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View Full Version : Can I use distilled water from the supermarket to mix salt?


CyberGuy
09/07/2006, 11:39 PM
Can I use distilled water from the supermarket to mix salt or to replace evapored water?

AquaReeferMan
09/07/2006, 11:49 PM
I use spring water and have for almost 3 years. There are no readings of anything after mixing salt in. I go to a local spring and get 5 gallons for a $1.00. Never had any problems yet. I dont see any problem with distilled water either. Just test the water first.

cw150
09/08/2006, 09:50 AM
Distilled water should have zero or close to zero tds, so yes, it should be safe to use. Unlike the previous poster, I would never use spring water in my system as it's likely to have all sorts of stuff you don't want in your tank.

flinka
09/08/2006, 11:06 AM
I use WalMart distilled water - purple capped one gallon jugs. No major algae problems so far. Costs about $0.60-0.65/gallon or so.

AquaReeferMan
09/08/2006, 01:35 PM
Well myself and others around my area use spring water and never have any problems so I guess we are just getting lucky. cw150 please explain to me what might be in there that I dont want. There is 0's on the board for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and phosphate. Ca is within 350-450 and ph is always steady. I havent had any unwanted algae and have great coral growth. That is all I use for my tanks and everything is fine.

kravi
09/08/2006, 01:38 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8104404#post8104404 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by AquaReeferMan
Well myself and others around my area use spring water and never have any problems so I guess we are just getting lucky. cw150 please explain to me what might be in there that I dont want. There is 0's on the board for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and phosphate. Ca is within 350-450 and ph is always steady. I havent had any unwanted algae and have great coral growth. That is all I use for my tanks and everything is fine.

He's not saying spring water IS bad, just that it could be. The problem is that even with testing for ammonia, nitrite, nitrates and phosphates there are still a large number of things that you aren't testing for. Heavy metals, copper, iron, other trace chemicals and poisons could be in the water.

Water which is safe for humans can still be very harmful to aquaria. Most people would rather go with the RO/DI or distilled waters because they can be more certain that there are no impurities in the water.

--Me

AquaReeferMan
09/08/2006, 01:48 PM
Ok, thanks for that. I was just wondering. I forgot to mention I did test it for copper also and it was 0. I did state that the water should be tested before just throwing it into the tank. I get it from 2 places and I know the water is ok. I will also state that I would reccomend using RO/DI but right now I am renting and I dont pay for my water, I dont think my landlord would like his water bill if I was using a RO unit.