Loaches Online Forum

Here is the problem; I am losing German Blue Rams due to the fact that my water is hard. The solution: RO unit. Will my loaches (Clowns and Kubotia) be alright in RO water?

The loaches are thriving, I moved the clowns to a bigger tank (60 Gal) and got them two new freinds. The kubotia are still very small (the biggest is 1 1/2 in). But I am moving them to a 20 gal long this weekend so they will have more room. I had planned on adding the RO water to all of my tanks (there are 4) when I do my weekly water changes. So I would not be replacing all of the water at once. I will tell you friends I am getting frustrated at my inablity to take care of my fish properly.

I am hoping I put this in the right forum.

I don't use RO myself, so I am certainly no authority.
But, from what I've read, it is best to combine it with tap water, or do something to return some of the minerals; otherwise you face pH issues due to lack of buffers...I think.

I'm sure others will have better answers for you!

I have got lots of Geophagus in hard city water. Rams might prefer it a bit softer, but I am not sure that is why you are losing them.

There is no problem with keeping your loaches in RO water - long-term they will do best in softer water. I use only RO water on my 1000 litre clown loach aquarium, as the local tap water is extremely hard. Before adding new RO water to the tank during water changes, I remineralise it with a product from TMC called Remineral Tropical. There are other makes of product which give similar results.

Don't get too disheartened with your tank. Rams are notoriously delicate these days (due to breeding en-masse in the East).

Emma