RO/DI question

[OMG Aquatics]

Many people/site say RO unit does NOT change your PH.

I'm having trouble finding out why my guppy tank reached a PH of 6 or lower.

I only use Flourish line for plants and according to Seachem, there's no buffering agent.

I have quite a load of plants in there.

So why is the PH so low?

My tap is 7.6PH

I have no buffering substrate.

[High5's]

Do you run di resin? Do you have driftwood/leaves in the tank? Maybe it's humic build up.

[OMG Aquatics]

Yes I have DI as well.

My tap water is 7.6 PH 0 KH/GH 45TDS

So I don't get how my RO water can make ph to so low.

There's no driftwood or leaves.

Just 5 different plants, eco complete substrate.

Matrix in corner filter.

Dosing Seachem Excel, Iron, Flourish, Potassium, Phosphate

[High5's]

The di is what's lowering your ph.

[OMG Aquatics]

How important is DI for RO water?

[High5's]

You need it if you want zero water for top off and removal of chlorine/chloramines.

[Ch3fb0yrdee]

How important is DI for RO water?

I don't know how important it is for fish keeping but it's pretty important for shrimp keeping, especially those pickier species. RODI water is important as a mineralizing target as you know it's zero across the board (unless your tap is extremely dirty).

I think a majority of aquarium filter units are RODI. The resin is basically what removes the baddies and drops you TDS and pH down, that's why it needs replacing more often then the RO membrane (typically lasts 2-3 years).

With mineralizers so advance now, they're different types designed specially for diffidnt types of shrimp. GH+ for CRS/CBS/Taiwan Bee and gH/kH+ for Neos and Tigers. It's just usually safe-r to use rodi and reconstitute your water so you'll know exactly what you're adding in.