Perth Water Properties

[ChrisEddy85]

Hi all,

In preparation for setting up a large planted Discus aquarium, I was wondering if anyone could provide details on the properties of the tap water in Perth? I have heard that it can be a little on the 'hard' side, so has anyone come up with a good work-around. Also, was planning to get an RO unit, but does anyone else think they're worth it?

[brad_v]

Perth water is hard. I run an RO and think it well worth it. 100% RO and buffered with shells and some trace elements added.

[ChrisEddy85]

Strike me if I'm wrong, but would it be possible to run and RO (low-flow rate) as a method of topping up, therefore, it would not be completely stripped of all nutrients, yet would still be soft enough for Discus? Some ideas I had would be to add an overflow onto a sump, before the top-up RO system output. This means that it would just be a matter of turning on the RO system and it would exchange a little of the old water for some soft, RO water.

And I know this may sound like a stupid question, but since we got the RO water treatment plant down in the southern suburbs, has this softened up the water at all?

[brad_v]

I can't say if the water is softer these days, it has been a while since I have checked out of the tap.

I used to run a mix of RO and carbon filtered water, but it was more difficult to keep the tank balanced at a low PH.

My RO comes in off an auto timer straight to the tank and I use a drilled overflow so water change is all auto. Should be no different for a sump and I'll be doing the same in a month when my 5 x 1.5 x 2 is swapped for a 4 x 2.5 x 2.5 with sump - part of the reason for the swap is to get overflow etc away from being visible and to have easy access to add buffering material without having to put it in the canister. Because the RO comes in at such a slow rate, I don't think it will matter to much where your overflow is - I plan to set mine up to achieve a targeted water level at the pump - but this will be my first sump (on an aquarium) so it might not be the best set up. I would be interested to see what you end up with.

[ChrisEddy85]

I've sketched a basic design for the overflows and a possible auto-fill in the way you described, as in having a RO unit on a timer. When I'm next in my office, I'll scan it (as it will probably need a good quality scan to show up) and post it. In theory my design will work... but thats usually what people say when things stuff up!