Betta fish tank

johnny4491 · Sep 18, 2015

Could I use ro water to start my sons betta fish tank ???

NanaReefer · Sep 19, 2015

That will be fine. Is this a fresh water Bette?

johnny4491 · Sep 19, 2015

NanaReefer said:
That will be fine. Is this a fresh water Bette?

Yes it is so is it ok so use rodi water

Mike in CT · Sep 23, 2015

I think you are supposed to add elements to RODI water when using it in a freshwater tank because the RODI strips all the minerals, and also changes the ph,

gaz · Sep 23, 2015

RO is always better then tap don't need to worry about ph for bettas to much just cycle the tank as normal you can add a bacteria start up to help. If you do want to keep ph up you can use coral sand and dry ocean rock that's what I did in my cichlid tank.

fishmommy · Sep 23, 2015

You need to add minerals back to RO water because the pH of RO is incredibly unstable.

3dees · Sep 23, 2015

for betta's I would use tap. these fish live in ditches with filthy water. R/O I think may actually be too clean. never had one so I'm probably wrong.

johnny4491 · Sep 23, 2015

Thanks guys it's doing fine so far

Saltine · Sep 24, 2015

I started a beta tank with rodi and it started to smell very rotten after 2-3weeks. Had to dump it and use tap. Fixed the issue.

Salt

stunreefer · Sep 24, 2015

Don't confuse RO with RO/DI. Most RO effluent will have sufficient nutrients in the water for freshies, whereas RO/DI will not [but will pull from the air, substrate and decorations over time].

eatbreakfast · Sep 24, 2015

Actually a betta tank doesn't even need to cycle as issues with ammonia and nitrite affect the effectiveness of gills, but a betta uses a labyrinth organ to breath so no issues.

RO takes minerals out, which softens the water, this contributes to a lower ph. Bettas naturally come from soft water with a low ph, so this would be fine.

Bettas do not like flow so make sure there is low to none.

Mike in CT · Sep 25, 2015

Bettas have a labyrinth organ, but they also have gills and are affected by ammonia in the water. You can keep a betta in a filter free container, but you need to do frequent water changes to keep the ammonia at a low enough level.

eatbreakfast · Sep 25, 2015

Mike in CT said:
Bettas have a labyrinth organ, but they also have gills and are affected by ammonia in the water. You can keep a betta in a filter free container, but you need to do frequent water changes to keep the ammonia at a low enough level.

Yes, they do have primitive gill structure, but do not use them for primary breathing, as they are obligae surface breathers, they will eventually drown without surface access.

Excessively high ammonia can cause issues to any aquatic creature, but this is most often a case of overfeeding, because if water changes aren't performed the water will begin cycling at a rate relative nutrients going in.