RO wastewater for African Cichlids

[Rowdy Hotel]

I was wondering if anyone has ever had their wastewater line from their RO unit drain directly into an African Cichlid tank for continuous water changes. I've always wanted a good sized tank teeming with Africans but have never really gotten into them because of the amount of water changes I'd be doing.

 

[Rowdy Hotel]

I was wondering if anyone has ever had their wastewater line from their RO unit drain directly into an African Cichlid tank for continuous water changes. I've always wanted a good sized tank teeming with Africans but have never really gotten into them because of the amount of water changes I'd be doing.

Would an RO unit be able to pump the water into a tank several feet away or would there need to be some kind of pump added to this water to facilitate this? I was hoping I could get this RO wastewater into a drilled tank and then have the overflow from the tank go down the drain.

 

[aquaticclarity]

Yes, the RO unit will be able to push the waste water a good distance away. In a former life at a large retail pet store we had the RO waste line hooked up to run 100+ feet away and dump into the feeder goldfish tanks to give them a frequent flush.

The problem you might have dumping the water into an African cichlid tank is the temperature requirements. RO units work best with cool to cold water meaning the waste water will also be cool/cold. Depending on the size of the African cichlid tank and the size/flow rate of your RO untit you might have issues with the aquarium temperature fluctuating to much causing the fish some unneeded stress.

 

[Rowdy Hotel]

It would have to be a good sized tank then.