wbama387

Is there any problems with using distilled water in my tank and is there any benefits to using RO or DI water instead?

au01st

Yes there are benefits to using RO/DI water, mainly, that it's nothing else, no sediments, no phosphates, no silicates, etc, just pure H2O. Distilled water will not have the chlorine in it, but may still contain all the other stuff. You may notice significant algae due to using distilled water vs. RO/DI, and they run $50-$80 for a decent unit on eBay, and in this hobby, that's a drop in the bucket. I paid $50 for a fish last weekend, lol.

dvc_r

I have the Coralife Pureflo II (50 GPD), The unit does such a good job taking EVERYTHING out you need to put in a supplement (I use a powder) to re-mineralization RO water. Also watch the pH, since there is nothing in the water the ph will drop and may get unstable. My ph crashed to 4.5 a few months back. Someone also recommended a 10 to 1 ratio of RO and tap. That has also worked but it kind of defeats the purpose of the unit.

Angela_96

I used distilled for a while in my SW tank and had a ton of problems, I have been using ro/di water already mixed fromt he LFS and the algae is much better in my tank now, my parameters are also great.

travie

RO Water > Distilled Water > Tap Water

I get my RO water from Wal-Mart. 33 cents for a refill of a gallon. I haven't had any problems with their water yet.

Angela_96

I was wondering about the ro water from walmart, they have it here where I live. I have been tempted to try it out, I am paying 1.00 a gallon from the lfs, but then again it is already mixed w/ salt.

dvc_r

A DOLLAR A GALLON !!! Come on down to sunny Florida, I'll fill it up for nothing! ha-ha!

Angela_96

LOL, I haven't considered it that expensive considering that I only have a 14g nano. Now when I get the 36g going, I will have to get an ro unit.

agsansoo

I have a RO/DI unit and absolutely love it. Water for the family and the fish. By the way has anyone ever tested the Walmart RO water with a TDS meter ?

au01st

I've seen people report that store water where you refill the containers are usually in the 1-5 range, vs. 40+ for tap water.

sgould

Just got an RO unit for Christmas. 50 gpd coralife II 3 stage unit. This week will be the 3rd water change with the filtered water, so it is a little early to say, but I THINK the tank is looking better.

travie

I've talked to people on how forums that have tested Wal-Mart's water, and they have said it is clean. I don't know if the used a TDS Meter though. I've been using the water since I started my SW tank, and nothing bad has happened so far.

agsansoo

Well the water in Alabama must be clean. So. California tap water test at @ 350+ .

cerianthus

Actually it is distilled water which is PURE, nothing but hydrogen and oxygen molecules, thru Distilation and Condensation Process. True distilled water will hold no mineral, contaminants, at pH @7. RO/DI water will still hold some mineral and contaminants if testing is done for TDS by Lab. Just making a correction.
Wether Distilled is better than RO/DI, Cant make comparison since Never used Distilled water for S/W (to fill large reef tank, it will be too expensive, not that RO/DI is cheap to run). If memory serves, good amount of water get wasted and even more gets wasted as being used (Conservation and not mention the Water Bill). Still would recommend to use RO/DI over Tap Water.
If not using well water, w/o heavy mineral contents in tap, consider cheaper API Tap Water Filter (Purifier) where you waste no water. Its about $40 and $15 for Replacement Cart. For Nanos or for financial reason,, should consider the option, IMHO.

agsansoo

Distilled is not totally safe. Distilled water can still have VOC's (volatile organic compounds) in it that would be trapped with the steam since they can convert to a gas form. Such as aldehydes, ketones, and hydrocarbons. And I'm pretty sure major water companies check for these compounds. That said, the purest water is distilled water and it really depends on the grade of it. Just like how well your RO/DI unit is working. Nothing is more pure the triple distilled water. I myself used distilled water for top-off water most of the time, until I purchased my RO/DI unit.

Short story: I left on vacation for a week last year. While I was away I had my daughter care for my reef tank. I told her to use the Sparklett's distilled water to top-off my sump. When I returned from my trip I was surprised to see how well the tanked looked ! Corals never looked better. They were fully extended and very happy. The only difference in maintenance was the water.

cerianthus

Go back to Chem 101 Lab. So called Distlled Water is noting but Pure Water. If contains other substance, it is not distilled water. In chem exp. that is reason for using distilled water in order to avoid any other reactions which would yield incorrect results (Qualitative Analysis & Quantitative Analysis, Wow!! remember the terms after all these yrs,LOL). Let's not get into BP, MP, FP at this point. In order to do that, may have to clean out the whole attic to look for textbook. That is if i can find any!!!LOL

Like I said, never used the distilled waer for reef, so can not make comparison. Theoretically, distilled water w/ proper additives (needs lab equipments and apparatus to be exact) is the way to go but theory does not always applied to real world, should use as guideline, IMHO.

agsansoo

Ouch ! That hurts, since I work in the industrial chemical industry. We are talking drinking water here and not pharmaceutical grade distilled water. Chemistry labs who consider distilled water 100% H2O, and are strict for your reasons listed above. I would imagine that grocery store bottled distilled water wont be pure H2O. That's why I mentioned the different grades of distillation.

sirdarksol

The very bottles that distilled water is kept in mean that the stuff at the grocery store is not truly 100% water. The bottles are the low-grade plastic that breaks down very slowly, much like PVC does.

cerianthus

Manufact should use inert materials but who know what they are hiding unless someone actually run test. Unfortunate but what can one do except be more aware!!. I would hate to think plastic milk container would react with its content

sirdarksol

It's not so much that it will react with its contents... it's just that the plastic slowly degrades, releasing a bit of a type of VOC.
You know the "new car smell?" That's the plastic compounds that slowly break away from certain plastics. Many industries that can are actually switching to silica-based "plastics" because they are inert.
There is little or no evidence that VOCs from these plastics are terribly harmful to consumers, though it's also hard to effectively test the effects of something that is so prevalent in our society that forming a control group is nearly impossible. People who work in the factories that produce them, on the other hand, are more likely to develop various types of cancer.

I doubt very much that this would make a huge impact on fishkeeping in any manner. I was just pointing out that the distilled water we buy at the store isn't pure. It's close enough that, to a consumer, it doesn't matter.
In my personal life, I try to cut these things down as much as I can, but I'm not rabid about it (some people are, and will only buy milk in glass jugs or in the cartons made of the higher-density plastic that doesn't degrade as quickly).

cerianthus

Ageed!!! What can we do but to be little bit aware of the situation. Cant loose sleep over it!!! This is what it is.