# distilled water



## welsher7 (Jul 29, 2005)

my lfs told me i don't need a ro unit, that i could use distilled water is this true or will it cause my tank to crash a couple months down the road?
thanks,
Dan


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## fredweezy (May 27, 2004)

welsher7 said:


> my lfs told me i don't need a ro unit, that i could use distilled water is this true or will it cause my tank to crash a couple months down the road?
> thanks,
> Dan


FW top offs lead to soft water and high phosphates and a bunch of other nasty stuff...if you don't have the cash to buy a RO/DI unit (like me) go to petco and buy catalina water. 10$ for 5 gallons basically a dollar more a gallon but you are getting saltwater which I have tested to have perfect perameters. I once tried this this another brand (I forgot the name) but it tested with high nitrates.


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## rbp 4 135 (Mar 2, 2004)

distilled water is water that is heated to the boiling point and then only pure h2o evaporates. and is collected. Distilled is the purest water aviliable. It is totaly fine for use in salt water tanks, the down side, you will have to buy it at the store. And in a short while it will cost more for that than it woud have for a rodi unit.


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## jiggy (Jun 27, 2004)

fredweezy said:


> distilled water is water that is heated to the boiling point and then only pure h2o evaporates. and is collected. Distilled is the purest water aviliable. It is totaly fine for use in salt water tanks, the down side, you will have to buy it at the store. And in a short while it will cost more for that than it woud have for a rodi unit.


depends on the type of cooling pipes they use.. many places use copper pipes.. or pipes that will let trace elements into the water..

ro/di is always best for sw tanks..


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## fredweezy (May 27, 2004)

rbp 4 135 said:


> distilled water is water that is heated to the boiling point and then only pure h2o evaporates. and is collected. Distilled is the purest water aviliable. It is totaly fine for use in salt water tanks, the down side, you will have to buy it at the store. And in a short while it will cost more for that than it woud have for a rodi unit.





> The most common source of phosphates in an aquarium is from the FW used for top offs and water changes. In this case, doing water changes to reduce phosphates will only continue the problem unless the water source is changed. There are two basic methods of reducing phosphates in your tank.


http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/algaecontrol/a/aa070403.htm

I used to do it...screwed my tank up for bout two months


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## welsher7 (Jul 29, 2005)

Thanks for the replies. i'll just get the ro unit sometime this week


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## rbp 4 135 (Mar 2, 2004)

ya forgot to mention you might test it first to see if it has copper levels. Mt lfs has a tds meeter for their rodi so i gave them a sample of the brand of distilled i was using, and 0 tds. I now have a rodi, replacing water on my nano was pain, let alone how much it would have been to keep up with my 75.


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## jiggy (Jun 27, 2004)

i need an ro/di myself..


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## fredweezy (May 27, 2004)

jiggy said:


> i need an ro/di myself..


word homey...don't knw what I need more that or a chiller for the summer.


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