Ro water

[donna w]

Hi every one,

I seem to be spending a fortune on spring water for my frogs. I currently have an ro unit as I keep a reef system. I know that ro is bad for frogs because they take minerals from the water. I'm wondering If it would be a good idea to use ro and then remineralise the water using the same salts that are used for tropical fish.
these salts replenish minerals that have been lost.

Has anyone ever tried this? Or know if this would be safe?

[flybyferns]

Hi Donna,
Here is a Frog Forum thread that is excellent:
http://www.frogforum.net/vivarium-te...hing-else.html

Great information / water and amphibians
I put this aside some time ago after reading it because I felt it was .... well great info !
Amphibian Articles - Water Quality for Amphibians

My personal routine with 5 enclosures ( darts and tree frogs)
Note: to me distilled water is to increase humidity and to clean the glass.
I purchase distilled water for hand misting ( to increase humidity) and for re-filling the Mist King bucket which mists 4 of 5 enclosures.

( I while back I started saving the empty distilled gallon containers)
I fill ( 6 at a time) gallon containers of water from the tap ( filtered through a Brita filter on the faucet)
I de-chlorinate this water with Aquasafe; (a de-chlorinater safe for amphibians) and use this de-chlor water for the soaking dishes AND for cleaning plants or spraying areas where plants are without frogs near-by. ie to clean a large plant in a tree frog enclosure etc.

As well, I will add about a 1/2 gallon of de-chlor water to a full 5 gallon mist king bucket so it not completely distilled. I do this because the tree frogs park themselves (occasionally) right near a mist head and get sprayed w/ what could be distilled water. My Mist King is set on a 12 second spray , 8 times in a 24 hour period. It's a compromise that ,at them moment, suits all enclosures. This is typically adjusted for winter and summer months.

I have monthly cleaning routine ( in the tree frog enclosures - only) I do not make public. If you are interested you can PM me.

So this really does not answer you question specifically. But you can ( very inexpensively) de-chlorination water for amphibians with the proper product leaving all the good stuff behind, an not have to be concerned about putting the good stuff back in the RO water?

I don't know how the water in the UK compares to here on Long Island, New York. Our water comes from underground conifers / is treated/ and piped to homes. I have not use water ( to drink ) directly form the tap for at least 25 years. I'm a sceptic... and prefer to at least filter it w/ the Brita despite what "they " say about its safety. Sadly, too many lawn chemicals/pollution. My lawn is green but lots of weeds !

Hope this helps
Lynn

[GrifTheGreat]

Lynn I think you covered it well enough. I will say that if your Tropical Fish are not fresh water tropical fish then the minerals and salts you add to the RO water make actual ocean salt water then it could not be used. Frogs cant handle brackish/salt water for extended periods and it will make them sick or worse. Aside from the ACFs who can handle some salt water content most arboreal and terrestrial frogs cannot. Cuban Tree Frogs are another that can handle brackish water and will actually lay their eggs in it.

I'm certain Lynn has you completely covered, but I just wanted to add that little piece in.

[deranged chipmunk]

as Grif said, Lynn did an excellent job covering things, but if i might add, a lot of freshwater shrimp keepers and discus keepers use ro water exclusively. to combat that we remineralize with products which are shrimp safe.(frogs are a piece of cake considered to how sensitive some shrimp are) Fluval makes a wonderful shrimp mineral supplement. the only catch being is there is no precise formula for using it (i.e. 2 drops/gallon sort of thing) we normally test all parameters while mixing the ro and tap to get parameters where we want them. i'm not saying this is the way to go, but it is another option for you to research.