store boght water

[84jeepjohn]

Ok I've been using distilled water from Wall mart, but I was looking at the bottle's and the distilled is not done with RO, the drinking water is though???

Should I be buying the drinking water instead? The distilled water is processed through "steam distillation,ozonization, and UV light".

I've got wonderfull cyano and it's not going away, LOL and do not ask about parameters, I'm waiting on the test kits, and I've been taking samples to the LFS and he had said the water was ok, well about 3 weeks ago.

 

[SerLunchbox]

Distilled water can still have trace elements brought with it all. You can actually buy some RO water at various grocery stores .... i know ones up here in Canada actually have it stamped right on the labels (and they sell it by the gallons in the stores)

 

[reefwick]

Steam distillation is what you want. Distilled water is what you should use if you don't have a RO/DI unit.

Your tank is very new and cyano is part of the "new tank" process, I wouldn't worry about it right now. Just siphon it off and keep up water changes, cut back on feeding etc... All the things to improve husbandry. I see you only have 30 lbs. of LR I'm not sure what kind of tank your going for or what other types of filtration you have maybe you can fill us in. But if no other filtration is present I can tell you right now that you need more LR to deal with your bio-load. Fill us in on the specifics of your tank for us to better help you with your cyano cause, it's not your water.

 

[84jeepjohn]

well fish wize we've got 2 little nemos, and a lawnmower bleny. Snails we've got 2 large turbos and a bunch of small ones.

I've also got a remora pro for a skimmer.


I know we need more rock LOL just waiting on it. I'm not too worried, it's just looks bad.

 

[IslandCrow]

The only two things I've heard against using distilled water are that if copper tubing is used to distill the water, some people are afraid there may be traces of copper in the water (which of course can be toxic to inverts). The second issue I've heard is that distilled water binds very easily to just about anything and can actually draw nutrients out of your tanks inhabitants (I'm no chemist, so I only have a vague understanding of why this occurs). Of course, in a saltwater tank, the salt you add to the water should take care of this problem.

Anyway, I've been using distilled water for the last 7-8 months I've owned my tank for top-off water, and also for about 25% of my water changes. From everything I've read, it sounds like RO/DI is your best bet, but if you have a choice between plain RO and distilled, the distilled is a better option. I've also used plain drinking water when they were out of distilled. Just make sure of two things. First, either distillation or reverse osmosis was used to purify the water. Second, make sure they didn't add anything back in once they were done purifying the water. Some companies will put additives in their water for taste.

 

[dwculp]

I have been using Wal-Mart distilled water for almost two years with no problems.

 

[reefwick]

I see what your saying Islandcrow but that's why we say "steam distillation". If you use water that is distilled by steam, your fine.

 

[Mariner]

I get water from a Culligan dispenser at Walmart for 33 cents a gallon -- it is RO, UV sterilized and carbon filtered. It typically has a TDS reading of 3-5, which is nearly as good as a lot of people get with their RO/DI units.
FWIW,
Mariner

 

[sassyfishy]

I, too, was concerned about using distilled water, as I do not have a RO/DI unit.

I purchased a TDS meter and a copper test kit. Every test I've done on the Walmart brand distilled water has read 0 for TDS and 0 for copper.

I purchased and tested some RO water from Walmart, and the TDS reading was between 3-5.

I've only had my tank up and running for three months, but it's doing fine.

 

[84jeepjohn]

well thanks for all the replies guys I guess I'll just keep on the way I am now, but waiting on the ol tax return for more Fishie stuff LOL

 

[BlackOnyx]

I use wal-mart water no problems