Water

camchem

New Member
Hello All,

Question regarding any automated misting solutions. Do you do anything to treat the water or just use it straight out of tap?

Thanks in advance for any replies.
 
I have well water, so I actually buy bottled water for my mister. I've found that over time the minerals in my well water will plug up the mister heads, which doesn't happen nearly as much as when I buy water.
 
Hello All,

Question regarding any automated misting solutions. Do you do anything to treat the water or just use it straight out of tap?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

This topic comes up very often, so a forum search will bring up several good threads about it. Whether you treat the water depends on your source for it. If from a treated municipal source you'll need to find out if they add chlorine or chloramines to it. If they add chlorine you can get rid of it by leaving the water out in an open bucket overnight. If they add chloramines you'll need to treat it with a product that neutralizes it. There are additives available for herps and aquariums available through pet suppliers.

If you have a water softener it won't be great for your plants due to the added salt content.

If you have your own well, what you need to do with the tap water depends on how hard the water is. Very hard water will eventually create water spots on the plants and clog the mister heads. You can remove the deposits by cleaning them with vinegar regularly.

A wonderful thing to get if you will be dealing with lots of cham cage setups over time is a reverse osmosis water filter for one tap. This water is great. Some of the naturally occurring minerals and organics are still in the water, but the levels are so low they are negligible. Removes all sorts of other things like heavy metals, treatment chemicals, other things that make the water taste and smell bad, removes microorganisms, etc. You don't really want to use distilled water as it is completely devoid of some good minerals.
 
I live in an area with pretty good water and uses chlorine, so most of the time I just fill up my reservoir and use the tap water. I do , however, have a Reverse Osmosis system for my saltwater reef, and will sometimes fill the reservoir with RO water.
 
Stick with the RO chlorine is a killer

I let the chlorinated water sit out for at least 24 hours before using it, so it should dissipate before it ever makes it in the cage. The biggest problem with using pure RO is that there are none of the vital nutrients and minerals that are usually found in water and can cause problems all its own. The same hold true for fish tanks. If using RO water in a freshwater tank you need to add trace elements to the water to make is safe long term. With saltwater tanks, you mix the water with a Salt mix which contains all of the minerals that are needed.
 
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