tdannhauser30 Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Is there any benefit to using distilled water to tap water? Like take away the price factor is distilled much cleaner than tap? Reason I ask is I have a good amount of distilled water sitting around ( I know strange). Anyway let me know what you think! Link to comment
ps2cho Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Are you conscious making this thread? Link to comment
k4ndyk1ng Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Here is one for the trolls Link to comment
disaster999 Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 them tap waters have minerals...corals need calcium to grow big and strong. use milk. Link to comment
k4ndyk1ng Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 them tap waters have minerals...corals need calcium to grow big and strong. use milk. Semi skimmed? Link to comment
ps2cho Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Semi skimmed? If you want pansy weak corals, sure. Real stoney corals need real milk otherwise you risk osteoporosis in later life. Link to comment
Deleted User 8 Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 I make my own water out of hydrogen and oxygen... Link to comment
k4ndyk1ng Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 If you want pansy weak corals, sure. Real stoney corals need real milk otherwise you risk osteoporosis in later life. Man, the internet is something... Link to comment
Drexellake Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Come on guys, not everyone is the expert reefists you are. Is there any benefit to using distilled water to tap water? Like take away the price factor is distilled much cleaner than tap? Reason I ask is I have a good amount of distilled water sitting around ( I know strange). Anyway let me know what you think! Use the distilled water in every case. You don't want to use tap water at all. It's cheap and it's safe. Link to comment
vlangel Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 I would agree in most cases, but be cautious about using an all encompassing statement like never use tap water. I am an old salt and I have always used tap. Our municipal water is better than most so its fine where I live. I won't say I have never had any algae issues but they have been minimal and fixed with less food and light and more water changes. Link to comment
Drexellake Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 I would agree in most cases, but be cautious about using an all encompassing statement like never use tap water. I am an old salt and I have always used tap. Our municipal water is better than most so its fine where I live. I won't say I have never had any algae issues but they have been minimal and fixed with less food and light and more water changes. Anything and everything is subjective. For a beginner I recommend never using tap, because that's what's been recommended to me. Link to comment
vlangel Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 I would agree in most cases, but be cautious about using an all encompassing statement like never use tap water. I am an old salt and I have always used tap. Our municipal water is better than most so its fine where I live. I won't say I have never had any algae issues but they have been minimal and fixed with less food and light and more water changes. Anything and everything is subjective. For a beginner I recommend never using tap, because that's what's been recommended to me. Well spoken! Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Just use distilled to be safe. It will always be much cleaner than tap and should contain no chlorine. Link to comment
Mariaface Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Check your tap water. If you're running off of a unicorn supply with <10 TDS or something, and you can test the water for chlorine/copper/chloramines/nitrogenous stuff/phosphate/sulfates/whatever and not find any, then you'll probably be alright. If you're like me, and your tap water tests out at ~300TDS, and it uses chlorine and whatnot, and the pipes are old because your apartment building was built by cavemen so there's copper in there, you're going to want to use distilled. And if your tank's big enough to warrant it (maybe over 10gal?), you'll want to get your own RO/DI unit and TDS meter. Link to comment
cju84 Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Anything and everything is subjective. Well that's like, your opinion, man. Link to comment
Drexellake Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Well that's like, your opinion, man. That's subjective. Link to comment
petkingdom619 Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 My tap water tastes like dust. Can I use that? Link to comment
Drexellake Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 My tap water tastes like dust. Can I use that? Dust water is good. If you're only going to have bristle worms. Link to comment
Deleted User 8 Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 I have a well, damn good one. I typically read less than 20ppm on a calibrated TDS meter at the tap. Usually about 17. The water is some of the sweetest tasting water you will ever drink. No calcium buildup on pipes/coffee pots, super soft. Ice cold. I just bought a 4 stage RO/DI. I could have probably got by with using tap water on the new 34g I am setting up soon. Problem is, all it takes is one problem with my well and I could have a disaster on my hands. Back in the day when I had a 55g reef, I used Culligan jugs of water because I was on a nasty city water system. Even the Culligan water was suspect. I had several unopened jugs sitting where they got some direct sunlight for an hour a day. They grew algae inside the bottles. The water smelled like lettuce. I figure $140 is cheap insurance! Starting with pure H2O each and every time is just logical--do it. It's one of the things that I don't want to have to worry about. One less thing I would have to investigate when things start to get out of whack. If the thought of spending a couple hundred bucks on an RO/DI unit keeps you up at night, this isn't the hobby for you right now. Being completely objective here, unless you plan to test your tap water each and every time you use it, you are opening up yourself to problems. Use RO/DI water every time (assuming properly functioning unit), and you won't have the types of problems you can get with tap water. Remember folks, this is an issue where your whole tank can be wiped out in hours because of some funk in your tap water. Unless you test for everything every time (and no one does), it is a gamble. How much of a gamble, I dunno--but a gamble all the same. Buzz Link to comment
GHill762 Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 If you want pansy weak corals, sure. Real stoney corals need real milk otherwise you risk osteoporosis in later life. it's either badger milk or nothing.. Link to comment
tibbsy07 Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 OP, use RO/DI or distilled. Tap can work, and some old-school folks use it, but it's not the best decision. You'll end up with lots of algae that you don't want. Either spend the money on an RO/DI unit, or buy water from a fish store, or do what I do and spend $0.30/gallon at one of those water machines outside of grocery stores. I spend 3 bucks a month and it's perfectly fine. RO, DI, UV sterilized. Works great and it's cheaper for me ($36 to $50 a year at most) than an RO/DI unit ($150ish, plus the water bill, plus the filters that need replacing every once in a while). That or I occasionally come into lab and take water from the pure lines here Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.