Importance of RO/DI?

[boogs79]

Good Morning to All,

I am adding water to my system frequently straight out of my tap! I do not have a auto top off set up, so every 2 days I am adding about 1-2 gallons to my 75. Are there any short term alternatives to getting pure water without purchasing an RO/DI unit?

Thanks

 

[RUGDOG]

yes,pick up jugs of distilled water at wal-mart. I used to buy a box with 3 jugs for around a buck I think. You will eventually create some hair algae problems along with other things if you continue to use tap...Are you conditioning your tap water to remove chlorine? Also most local fish stores will sell and some even give you RO water just take a couple of 5 gallon jugs with you.

 

[boogs79]

I'm not putting any conditioners in. I'll start by going to Wally World!

Thanks

 

[8BALL_99]

The biggest issue with Tap water is you really have no idea what your getting. On top of that it changes. Tap water can have high nitrates and phosphates. Can have heavy metals such as led and copper. On the plus side it can also have Calcuim. All tap water has chlorine in it.. Even if you remove the Chlorine your still stuck with all the other stuff. With RO water you pretty much remove everything. Sure you lose the good. But you also get rid of the bad. In this case the there tends to be much more bad then good. I used Tap water for a couple of years and kept a pretty nice tank. I also didn't have any major algae. But I also kept atleast 10ppm nitrates and Im sure I kept a decent level of phosphates also.

 

[Mariner]

IMO, an even better option than Walmart distilled water is the RO water that you can buy in most Walmart stores from a Culligan dispenser at the front of the store. You can fill your own 1 gallon, 3 gallon or 5 gallon containers, or you can buy empty containers from them and fill them. Cost is 33 cents per gallon. I used this water exclusivley for over 4 years in my tanks. Everytime I tested it, TDS (total disolved solids) were below 10.
HTH,
Mariner

 

[boogs79]

That sounds great!! I will definitely go by Walmart tonight. I do notice when I add a lot of water I get a diatom algae outbreak. Do you'll recommend and easy DIY auto top off system?

Thanks Again

 

[kg4izw]

After I pumped 40 gallons from the local Culligan machine I got a TDS reading of 25. So be wary of pumping large amounts of water from one of those machines unless you carry a TDS meter along with you. My guess would be the limited storage tank inside that Culligan machine that takes time to refill.

 

[mltmtascp]

http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/doserwatertopofdiy/ss/diyautotopoff.htm
http://www.aquahub.com/store/diygaquarium.html

Here is a couple of articles that may help you. You can also purchase kits. Do a search for auto top off and you will find several options.