# what water do you use for dart frogs?



## irishkreem

ive heard you can use spring water if you dechlorinate it then i heard use RO water which im not sure how to even get that type of water. any suggestions?


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## epiphytes etc.

Spring water shouldn't be chlorinated to begin with. I use the same RO that I use for drinking, which I get at one of those drinking water places where you fill your jugs.


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## Nath514

If you are hand misting spring water is fine, you don't need to do anything to it. Just make sure you are buying spring and not distilled. I have been using spring water for my darts and tads for over a year no problems. If you are using a mistking then you will need to get an RO system and use RO water to ensure the misters don't get clogged up. Depending on how many tanks and how often you will be misting its probably cheaper to get a RO system to start with instead of buying spring water. 

Some people have pretty good tap water and can simply leave it out to stale up and it works fine as well ( again not for a mistking only for hand watering ).


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## Ed

Nath514 said:


> If you are hand misting spring water is fine, you don't need to do anything to it. Just make sure you are buying spring and not distilled.


 
I'm not sure why you are suggesting to not use DI while advocating RO.... They are equivalent for use in the hobby... This question has been hashed out several times and I suggest that people check out http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/beginner-discussion/70300-water-discussion.html 

Some comments 

Ed


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## Peter Keane

For misting, I use distilled water, it leaves no calcium deposits on the glass and leaves (if this is a concern to you). It also won't clog your misting nozzles... For tads, I use rainwater quickly boiled with Indian almond and Eastern Oak leaves. For the waterfalls and water sections, I use rainwater (steeped with peat) and spring water. 
Peter Keane 
JungleWorld


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## ZookeeperDoug

I use DI for misting, RO for raising tads. 

You do not need to dechlorinate spring water, it is not chlorinated to begin with. Only tap water that is treated with chlorine or chloramines needs to be dechlorinated.


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## laborelch

for all fish and frog tanks as well as the orchids I use RO/DI - this is because orchids and discus don't like hard water and our tap comes out at about a TDS of 450ppm.


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## Steverd

I use RO water for EVERYTHING. Misting, water dishes, raising tadpoles, etc, etc. But Spokane water is very, very hard with a high PH. Plus I already had a RO unit from my reef tank days.

Steve


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## fystol

I use RO water and then add Seachem trace elements back into the RO water. The tads had a huge positive response to this water treatment, morphing seems to happen slightly quicker with tads and they are much bigger morphing out. Just my two cents.


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## Buddysfrogs

Steverd said:


> I use RO water for EVERYTHING. Misting, water dishes, raising tadpoles, etc, etc. But Spokane water is very, very hard with a high PH. Plus I already had a RO unit from my reef tank days.
> 
> Steve


That is exactly what I do . I use straight RO for everything and I already had a RO system from my 180 gallon reef setup.
Buddy


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## cypho23

Besides Seachem trace elements, is anybody using anything else to put in straight RO...like R/O Right? Others?


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## MosquitoCoast

Hi irishkreem. I'm somewhat new to dart frogs but so far I've had really good luck.

I use distilled water to mist with and bottled spring water to raise tadpoles. I also use spring water in my Leuc and Tinc's water dishes. I read somewhere here on Dendroboard not to use distilled water in their water dishes because it's doesn't have any trace minerals that would be benificial to the frogs when they soak in it.

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I think what I remember reading was over on FrogForum. John Clare posted a write-up in response to a question about water usage for dart frogs.

Water: Distilled vs purified vs everything else


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## TheCoop

I have been using a Britta filter for years with no ill effects to tads or frogs.. I change my filter every 60 days..


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## Coqui

I use RO/DI for misting and Spring for Tads. 
You can get an inexpensive RO/DI unit
From EBay.


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