Your tap water is pretty good to begin with: around my place it is extremely harder, to the point that you can't even measure the hardness (both gh and kh) with strips. Of course this experiment doesn't apply everywhere and if I were to do it I bet I'd have way different results (more BBA, stunted plants).

Appreciated the side-by-side comparison. Looking forward to the next experiment 👍

I’ve never tried ro water but I’d only use it if I needed to soften my water for a curtain type of fish that really needs that type of water. Love these experiments, please keep doing them.

Wow that last tank is amazing! It reminds me of a trail through dense woods.. absolutely love it ❤

It's been a long time since the first video about this and I am not disappointed!

Thanks Mark, been really keen to see the results of this one 👍

Love your videos! Science leading the way!

Nice experience sharing 👍🏻

Keep up the good work😋💪💪

Thanks for doing this video 🥰

Very great and informative video. I feel key things for the success of these two tanks besides your skill level, are a rich substrate and select healthy plants that you can grow successfully, thatll make it easier. Great work, reminds me time to refill my co2 bottle, love how a little splash of cp2 makes a huge difference.

i always wanted to do a plant race, pick 4 fast growing / fast spreading or different method of spreading plants. put them in the each corner, put equal obstacles in place to see if they go around or under it and see which one reaches middle first or out grows the other ones. its sound silly but its nice to see which one would be the best buy or which can co-exist

Hmmm good to see such experiments. 👍😍

Very nice and enjoyable thank you for your post sir

Thanks mate for all the great work you put....speaks of the pure passion you have for hobby... My tap water has some unknown minerals/compounds which harm the plants and cause algae as well. Probably some algae spores etc. Hence I use RO to escape that problem and not really for lowering the KH...I'm more inclined towards the purity of the RO water actually....

Your experiments are so important man.. I hope you understand that.

All video very very nice thx bro !

I always like these videos. Would like to see EI vs PPS dosing to see if there's a difference. I have a large tank and try and limit water changes so I try and go with the lean PPS system. Would be cool to see if there's a difference though.

I really appreciate all the work you put into your videos. Thank you for another great one. I use tap water for my tanks, but I do think in my case, RO would work better. I'm just too lazy and cheap lol. Take care,

Great experiment. Love it!. I have a tap water with Gh13 and Kh8 and there are basically 2 plants i have problems with. 1. Staurogyne repens. (Love this plant, but have trouble with it) 2. Alternathera reineckii mini. Other, more demanding plants are very healthy, so i guess its mostly problem with water hardness.

@onterom

Жыл бұрын

Repens is not friend of phosphates. I have these problem when the water is too much hard. )))

Gostei das explicações como iniciante no aquarismo tenho condições de resolver certos problemas parabéns , Brasil .mg

You are blessed with good tap water. Mine is very hard and high in nitrates. 😔

Thanks alot , i saved like 300$ on RO system

I have to agree my tank is doing great with RO water with its regular doses of fertilizer, it’s spreading and growing a lot. It’s doing pretty well.

I’d like to see a high fertiliser dosing compared to a minimal fertiliser dosing. I am always conflicted between those that advise to dose heavy and those who advise to dose light. With CO2, and be interesting as to the growth and maintenance experiences with each approach.

I am surprised at how little the differences are! Guess I don't need RO after all! Thanks as always for the experiment and looking forward to the new one!

@Pepe-dq2ib

Жыл бұрын

If you have good tap water like him. Mine are very very hard.

@Nyraksi

9 ай бұрын

It really depends on your tap water. I live in an area where my tap water is good (soft). I read KH 1, GH 4 and pH 7 from the tap. I add salty shrimp minerals to my tanks because I keep shrimps in all of them and they're doing great. So are the fish and plants. Although, I did have issues with pH swings from fluval stratum as it has buffers to lower pH. If your water is already soft like mine, it's going to crash the pH to 6 or lower. So I have to add crushed coral periodically in my tanks to keep them stable at pH7. I was contemplating getting a RO Buddie but it doesn't look like it's worth it for me. Some folks absolutely need RO water because their tap water isn't ideal for aquariums or the fish they keep.

@xXIronSwanXx

9 ай бұрын

@@Nyraksi thanks for the tip. My water is also soft like yours but the rocks in my take fluctuate the KH and GH a whole lot. Luckily for me, I don't have needy plants in my tank and everything turned out fine for the first 2 years. My tank is about to mark it's 3rd year and now I have major algae issues, mostly because I have been very negligent and haven't been keeping up with water changes. Might consider renewing the tank, but boy this hobby sure costs a lot😅

Hi from France! I'm a big fan of your videos, thanks for it! Didn't the aquasoil falsed this experiment? As it will lower the kh and ph of your tap water tank, don't you end up with the same parameters in both tanks?! After a certain time (longer than 5 weeks) and multiple water changes, the aquasoil in the tap water tank would be saturated, and thats when the kh and ph would rise, and where you would see a difference with the RO tank. But not before that. I think if you did the same experiment with a neutral substrate, the result would have been different 🙂 (Excuse my english i hope it's understandable 😅) Thanks again for all the knowledge sharing!

Same experience with me, the Staurogyne Repens grow much more heathy in RO water (low TDS)

very great project, I tried ro water many times with diffrence situations. At the point you can see any visible lime film on the watersurface to the glas, it´s the sweetspot for waterparameters and plantgrow. I show a specific problem with microsorum ferns and to hard water on my chanel . The plants in this comparison show not a big diffrence at ol, to go with a ro system based on your tap water. Thanks for this video

Nice, am early! Would want to see old used aquasoil vs brand new aquasoil. not sure about the liquid ferts dosing tho.

I suggest u do an experiment using WRGB flood lights as the lights for your aquarium. I want to know how that experiment will go and how will the lights affect the growth of the plants.☺️

Hey man I really love this video keep it up but I was wondering what light you use

@MJAquascaping

Жыл бұрын

Chihiros A 2 series 361

Interesting to see the higher PH didn’t had any effect. Do a lean vs EI dosing test, that will be a great test

Nice video dude. Your tap water is soft enough for most plants and fishes. I wish i have so a soft tap water xD My tap water have a GH of 18! lol I must use RO cause my fishes need soft water .

Bump up the gh and kh in the tapwater even more! would love to see those results. gh and kh of 15 or something.

Met RO water ga je wel langer de voordelen van de pH verlagende eigenschappen van de soil bewaren. Ik verwacht op lange termijn, als de soil is verzadigd en de KH gaat oplopen, dat je toch wel verschillen gaat zien in de kwaliteit van planten. Wellicht een leuk experiment

Pls do Dry start (with complete flooding phase) Vs Normal way with CO2

Thanks for sharing your results I think the test was conclusive for your situation. But....lol! I think the issue that most hobbyists run into, is the unknown. And how do we deal with that. Which you do not address. The people who show interest in RO units have specific issues, and they are trying to use their limited funds in the most effective way possible. Sure, the seasoned hobbyist can try 5 to 6 things without any monetary outlay, because we have bought those items previously and they are just laying around. But, new hobbyist don't have that luxury. Most people are buying bottled water, to drink, because we don't trust the stuff coming out of the tap. But, we want to make our fish swim in it every day? RO water gives a solid base line to start with, and eliminates the differences between someone living in Bombay from someone living in Tulsa. RO water may be a benefit to the hobby the same way CO2 is. By maximizing our chances of success and minimizing the variables that limit said success. All we learned from this experiment is that you do not have the same issues we do. @MJ Aquascaping: My challenge to you is to consider this and maybe give some alternatives. How you do this without donning a lab coat and boring everyone to death, is of coarse, the real challenge. I have faith in you. I've got nothing but respect for what you do. Regardless of what you do with this challenge. Thank you for your mission, and your videos. I think you have already set yourself as a leading voice in the industry.

Tap water can be anything from acid soft water to base high PH and hard calcified water...RO provide a common base line to start from. That is aspecially true for countries with less rain and or only rain in the winter. Where I live its a mixture of desalination and dirty underground water by the way.

I use tap water no co2 and sand only and my planted tank is doing great , i use root tabs and liquid ferts

i had a thought a few days ago when thinking about water that goes in our tanks. I live on the outskirts of a major city and tap water here is pretty hard, but i had a thought, has anyone concidered, or even tried filling an aquarium with spring water? i know on big 4-5 tanks it wouldn`t be cheap, but i just wondered if there would be any difference between the two .......... future experiment :)

It will give you benefits if the tap water you have is not sufficient. In some places around the world, the tap water is almost unusable. The RO water is a must.

Sand with rootabs vs aquasoil would be an interesting one

Hi. Quite surprising so little difference. My tapwater has a pH 8.5 Perhaps then it will make a difference. And good to know that tapwater in Holland is very high quality. That could be different in other countries and then RO water might make a difference too.

I mix Tap water with remineralized RO water . since my tap water is hard , i mix them to bring them to a ideal kH , ph for my plants .

The thing is not all of us have the same tap water. Southern California USA water it like liquid rock. Ph 7.5 and tds 350 and up. The harder the water makes it hard for plants to absorb co2 and fertilizer. It just all depends on the quality of the water in your region

hey bud, I think RO would benefit people with extremely hard Tap water, otherwise seems like an overkill. Love these comparison vids we get to learn so much. Also what intensity are you running the Chirios at before the change?

@MJAquascaping

Жыл бұрын

I think when I started the experiment they were running on 50%, then after a few weeks I bumped it up to 60% and right now it's on 70%

@taltreister

Жыл бұрын

@@MJAquascaping what is the kelvin? Or is it just manual setting by color?

Hi! Great job! But i think reason of this results in soil, because soil make wather a little bit softer. In RO wather soil dont change PH, KH, or do this not so fast like in Hard wather. And usually this effect work in one year or less in difference of hardness wather and tupe of soil. Thank you!

Probably there are trace elements of copper and chlorine which are in acceptable range for shrimps in your tap water. Which also acts as algicide and reduce algae.

Hey mate, great job. How about 2 tanks with no co2 one with liquid carbon and another without it?

Branded lights (chihiros maybe?) VS DiY lights (LED bulbs?)

nice informative video. I noticed the tank with tap water is pearling nicely.. but in the case of RO water tank there is no visible pearling. your comments pls.

hey Mark, can you try normal vs a tank with tannens in it? like catappa, elzenproppen, lotuspods etc. i know its healthy for the fishes,but do the plants do better too because of the good bacteria and tannens it releases?

My friend… what size of lily pipes did you use for this canister and what size of hose? Thank you! Greetings from mexico

Hi, thanx 4 all your videos buddy. Very inspiring. Can I just ask you about that inflow and outflow pipes using here? I have the same filter and the original pipes are just not nice. Thanx for answer. Keep it up

@MJAquascaping

Жыл бұрын

Inflow www.aquasabi.com/Aqua-Rebell-Glass-mini-Inflow Outflow www.aquasabi.com/Aqua-Rebell-Glass-Jet-Pipe

@petrfrolich7544

Жыл бұрын

@@MJAquascaping thank you so much. ;)

It could be the Magnesium in the remineraliser for the RO water is helping the two plant.

You know the dwarf Hairgrass, mine is starting to melt/ translucent colour. They will show new growth if everything is in check right thanks

Your tap water is soft compared to mine. Mine comes out of the tap here in Phoenix, Arizona at over 600 tds. I just installed a RO system and looking forward to seeing if I can have better luck with my plants.

@captainshimmer7319

5 ай бұрын

How did it go with the RO water ? I also live in Phoenix

Should do a side by side of low tech with RO vs tap, essentially your mitgating the availability of nutrients with Co2, as its easier for them to absorb nutrients by changing the carbonates in the water. harder to tell the difference high tech va high tech. I bet with a low tech setup you will notice much more of a change.

One of the best reasons for using RO water is no limescale/water marks on the glass, used to drive me mad

Tap water becomes a issue when your KH is Higher than the GH, especially if your injecting co2 …..Thanks for sharing

It would be interesting to see your tap water's parameters. My tap water is super chlorinated with dangerous levels of ammonia and very hard, so I am using RO water and adding Equilibrium as needed.

MJ the tap water in our country is justäa about the best in the world. Unless you need soft water. Say when you wanna play with some Parospromenus. Which i think you should

RO water is not necessary unless you have extremely high or low PH in your natural tap water, additionally if you live in a 3rd world country and have dirty water, then its probably not going to be good for your aquarium either and RO will clean the water up. I don't think RO has any real benefits for plants, i think it is clearly important for fish breeding because it simulates rain(distilled water), and certain species of fish that need extreme PH environments. overall it confirmed what i believed, but i was still very interested to see the results, because i am wrong sometimes and its always good to experiment. thank you for the time and effort you put into these tests.

Would be interesting to see the same experiment without CO2. Perhaps the CO2 is impacting the pH in the tap water aquarium to make things easier for the plants? Would be nice to know what the parameters are a few days after the water change.

Maybe the green dust is a result of the RO being better at pulling nutrient from the substrate? The lower ph and lack of other tds makes that water more like an empty sponge, has more room to pull and dissolve out nutrients, the more acidic nature maybe pulls iron from the substrate also in a more pronounced way. The myrio results seem to support this, because every myrio I know are all extremely nutrient hungry.

I use 50% mix of tap and RO water... it creates a more shimmering effect

Is that a Horn Nerite Clithon snail? How do you keep it from crawling out? I have nerites in framed tanks and they generally don't crawl out, but I put them in a frameless tank they immediately climb out to their doom.

Did you measure GH, KH, PH in both tanks?

The issue with tap water comes only in places where the water is very hard and chlorine and chloramine is added a lot like the place I live in the Tap water tds goes above 280 and don't know what is in the water.. so if you're looking to provide the plants the nutrients they need in a limited amount and wants to keep the water soft in situations like this RO is the best option.

Strong filtration with good media (canister filter) VS no filter/basic filter with no media. Is the beneficial bacteria on the tank itself(soil, hardscape) enough for filtration or does the canister filters promoted by YT channels and brands necessary for a proper aquascape....

Chihiros light you're using in those setups. Do you run them on reduced intesity (80%)? Great videos!

@MJAquascaping

Жыл бұрын

Started with 50% then after a few weeks 60% and right now 70%

@silicijs4309

Жыл бұрын

Thanks!

Where did you get your stand please?

Root tabs vs liquid ferts on inert substrate

Hello im New on your Channel . What kind of fertilizer do you add in to your tanks?

Bu testi farklı bitkiler ile denermisin sp belem fluvalitis gibi bitkilerde gelişim nasıl olur ?

I live in Califorania, general water pH is 7.8 I think. I have RO water system in the kitchen, however water coming out of that still have pH of 7.8. Is my system even doing any work? Is it same to use those water in my tanks? It does make the water take different.

Now i understand why you use tap water and not RO water for most of your tanks No doubt Tap water is clear winner

I use RO in my planted tank as my tap water has high phosphate levels which is awful for BBA. I dont bother with it in my Big Cichlid tank though.

You should experiment seiryu stone in Ro water. I wanted to use Seiryu stone in my hardscape but seiryu is Not inert so it will buffer the water chemistry so that the problem

I use mostly RO water.

@greenecospace

Жыл бұрын

you are remineralized it with salt ?

@AQUAPLANET128

Жыл бұрын

No. Just add liquid Fertilizers.

What is the tap water tds?

I have two huge rain collection tanks & have been trying to find a video like this with rain v tap water. I’m not very smart when it comes to water parameters. I do check my water regularly, but only ever go off the printed colour chart & it’s usually normal. Do you think rain water is similar to the RO water? Love your experiments ❤️🇦🇺

@williammcdowell6257

Жыл бұрын

Rainwater is fine so long as it isn't off a roof where significant numbers of pigeons/birds poop - loads of phosphate.

No matter what I do in my 75 gal my plants grow dense, lots of new leaf growth, and my jungle val shoots runners out and grows a new group like every other day, but nothing will grow tall. also on the swords like I said they will grow new leaves out the center , but they wont get tall and they start to die off after a week or so. I use tap water the runs through a carbon filter (like the under the sink tap purification filter) I have co2 injection. excellent filtration and dose with seachem iron, potassium and some micro's . I have decent lights , maybe thats the issue? I use a hygerr 75w 48" light with the built in timer . lights run about 8 hours a day, co2 in on 1.25 hours b4 lights, off 1 hour before lights off. water temp is 78f . only thing might be my tap water is alittle on the harder side but my drop checker shows co2 levels are ok. Do you think i should invest in more lights or a more powerful one? even the fluval planteds 3.0 that is tripple the price than the hygger is same watts.

Ive been using half RO water since our water source is coming from a deep well. Immensely hard water as my TDS reading comes in at 320+.

@nirvana155

Жыл бұрын

Using half RO is pointless

Even I faced same issue with ro water my kh is 2 and gh is 8 , I tried all methods but dust algae wouldn't stop then when I used tap water I didn't get any dust algae.

The ppm of my tap water is close to 400 so I use ro water which is less than 0.07 usd (5 rs) I have had amazing results with my planted tank with no melts and calcium deposit congrats on the big shallow huge fan from India

@justin94431

Ай бұрын

Ro water under 5 rs lol what?

@justin94431

Ай бұрын

You don't remineralize it?

@kni9555

Ай бұрын

Its perfect

@kni9555

Ай бұрын

Gh and Kh

Aqua soils vs sand/natural gravel But for the aqua soil you put no c02

@benjidoggo5405

Жыл бұрын

we already know what the aquasoil will do so just the sand or natural gravel should be tested. though it is obvious what will happen. The plants that need nutrients from the substrate won't grow as well.

Tap vs Ro only matters when you need to have low Gh and Kh for Syngonanthus plants or the Ca/Mg in Tap is high or bad ratio, or Tap is bad quality due to Heavy Cu, Fe presence in my opinion. Im using only RO, due to plants requiring low KH.

I use tap water for my tank and top off with RO water so my mineral content doesnt spike as my tao water is hard.

Will plants survive only on liquid fertilizer and gravel or need both aqua soil and liquid fertilizer

@williammcdowell6257

Жыл бұрын

Some plants feed largely through leaves, some largely roots, crypts the latter, many stems the former. All plants can be grown in small sized gravel with tab nutrition added. Special aquarium soil products are better, easier to plant into and better store of minerals and no danger of scraping the glass but of course it can become messy after the baked pellet shape deteriorates over time. Tanks that are left to run for a decade or so, normally, at the very least, have a gravel topping. Hope that helps.

I think there isn't different results between both thanks. What pH level do you have in your City? In Madrid I have 6,4. pH and 4 to kh. !!

I may have missed it, but what's your tap water parameters?

@MJAquascaping

Жыл бұрын

I mentioned it in the video 😊 kh 7 ph 8 and gh 9

I think it's not about the plant grow when it comes to source of water. I would say using RO water makes you safer than tape water, when you are sure that RO is completely clean. In the other way, could happen something like one day your water source gets some toxins and you don't know about it. Would be problem after that.

What is the TDS of your tap water?

@MJAquascaping

Жыл бұрын

Between 350 and 400

@1chriswu2

Жыл бұрын

@@MJAquascaping Thanks for the reply. I was curious because my well water is 75 and I thought it was really hard. It has a lot of iron in it and detectable nitrates 25-50ppm. If I don't do water changes my tanks stay clear but if I do it looks like it's cycling again. Suggestions?

👍👍👍😎😎😎

I think that only means the tap water in you city is in good condition. RO is the only solution for people like me who live in a city(LA) with tap water ph at 8 and tds over 5/600.

I think your tap might just be good enough but in my case I am setting up an ro system simply because my tap is 330ppm+ hardness and 8.2 ph. Overall just too many well water things that I don’t want

Overdosing liquid carbon kills algae?

@MJAquascaping

Жыл бұрын

Yep!

next experiment: Tap water with hardscape that releases calcium and not releasing calcium :D