RO waste water as fry grow out water?

[MD.David]

I have read on a few threads from very successful breeders using RO waist water as fry grow out water.
How does this work?
What are the benefits?
How does this impact the growth of the fry?

Any input would be great, thank you everyone for the future positive dialogue .

[John_Nicholson]

I have been doing it for about 15 years. It works great for me. I never could understand why people were not using the waste water so I asked and was told it would kill everything.....LOL. .....I felt that was wrong so as I do I tried it and it has worked fine for a long, long time.

-john

[MD.David]

Hi John,
So glad you chimed in on this topic, no doubt I had you in mind when I posted this.
There is no debate you have awesome results with this technique, could you go into the science behind it and how it works.
I know I am absolutely fasinated with this and I think many more would be interested to know.
Is it possible this might be even better then tap water?

Thanks,

I have been doing it for about 15 years. It works great for me. I never could understand why people were not using the waste water so I asked and was told it would kill everything.....LOL. .....I felt that was wrong so as I do I tried it and it has worked fine for a long, long time.

-john

[pitdogg2]

duplicate

[pitdogg2]

all depends on your tap water in your location. RO waste water will/should have depending on locating and your water a lot of minerals,carbonates and calcium in it, If your tap water comes from a well where it is very hard it may be a wash as to which is better.

http://www.allianceforwaterefficienc...e+water+source

[John_Nicholson]

As was said above your local water source does come into play but at the end of the day your waste water will not be any worse that your tap water. It is basically just tap water that has been run through carbon. In some situations it will be a little harder than your normal water but for growouts it is a good thing.

-john

[DJW]

How much harder the waste water will be depends on the ratio of waste water to RO water. You can measure each while it is running.

If its 3 parts waste to 1 part RO (3:1), the TDS of the waste will be about 32% higher than the source water.

4:1 ratio... TDS is 24% higher
5:1 ratio... TDS is 19% higher
and so on.

[MD.David]

Sounds like a good economical way to use the RO, however my RO waiste smells and taste like chlorine and chemical so much.
Any ideas If this would be a good idea to try?

[Akili]

Sounds like a good economical way to use the RO, however my RO waiste smells and taste like chlorine and chemical so much.
Any ideas If this would be a good idea to try?

Filter the RO waste water with carbon before using it

[bluelagoon]

So,if an area is high in nitrates.Would the waste water be worthless?

[MD.David]

Filter the RO waste water with carbon before using it

This would make for an interesting set up... I may try it.

[DJW]

So,if an area is high in nitrates.Would the waste water be worthless?

More than worthless I'm afraid. My well water has seasonal nitrates that range from 10ppm in winter to 45ppm in the fall, and about 98% of that pollution goes into the waste water. So if the source water is 20ppm nitrates, the waste water will be 25ppm. I use nothing but RO.

Waste water is great for raising fry as long as you have healthy water to begin with.