Qestion on water

[lotus02]

I hope I'm posting in the right place.
I know it is important that chams need misting with good water free of chemicals. I have a question that nobody has been able to answer for me , can I use the water from my RO (Reverse osmosis) unit if I supplement it with vitamins? I noticed a few people here have salt tanks so they will know what the RO unit is and does. I always have a 35gal supply on hand that is well circulated. When ever I ask this question people look at me like I have 2 heads.

Or maybe you could tell me what you use.

 

[warpdrive]

lotus,

rain water and morning dew is normaly soft and mineral free just like what your RO unit is giving you.
I see no reason to supliment the water in anyway.

Harry

 

[chameleon97]

RO is great, but dont add vitamins. it leaves a white residue on the leaves, and would irritate their eyes.

-Steve

 

[renzo0684]

lotus,

rain water and morning dew is normaly soft and mineral free just like what your RO unit is giving you.
I see no reason to supliment the water in anyway.

Harry

I agree with Harry. If you are gtloading and dusting your feeders on a regular basis there is no need to add supliments to the water. Just wondering how are you gutloading and what is your dusting schedule?

 

[lotus02]

I do not have my chameleons yet ,just gathering info.
My son has geckos and so we do gut load the feeders.
As for dusting I will follow the regiment they have with their currant owner.

 

[chameleon97]

I do not have my chameleons yet ,just gathering info.
My son has geckos and so we do gut load the feeders.
As for dusting I will follow the regiment they have with their currant owner.

Is it
Calcium WITHOUT vitamin D3 6 times a week
Calcium WITH vitamin D3 twice a month
Multivitamin twice a month?

 

[lotus02]

I will be picking up adult veiled chams. The person I'm getting them from will have all their info written out for me, and want to be sure they still receive the same care he gave them. He has had them since babies but does not have time for them anymore. I will post the dusting regiment he has once I get it.

 

[jake01]

I personally use my home's RO filter for my cham's water. If I didn't have this I would probably resort to buying spring water, which is basically RO water anyway.

 

[Pure]

If I didn't have this I would probably resort to buying spring water, which is basically RO water anyway.

False, spring water is often full of more contaminants than your local municipal supply. I used to sell RO systems and one of our sales tools was to test the home owners tap water and what ever bottled water they had in the house. They were more than shocked when their expensive bottled water looked dirtier than what came out of the tap. Keep in mind these contaminants are mostly calcium and other minerals. So it's not that it's unhealthy. We used a binder chemical that makes these "contaminants" visible to the naked eye. So it certainly "looked" worse.

If the bottled water is RO water, it will say so on the bottle. DI is another one you can buy and is actually a step cleaner than RO.

I agree with Harry, no reason not to use RO water on your chams and you certainly do not need to add anything to the water.

 

[lotus02]

Thanks everyone for the help. You would not believe how many I have asked about this and just got looked at like I was crazy.

 

[jake01]

False, spring water is often full of more contaminants than your local municipal supply. I used to sell RO systems and one of our sales tools was to test the home owners tap water and what ever bottled water they had in the house. They were more than shocked when their expensive bottled water looked dirtier than what came out of the tap. Keep in mind these contaminants are mostly calcium and other minerals. So it's not that it's unhealthy. We used a binder chemical that makes these "contaminants" visible to the naked eye. So it certainly "looked" worse.

If the bottled water is RO water, it will say so on the bottle. DI is another one you can buy and is actually a step cleaner than RO.

I agree with Harry, no reason not to use RO water on your chams and you certainly do not need to add anything to the water.

Most bottled spring water is RO treated water, with minerals added. Examples are Poland Springs, Zephyrhills...nothing that I said is false.

 

[SS4Luck]

ok, so i got curious and googled reverse osmosis and home drinking water and yada yada. Would like a britter canister/filter be considered an RO setup?

 

[panthercham]

A Brita filter is not like RO as it only removes like copper, mercury and chlorine and other impurities. It does not remove fluoride or sodium. That said I dont have a RO system and use the Brita filter to filter my water and have done so for the last 2 years for me and my chams. I can tell the difference as it does taste better than regular tap water and so far so good, I have had no issues

 

[Bio123]

Filter canisters for drinking water consist of activated charcoal, which absorbs impurities. Reverse osmisis filters act like a magnet, removing everything up to algae and micro fauna.

@ Lotus02- You guys get all the luck. I wish I had a reverse osmosis filter or a 35 gallon tank. Good luck with your fish. BTW-off topic- what fish do you have?

 

[Pure]

Most bottled spring water is RO treated water, with minerals added. Examples are Poland Springs, Zephyrhills...nothing that I said is false.

The fact that it has minerals added in of itself negates the whole RO thing now doesn't it.

I just had a look on the Zeferhils site and I'll be damned if I could find any mention of them doing as you claim. Mind reciting your sources?

But any way you look at it.....you are false. You can filter the shit out of water, but to then re add the trace minerals basically no longer makes this RO water. RO membranes do remove bacteria and other microscopic organisms, so it makes some sense for them to do this. But still after the trace minerals are replaced it can no longer be considered RO.

edit: A beak down of the "contaminants" found in Zeferhils water. Right from their site.

Inorganic Minerals and Metals MRL MCL Level Found
Calcium 0.10 NR 12-67
Sodium 0.020 NR 1.6-6.5
Potassium 0.10 NR ND
Fluoride 0.100 2.0 (1.4-2.4) ND-0.12
Magnesium 0.10 NR 2.7-4.6
Bicarbonate 1.0 NR 34-160
Nitrate 0.010 10.00 .41-2.3
Chloride 0.10 250 2.5-12
Copper 0.050 1.0 ND
pH (units) NA NR 6.03-7.00
Sulfate 0.10 250 2.9-11
Arsenic 0.0014 0.010 ND
Lead 0.005 0.005 ND
Total Dissolved Solids 1.0 NR 48-190


I guess all the heavy metals and the ARSENIC oh and nitrate (decomposed organic matter ie feces) Is added back in because it tastes oo00oo so good huh.

Really man don't make shit up just because someone tells you, you are wrong. Say thank you and move on.

 

[summoner12]

This is what I have going on..... Link

 

[jake01]

The fact that it has minerals added in of itself negates the whole RO thing now doesn't it.

I just had a look on the Zeferhils site and I'll be damned if I could find any mention of them doing as you claim. Mind reciting your sources?

But any way you look at it.....you are false. You can filter the shit out of water, but to then re add the trace minerals basically no longer makes this RO water. RO membranes do remove bacteria and other microscopic organisms, so it makes some sense for them to do this. But still after the trace minerals are replaced it can no longer be considered RO.

edit: A beak down of the "contaminants" found in Zeferhils water. Right from their site.

Inorganic Minerals and Metals MRL MCL Level Found
Calcium 0.10 NR 12-67
Sodium 0.020 NR 1.6-6.5
Potassium 0.10 NR ND
Fluoride 0.100 2.0 (1.4-2.4) ND-0.12
Magnesium 0.10 NR 2.7-4.6
Bicarbonate 1.0 NR 34-160
Nitrate 0.010 10.00 .41-2.3
Chloride 0.10 250 2.5-12
Copper 0.050 1.0 ND
pH (units) NA NR 6.03-7.00
Sulfate 0.10 250 2.9-11
Arsenic 0.0014 0.010 ND
Lead 0.005 0.005 ND
Total Dissolved Solids 1.0 NR 48-190


I guess all the heavy metals and the ARSENIC oh and nitrate (decomposed organic matter ie feces) Is added back in because it tastes oo00oo so good huh.

Really man don't make shit up just because someone tells you, you are wrong. Say thank you and move on.

I actually took the trouble to visit Zephyrhills site, and couldn't find any of that info you pulled, probably from your former sales job I take it? Point being is it says on the bottle that it's RO treated. You're grasping at straws here for an argument that really doesn't exist.

 

[tkilgour]

water from an RO is great just no need to supplement. The water from your RO will be perfect pH and the ppm should be very low, so the salts will mostly be dissolved. If you have a tds meter or ppm pen this will give you exact readings. This water untreated, makes excellent water for chams and plants. Hope we were helpful to you.

 

[lotus02]

Filter canisters for drinking water consist of activated charcoal, which absorbs impurities. Reverse osmisis filters act like a magnet, removing everything up to algae and micro fauna.

@ Lotus02- You guys get all the luck. I wish I had a reverse osmosis filter or a 35 gallon tank. Good luck with your fish. BTW-off topic- what fish do you have?

I actually have two 35gal holding tanks heated and circulated as I have a 300gal reef tank and need it for water changes.
We keep a good eye on th PPM readings our readings are at 1 PPM. The RO is a DI , I just didn't add that in the fist post as just saying RO made others look at me like I was nuts.
My son tried to get info on the Gecko forum but they didn't know what RO was, so he thanks everyone here to.

 

[Pure]

I actually took the trouble to visit Zephyrhills site, and couldn't find any of that info you pulled, probably from your former sales job I take it? Point being is it says on the bottle that it's RO treated. You're grasping at straws here for an argument that really doesn't exist.

Because I am good enough to be able to pull these accurate numbers out of thin air huh?? I guess these are big a** staws. Reading is fundamental. http://www.zephyrhillswater.com/KnowH2O/OurSources.aspx In that link you will find another link to this PDF link. On page seven they show an overview of the water treatment that they use. Yes they do filter it. But no where on that page does it say that this filtration is RO. IF they used RO there would be no need for the UV sterilization that is the following process after the "filtration" And to quote them directly from that PDF about their filtration.

Specialized two-stage advanced micro-filters, designed specifically for our process, filter the raw spring water

These filters are pharmaceutical grade and are designed to removed particles as small as 0.2 micron in diameter.

No where does it mention reverse osmosis.

I'm not to one trying to argue. I'm telling you you are wrong. Plain and simple.

If they had RO the only impurities remaining would be nitrates. It takes deionization to removed nitrates. And their TDS would be much much lower. Usually TDS of RO from a membrane that is working correctly should be around .05 ppm.

And yes I know a little something about this from my old very old job, but even more so in the fact that I've been dealing with these issues on a massive level, having needing 5 RO units to supply over 2000 gallons of water I had in my tanks in my last hobby.