distilled water vs RO/DI water

[95accord]

any opinions on this?

using for example a 5gal watercooler jug of distilled water you buy at most grocerie strore....vs investing in a RO/DI unit.

is water quality of the distilled water comparable to RO/DI water?

 

[mapleredta]

i used distilled water until about a month ago. I had very little hair algey. i guess it depends on the company thats filtering it.

 

[Shagsbeard]

Distilled is a smidgen better quality but far more expensive. A home RO/DI unit should net you high quality water for well under 25 cents a gallon. Distilled water will cost you far more than that.

 

[95accord]

yeah distilled water is roughly 4$ for a 5gal jug......(plus a 10$ deposti on the 5gal jug itself)

 

[bmrescort]

Get a nice RO/DI unit for for fish they will appreciate it in the end. Spend some money on a quaility unit now and you will have less headache down the road. Don't buy those cheap pieces of junk you see dvertized on e-bay for like 89.95. I would suggest a nice unit like something from spectrpure. I have a 5 stage and my water quality is exceptionally well.

 

[mapleredta]

the filter guys are a sponsor here. they are the S*#T

 

[weaselslucks]

the only problem with the ro unit is 3 gal in 1 gal out

 

[Nanemene]

I use water from the Culligan filter at the grocery store. Works fine.

 

[AZDesertRat]

Most commercially available distilled is of lower quality that a good RO/DI unit will produce. Its probably a slight difference but without a TDS or conductivity meter you will never know for sure. My advice to everyone is invest in a good quality RO/DI unit and maintain it properly and you will always know the water quality since you alone control it. A good reef quality unit will run about $150-$160 and save you a ton over time not only in $$$ but in time packing jugs home from the store.

 

[marduc]

When I first started out I used distilled water, I would go to the grocery store and buy it cases at a time. Since my tank evaporates on average 1 gallon a day this was a routine chore to go out to buy 5 cases a pop at ~$.50 a gallon. This equated to a $30 a month water habit between water changes and top-offs.

A quality ro/di is the only way to go, it will save you money in the long run, and as already mentioned, pay for a quality unit, it will make a world of difference in performance, and cartridge lifespan/replacement costs.

 

[cgib831]

it depends laregely on the size of your tank. if its ten gallons, distilled is easy. 100g, obviously different. my friend runs his 24g nano on distilled water. great results. goes through about a gallon every 2-3 days. with MH light and no canopy, etc. really not bad

 

[Æonic]

The distilled water I've tested has read 0 on the TDS meter. My RO unit (no di) takes it from ~100 to about 5.

The LFS about half a mile from my house says they use dechlorinated tap water. I'd be surprised if they have much different TDS readings than I do. I never see any algae or cyano or anything in their tanks, but they have a huge skimmer system so maybe that has something to do with it.

As far as costs, the Ro/di unit will save you money over distilled for sure, not to mention the time and effort to transport the water to your house vs making it on the spot.