive. That's how bad my tap water is. Short cuts in this hobby usually end up costing you in the long run. That's my .02
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
You know, RO/DI filters are really only a popular thing with hobbyists who participate in forums. There are many people out there that have not heard about the RO/DI-Debate that run perfectly great tanks for years.... people who are not internet users and get their advice from the LFS like the OP's. We are only a small percentage of the people actually in the hobby.
 
mermaidgrrl13

mermaidgrrl13

Member
Ro waters definatly better. NOW im not positive about this put im pretty positive that stress zyme DOES NOT take clorine/Clorimines/ammonia out of tap water. You would have to use a product like PRIME or API (same company that makes STRESS ZYME) makes MARINE STRESS COAT that is a water declorinator made especially for marine tanks..It doesnt cause your skimmer to bubble when using it. If you do decide to go the stress zyme route MAKE sure it removes clorine. Im betting it DOES NOT.
 
bmkj02

bmkj02

Member
I have learned to keep away for LFS advice and come here for anything. RO/DI IMO is the only route to go whether it be your own system, LFS or even those water machines you see at the grocery store. After awhile you will end up with your own system if you really enjoy this hobby.
 
rlablan

rlablan

Active Member
"One guy at a pet store said he just adds stressym to his tap water when he does a water change and his fish are fine...and he doesn't get the high phosphates that can be associated with the usage of RO water"
That last sentence that doesn't make sense to me.
Ro has high phosphates? I thought that was the whole point of using RO... to eliminate phosphates and silicates.... Have I been wrong this whole time?
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Originally Posted by rlablan
http:///forum/post/3201997
"One guy at a pet store said he just adds stressym to his tap water when he does a water change and his fish are fine...and he doesn't get the high phosphates that can be associated with the usage of RO water"
That last sentence that doesn't make sense to me.
Ro has high phosphates? I thought that was the whole point of using RO... to eliminate phosphates and silicates.... Have I been wrong this whole time?%%
He's propogating a myth. The typical RO membrane may only remove 75% of Phosphate, a Hi-S membrane will remove 95%. That means that a good percentage of the contaminants left are Phosphates (Silicates as well). DI will remove 99% of what's left after the RO.
So, even though most of the contaminats in RO water are Phosphates it's still a lot lower than straight tap water with some junk added to it.
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
Originally Posted by Cranberry
http:///forum/post/3201491
You know, RO/DI filters are really only a popular thing with hobbyists who participate in forums. There are many people out there that have not heard about the RO/DI-Debate that run perfectly great tanks for years.... people who are not internet users and get their advice from the LFS like the OP's. We are only a small percentage of the people actually in the hobby.
I guess the point I was trying to make is I would never recommend anyone using tapwater especially since most have no idea what is in it. This is not a great to be introduced to saltwater as most (unless you're lucky) tap water contains all the necessary ingredients for perpetual algae outbreaks and poor health towards fish.
If we test continually for great water parameters it's probably best to start of with clean water or whats the point in water changes.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
 
beaslbob

beaslbob

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by jackri
http:///forum/post/3202063
I guess the point I was trying to make is I would never recommend anyone using tapwater especially since most have no idea what is in it. This is not a great to be introduced to saltwater as most (unless you're lucky) tap water contains all the necessary ingredients for perpetual algae outbreaks and poor health towards fish.
If we test continually for great water parameters it's probably best to start of with clean water or whats the point in water changes.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Sure it is.
But to me the question is not whether or no tap water must be conditioned but whether or not ro/di (or other man made device) is as effective as macro algae.
To me the algae is more effective and results is a stable balanced environment.
but then perhaps this is not for the more delicate corals.
There should be no doubt that for a fish tank and easy corals, the algaes are sufficient.
my .02
 
rlablan

rlablan

Active Member
That picture makes me sick every time I see it.
Bleck!

Maybe phx water is better or something because I use 3 step RO from my house and the ppm meter has it at 0 constantly and I test for phosphates occasionally just to see and clear, fresh RO from my spout has 0.
I use the RO cause it's less headache. I had soooo many problems with tap. I have learned my lesson. This hobby is too much money is water and salt alone to be wasting it, doing more water changes with water that caused the problem for me in the first place.
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
I'm not trying to promote tap, I myself use RO/DI. But we absolutely cannot say it cannot be done with tap because I know a lot of people that use it that have wonderful tanks. When I met my husband, he used tap as well and he's been in the hobby 52 years. When I first started in this hobby, there were no forums and having a home RO/DI was unheard of.... I ran a full blown SPS tank on tap.
So I recommend peeps get an RO/DI once they get into the hobby and find it is something they want to keep up, but to automatically say one will not do well with tap is wrong.
 
liquidlife

liquidlife

New Member
StressZyme is nothing more than 'bacteria in a bottle' used mainly to start the biological filtration process in your aquarium. Some use it during water changes to help their aquariums if they lack the proper live sand bed and live rock but will do nothing for contaminants in the water. StressCoat is used to remove chlorine from the tap water but will not remove any other contaminants that is common in tap water. RO/DI vs. tap water??? To put it in terms for the average person to understand who isn't an aquarium buff, an RO/DI unit will remove roughly 99% of everything that you do not want to introduce into your aquarium to prevent a very wide variety of issues. Most tap water systems will have a wide variety of contaminants including heavy metals and phosphates among many other things which an RO/DI unit will remove before adding the water to your tank. I am a rare exception to the tap water rule. I live in a town where the tap water is so unbelievably clean that I haven't used an RO/DI unit in 20 years with success that will make most jealous. But I am definitely an exception to the rule, the water system in the next town 10 miles away has heavy phosphates in their tap water which create a few problems to say the least. My friends tank in another city 30 miles away would completely crash within a couple of weeks if he didn't use an RO/DI. Each towns water system is different. If you are in doubt or are having problems, get a good quality RO/DI unit. I would always recommend one to anyone just starting out or someone who is having water quality problems. You definitely will not hurt anything by using an RO/DI unit, only help prevent problems. Water changes... unless you have contaminants in your tank you are trying to get rid of, they are to remove the Disolved Organic Compounds that build up in your tank over time. If you are having constant nitrate problems, you might want to make sure you have a proper sandbed established for you biological filtration with proper water flow/oxygen exchange.
 
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