Skrimps Posted March 9, 2016 Report Share Posted March 9, 2016 So I'm about to start cycling my 5.5 gallon tank but I want to know before I start, if I should use tap water or RO/DI water? my tap water (straight out the faucet): ph: 7.4 TDS: 550 ppm my salty shrimp gh/kh+ hasnt arrived yet, but I found a local laundromat with supposedly very good RO/DI water. so what do you guys think I should do? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted March 9, 2016 Report Share Posted March 9, 2016 If it's a buffering substrate, you should use RODI. If it's not, you should be fine. Just make sure to do a 100% water change once cycle is done and you switch to RODI water Skrimps 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skrimps Posted March 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2016 nah, not a buffering substrate. Just regular inert aquarium sand from petco. Cool thanks, I wasn't sure if the minerals in the tap water helped/hurt the bacteria during the cycling process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. F Posted March 9, 2016 Report Share Posted March 9, 2016 I would start with whatever you plan to WC/topoff with or at least match the parameters. Since you mentioned GH+/KH+, I'll assume you're gonna have a neo or tiger tank. Not super concerned with tap water for them. So if you can dilute your 550 ppm tap water with RO/DI to the parameters you're planing on remineralizing to, you should be good- as far as keeping your biofilter alive. This should be about half and half, maybe a little more RO/DI- that should land you around 200. If the pH gets too low, add a bit of baking soda to rebound it. This will bump up the KH too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skrimps Posted March 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2016 Is it normal for the ph of tap water to drift up over time? my ph has gone from 7.4 to 8.1 in the last 24 hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyana Posted March 12, 2016 Report Share Posted March 12, 2016 My ph from tap water settles at 8.2 in tank from ph of 7.6 I think it's because the extra co2 gases off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. F Posted March 12, 2016 Report Share Posted March 12, 2016 Yeah, lyana nailed it. If you're using inert substrate, no co2, but have plants, your pH should rise over time. If you have lots of driftwood/leaf littler, use co2, or have very little water movement, your pH should drop over time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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