Reef Central Online Community

Go Back   Reef Central Online Community > General Interest Forums > New to the Hobby
Blogs FAQ Calendar Mark Forums Read

Notices

User Tag List

Reply
Thread Tools
Unread 10/25/2016, 04:32 PM   #1
Betaktical
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 363
RO water vs distilled

I use RO water in my tank but it's not deionized. Is that still better than distilled or should I use distilled instead. Don't have my own RO yet but it will be soon and then I can add the extra filter. But for time being which is better


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Betaktical is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/25/2016, 04:38 PM   #2
anthonys51
Registered Member.
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Kings Park, NY
Posts: 2,789
distilled is better than ro. ro doesnt take out everything pretty sure distilled takes out like 99.9 percent of the stuff. i would use bottled distilled over bottled ro water


anthonys51 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/25/2016, 04:40 PM   #3
chammergren
Registered Member
 
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 51
I have been led to believe that steam distillation is a more effective way of purifying water than reverse osmosis. I am sure someone here as more knowledge on the subject to clarify though.


chammergren is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/25/2016, 05:09 PM   #4
ssick92
Registered Member
 
ssick92's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: San Clemente, CA
Posts: 911
0 TDS RO/DI (w/ new filters) > Distilled> RO


__________________
John

IM Nuvo 10g Mixed Reef Nano | Kessil A160we | Mp10QD | Osmolator Nano
ssick92 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/25/2016, 05:32 PM   #5
Betaktical
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 363
Perfect. If I switch to distilled it won't mess up parameters or anything? Thanks for all the help


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Betaktical is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/25/2016, 05:35 PM   #6
Betaktical
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 363
And will that also help with 40 ppm nitrate?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Betaktical is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/25/2016, 05:54 PM   #7
AK707
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Bay Area, California
Posts: 170
i don't even have water in my tank yet but i already ordered an RO/DI unit...it only makes sense to start off with the best quality water possible. Definitely work one into your budget asap


AK707 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/25/2016, 06:07 PM   #8
ssick92
Registered Member
 
ssick92's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: San Clemente, CA
Posts: 911
Quote:
Originally Posted by Betaktical View Post
And will that also help with 40 ppm nitrate?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It won't mess up your parameters. And it isn't the distilled water that is helping your nitrate go down, it is the water change where you are replacing your 40 ppm water with 0 ppm water (which happens to be salt mixed into distilled water).

With that said, it is much cheaper in the long run to get an RO/DI system of your own. Distilled water is expensive, and you can get a quality RO/DI unit for $200 bucks (BRS or Marine Depot systems work great). Do the math and figure out how many water changes with distilled water it will take for you to break even on that RO/DI unit and the choice becomes clear.


__________________
John

IM Nuvo 10g Mixed Reef Nano | Kessil A160we | Mp10QD | Osmolator Nano
ssick92 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/25/2016, 07:04 PM   #9
2smokes
Moved On
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: romania
Posts: 515
Distilled is better than RODI water but is also much more expensive.The bottled water sold as ,,distilled,, water is most of the time just RODI water.


2smokes is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/25/2016, 07:06 PM   #10
Betaktical
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 363
Quote:
Originally Posted by ssick92 View Post
It won't mess up your parameters. And it isn't the distilled water that is helping your nitrate go down, it is the water change where you are replacing your 40 ppm water with 0 ppm water (which happens to be salt mixed into distilled water).



With that said, it is much cheaper in the long run to get an RO/DI system of your own. Distilled water is expensive, and you can get a quality RO/DI unit for $200 bucks (BRS or Marine Depot systems work great). Do the math and figure out how many water changes with distilled water it will take for you to break even on that RO/DI unit and the choice becomes clear.


I know it's not the difference in the water but I have a protein skimmer a canister that pretty much a reactor and good flow in my tank with well established live rock. 10% weekly water changes and it never goes down. I feed once a day about a quarter cube of mysis so not a lot. 2 clowns 1 Cardinal 1 fairy wrasse, urchin 2 skunk shrimp and 3 peps. Also 5 hermit and two Mexican turbos. Just can't seem to get nitrate down


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Betaktical is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/25/2016, 07:09 PM   #11
ssick92
Registered Member
 
ssick92's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: San Clemente, CA
Posts: 911
Quote:
Originally Posted by Betaktical View Post
I know it's not the difference in the water but I have a protein skimmer a canister that pretty much a reactor and good flow in my tank with well established live rock. 10% weekly water changes and it never goes down. I feed once a day about a quarter cube of mysis so not a lot. 2 clowns 1 Cardinal 1 fairy wrasse, urchin 2 skunk shrimp and 3 peps. Also 5 hermit and two Mexican turbos. Just can't seem to get nitrate down


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Did you do a nitrate test on your source water that you were previously using? That very well could have been causing it.

Also, canister filters can become nitrate factories if not maintained (at least) weekly. They typically aren't used for this reason. What are you running in your canister?

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk


__________________
John

IM Nuvo 10g Mixed Reef Nano | Kessil A160we | Mp10QD | Osmolator Nano
ssick92 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/25/2016, 07:16 PM   #12
Betaktical
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 363
Quote:
Originally Posted by ssick92 View Post
Did you do a nitrate test on your source water that you were previously using? That very well could have been causing it.

Also, canister filters can become nitrate factories if not maintained (at least) weekly. They typically aren't used for this reason. What are you running in your canister?

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk


No I never even thought of that. I will try that for sure. I'm working on getting better test kits too but I just had a kid and looking to buy a house so money is kinda tight. 1st stage on canister is LR rubble 2nd is bio sponge with carbon and 3rd stage is phosgard bag.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Betaktical is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/25/2016, 07:25 PM   #13
reddtiger88
Registered Member
 
reddtiger88's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Miami
Posts: 73
It is probably the sponge, if it is the filter. Unless you clean it every few days the matter in the sponge accumulates and decomposes. It could definitely be a combo, or hell, there could be three causes.


__________________
In 100 years we have gone from teaching Latin and Greek in high school to teaching Remedial English in college. - Joseph Sobran.

Current Tank Info: 14 Biocube mini reef, 75 reef
reddtiger88 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/25/2016, 07:51 PM   #14
neiltus
Registered Member
 
neiltus's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 415
Most distilled water sold bottled in the US is ran through an RO unit at some point in the process (read the label), and may also have been ran through a UV.

I own a distiller at the office, and an RODI unit at home. Both produce decent water. One method uses more power, takes longer and has higher solids. Yep, it's distilled. My distiller gets to about 4-5ppm, my 6 stage RODI is at zero.

Small distillers are not efficient and need to be cleaned pretty frequently.

So, bottled distilled vs RODI. Buy an RODI. If it were cheaper and better, well, you would see people buying the distilled bottled (that is RODI as well).


__________________
Build Thread

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2592260
neiltus is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/26/2016, 07:22 AM   #15
Betaktical
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 363
Quote:
Originally Posted by reddtiger88 View Post
It is probably the sponge, if it is the filter. Unless you clean it every few days the matter in the sponge accumulates and decomposes. It could definitely be a combo, or hell, there could be three causes.


It's not the floss though. It's a media sponge. I stopped using the floss cause I was replacing it every week. And how would live rock rubble carbon and phosgard be producing nitrates?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Betaktical is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/26/2016, 07:39 AM   #16
homer1475
Registered Member
 
homer1475's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Upstate NY
Posts: 5,313
Anything that can trap detritus can and will become a nitrate factory unless cleaned several times a week.

The reason for not using a canister filter is they are a pain to shut down and clean out several times a week.


__________________
80G SCA Build: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2560256

Originally posted by der_wille_zur_macht:

"He's just taking his lunch to work"
homer1475 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/26/2016, 08:44 AM   #17
ssick92
Registered Member
 
ssick92's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: San Clemente, CA
Posts: 911
Quote:
Originally Posted by Betaktical View Post
It's not the floss though. It's a media sponge. I stopped using the floss cause I was replacing it every week. And how would live rock rubble carbon and phosgard be producing nitrates?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The "media sponge" is probably your issue. Detritus gets trapped in it, decomposes, and eventually turns into nitrate. That is the definition of a nitrate factory... The LR, Carbon, and Phosgard aren't producing nitrates.

Filter floss and sponges are essentially the same thing, and IMO filter floss is much easier to change out because you just toss the old and put in the new instead of having to shut down the canister filter, remove the sponge, rinse, sterilize, and restart.


__________________
John

IM Nuvo 10g Mixed Reef Nano | Kessil A160we | Mp10QD | Osmolator Nano
ssick92 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/26/2016, 08:57 AM   #18
Betaktical
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 363
So any suggestions on what to run instead of the media sponge?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Betaktical is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/26/2016, 02:58 PM   #19
Tooboot
Registered Member
 
Tooboot's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Eastern Ontario, Canada
Posts: 198
I don't have an RO/DI system due to water availability on a well (long story), and given the hardness of our water I'd be changing cartridges way to frequently, instead I buy the Distilled water in 5 gallon jugs (water cooler jugs). it probably is more expensive, but I know what I am getting, the ppm of dissolved mineral solids is indicated on the bottle. the producers are in my city and I have worked for them in the past so I know their process, and testing frequency of the water. no issues so far. I did find that my PH and Alk were a little low, and am now wondering if that is due to the distillation process.
if you can't get an RO/DI system I would definitely recommend the distilled water as the way to go. as another post mentions, when producing distilled water they usually go through various steps, including distillation (due to wanting to maintain the distillers over longer periods of time, they aren't cheap).


Tooboot is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/26/2016, 03:13 PM   #20
Sk8r
RC Mod
 
Sk8r's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Spokane WA
Posts: 34,628
Blog Entries: 55
Depends on your source. Distilled water in one brand sold in Oklahoma turned out to have copper contamination from the hood used in the distillation vapor capture. Copper, is of course, lethal depending on concentration and species.


__________________
Sk8r

Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low.

Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.
Sk8r is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/26/2016, 03:50 PM   #21
reddtiger88
Registered Member
 
reddtiger88's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Miami
Posts: 73
Instead of the sponge? Nothing just remove it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


__________________
In 100 years we have gone from teaching Latin and Greek in high school to teaching Remedial English in college. - Joseph Sobran.

Current Tank Info: 14 Biocube mini reef, 75 reef
reddtiger88 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/26/2016, 06:37 PM   #22
Betaktical
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 363
Quote:
Originally Posted by reddtiger88 View Post
Instead of the sponge? Nothing just remove it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Could I run chateau in it? It's essentially an enclosed fuge


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Betaktical is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/27/2016, 08:38 AM   #23
ssick92
Registered Member
 
ssick92's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: San Clemente, CA
Posts: 911
Quote:
Originally Posted by Betaktical View Post
Could I run chateau in it? It's essentially an enclosed fuge


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Nope, chaeto requires light and you wouldn't be able to get enough in there that would help anyway.

Just take it out the sponge, you shouldn't need to run anything else in there.


__________________
John

IM Nuvo 10g Mixed Reef Nano | Kessil A160we | Mp10QD | Osmolator Nano
ssick92 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/27/2016, 09:01 AM   #24
snorvich
Team RC member
 
snorvich's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Outlander
Posts: 40,953
Blog Entries: 46
Quote:
Originally Posted by ssick92 View Post
It won't mess up your parameters. And it isn't the distilled water that is helping your nitrate go down, it is the water change where you are replacing your 40 ppm water with 0 ppm water (which happens to be salt mixed into distilled water).

With that said, it is much cheaper in the long run to get an RO/DI system of your own. Distilled water is expensive, and you can get a quality RO/DI unit for $200 bucks (BRS or Marine Depot systems work great). Do the math and figure out how many water changes with distilled water it will take for you to break even on that RO/DI unit and the choice becomes clear.
This.


__________________
Warmest regards,
~Steve~
snorvich is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/27/2016, 10:49 AM   #25
Grimreaperz
Registered Member
 
Grimreaperz's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 518
Quote:
Originally Posted by Betaktical View Post
Could I run chateau in it? It's essentially an enclosed fuge


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yeah I was determined to make my canister filter work in this hobby as well. Saw a YouTube video of a guy that drilled a whole in the top and put a submersible LED in.

But in reality these things in relation to work/benefit ratio were way higher on the work scale....plus the saltwater can mess with the seals....mine flooded the house 2ce. I said eff it. Sold it. Used the money I got an bought a skimmer.

Stuff can collect at the bottom in the creases where flow isn't as high. Stuff could be getting stuck in your LR rubble causing it to decay overtime.

I hate to say it but you might just want to store it away and use it as a reactor when needed or Keep it incase you ever want to do freshwater. But they are more work then they are worth... you would honestly be better off without it and just doing 10% water changes every week.

Good luck on the battle keep us posted!

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk


Grimreaperz is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 10:00 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Powered by Searchlight © 2024 Axivo Inc.
Use of this web site is subject to the terms and conditions described in the user agreement.
Reef CentralTM Reef Central, LLC. Copyright ©1999-2022
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging v3.3.0 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.