Using RO water

[The Fisherman]

Hi,
My tap water had perfect readings for a F8, high PH and high hardness, but later i found out that it had natural nitrates, so i had to switch to RO water from my LFS, and the guy there said that the marine slat that i put in will raise the PH and hardness( KH ) to where its supost to be. I found this hard to beleive, but i didnt really have a choice, anyone know on this for sure?

I have gravel in the tank as substrate( along with a UGF), if i took some gravel out and added some argonite( or whatever it is that people have been talking about) , would tyhat bump the KH to where its suppost to be?

thanks

[RTR]

For light BW such as for F-8s, the alkalinity is too low for me to be comfortable with just marine mix + RO. That is why I went to RFUG and aragonite originally. Then I had no problems, so you should find the same effect from adding aragonite. Monitor for a while and keep the UG as clean as possible.

[The Fisherman]

where can i get aragonite, how much do i add, and how do i clean an UG?

Thanks

[RTR]

Aragonite is a standard marine substrate which happens by its chemistry to be a bit soluble than crushed coral, and both those are much more soluble than dolemite which is still offered but not of much use.

Aragonite is available in wide range of particle sizes, from stuff much too fine for UG (it would fall through) up to common crushed coral size. A bit finer than crushed coral would be good, but not so fine that it sifts through the UG slots.

For cleaning UG/RFUG, you use standard aquarium vacuuming techniques just as if it were plain gravel and not UG. UGs must be cleaned well and regularly or they turn into nitrate reservoirs and eventually clog.