tds walmart water confusion

[woogy]

We have been using gallons drinking water from walmart to do out water changes. After some discussion, we had heard that distilled was better and had less tds. We actually tested both of them today. Drinking water=1 tds and distilled=7 tds. It looks as if the drinking would be best at least from that point of view. Any ideas? Is distilled better for other reasons? Thanks!

 

[DOTZ]

At my walmart my RO water was 5 to 10 and distilled was 0 to 5. I just ended up buying my own. Either one will be fine but I would go with whatever is lower.

 

[captainobvious]

How large is your tank? Buying water for changes adds up quickly. I ended up picking up a nice RO/DI unit sold on ebay for $100 shipped. I would have spent that easily in a year on water changes alone, let alone drinking water for myself. I highly recommend picking up an RO unit.

Here's what I got. There are many from this company and they are probably the cheapest price around.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=120233320866&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=002

But to answer your question, the lower the TDS the better for your aquarium. Cleaner water, less algae, healthier inhabitants.

 

[sage_commander]

Be careful with Walmart water. One poster on here had a tank crash that was traced to trace amounts of copper in walmart water.

 

[NewFish3]

If in doubt I would use the distilled water. Iam not sure how the distilled water had a higher TDS reading ????

What TDS meter did you use ?

My local walmart used to have a sticker up in the corner that had the date that the filters were last changed. That sticker now hasn't been changed in 1 1/2 years. So I dont know if they stopped posting the dates...or if its really been 1 1/2 years ago that it was changed

IMO...a reef 2 from the filter guys is well worth the money. It will pay for its self in no time. Plus the convenience of not having drive to wally world all the time

 

[IslandCrow]

I'd go with the lower TDS water. It can certainly vary dependent upon the equipment used for either distillation or RO. I've heard concern over possible trace amounts of copper in distilled water, but I don't think anyone uses copper tubing to distill water anymore. I've used both varieties of Walmart water without a problem.

I do agree with Captainobvious that getting your own RO/DI filter will be more cost effective (and much less helpful) in the not so long run.

 

[woogy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12204602#post12204602 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NewFish3
If in doubt I would use the distilled water. Iam not sure how the distilled water had a higher TDS reading ????

What TDS meter did you use ?

My local walmart used to have a sticker up in the corner that had the date that the filters were last changed. That sticker now hasn't been changed in 1 1/2 years. So I dont know if they stopped posting the dates...or if its really been 1 1/2 years ago that it was changed

IMO...a reef 2 from the filter guys is well worth the money. It will pay for its self in no time. Plus the convenience of not having drive to wally world all the time

hanna tds1