disstilled water

[Jake_07]

can i use disstilled water for water changes what are the bad points of using it

[redox]

distilled is actually the cleanest water you can buy. It is actally totally stiped of everything. Distilled water is cleaner than just straight R.O. water . Yes you can use it with no problems at all. It just ends up being more cost effective too use R.O with a D.I. kicker

[Jake_07]

so if its better than ro/di water y do some people say not to use it and some people say it has copper in it

[Racing1]

I would test it first. I purchased distilled water when I set up my first tank and tested the water and it had traces of phosphates and the nitrates were almost as bad as my tap water....

[dwd5813]

your best bet both in terms of water quality and cost effectiveness is to purchase a RO/DI filter that comes with a TDS meter, or buy a TDS meter seperately to monitor the quality of the water your RO/DI is producing and let you know when it's time to change media. Distilled will work in a pinch, but having your own water source that you are in control of is the most common advice i have heard on here.

[Vin7250]

distilled water can be stored and "distilled" in large copper pots, but is this really true??? i dont know but thats just what i heard.....always test store bought water for copper and other such things before using it!!

[dantonac]

I tested a gallon of distilled water and it tested at 002 meaning there was a small amount of something in it. No idea what though.

I considered using distilled water, but it is usually sold for 75 cents to a dollar per gallon in the stores. I did the math on my $150.00 RO/DI unit that is rated to produce around 3500 gallons before filter replacements. 15,000 cents divided by 3500 gallons = 4.285 cents per gallon.

To initially fill my 24 gallon Aquapod would cost $24 at a dollar per gallon for distilled. After cycling the 50% water change would cost me $12. That's $36 just to get the tank cycled and that isn't counting top off water. 3 gallon water change weekly that is 156 gallons of water per year. That's $156.00 plus the $36 for cycling. That's $192.00 of distilled water in the first year not counting top of water.

Having a RO/DI unit at home saves me from having to go to the store and haul 192 gallon jugs home too, put a price on the fuel consumption and wear and tear on the vehicle.

An RO/DI unit is one of the most sound investments one can make in this hobby. It pays for itself quickly.

[Akronviper]

I've been using the walmart distilled water untill I get my RO/DI unit. Tests good, TDS of 10 ppm and about $.60 a gal. Just a pain to buy cases of the stuff.

[Racing1]

tds of 10 is not good for the tan. The tds will compound over time. Best to get an ro/di system... Christmas is here....

[AZDesertRat]

Distilled water is not as good as RO/DI. It is close but not quite as good. For our purposes though it is normally close enough.
The "copper" fears and pretty much unfounded as distillers have not used copper components in years.