Can you use distilled water in a reef tank?

[Drewdog82]

Can you use distilled water in a reef tank? I had been told awhile ago that its just as good, if not better than RO water?

 

[MatteZ]

i Used distilled water in my Nano for years. The only problem I had was finding where to get it. Wal Mart stopped selling it near me. I was paying 88 cents for a gallon.Then they stopped selling it. Around the same time a buddy gave me his RO/DI machine.

 

[ecam]

I just picked up some distilled water from the supermarket in order to use it for my hanna calcium checker. I was getting very elevated readings . So i decided to use my TDS tester. the ppm was in the high 100s even not higher. While the the RODI water was 0.04. I didnt test anything, (nitrate, phos etc) but just based on PPM. I wouldnt do it

 

[mnat]

You can, but you will find out it is much more expensive and depending on who is comes from might not be the best. Trop sells RODI water for fifty cents a gallon, you aren't going to really beat that.

 

[TanksNStuff]

You can use distilled water, but over time, it's cheaper to use RO/DI water.

Distilled water is purified by evaporation, turning it to steam, and then collecting the water as it condenses. This process basically strips all the minerals out of the water because they are heavier than the steam. You're left with just H2O.

RO/DI water is purified by filtering it through electrically charged chemicals that make the minerals stick to it as it passes through. This is whey people talk about "re-charging" their DI. The quality of filtration with this method is depending upon how many stages your system has and the types of filters you're using. For instance, there are special filters to help remove the chlorine that some public water suppliers use to treat their water.

Be careful that you don't buy "purified" or "filtered" water thinking it's distilled. They are not the same thing and that's usually just water ran though a cheap media filter.

 

[jgraz]

I can't find the link, but I read somewhere that all distilled water is equal. Depending on your location it may be cheaper to visit the LFS and buy water from them. For example, tropiquarium had rodi water for $.50 gal and salt for $1 gal. The cheapest I've ever seen distilled is $1 gal

 

[Drewdog82]

Thanks everyone for all of the answers. If I can find RO/DI water I will probably go that route.

 

[MadReefer]

Since I have to hook up my RO/DI to the kitchen faucet or outside I use distilled water during the winter months. I get it from A&P for 99 cents a gallon but is on sale now for 79 cents. I never had a problem using it for top off or a water change.

 

[Classklown90]

I use walmarts distilled and have been since I started. Comes in a purple cap. No issues at all

Sent from my SGH-T769 using Tapatalk 2

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Just don't try to buy more than four jugs of it at target.