ro or di in a jam

captrad · 01/22/2012, 03:30 PM

my lfs is closed my rodi unit is in the mail and my girlfriend just showed up with a new fish i been eyeing at the lfs (she got it when they were closing). my qt is not set up only choice is to make some more water and add to dt and take out what i need for the qt. i have a small a ac 50 i run in sump so its always ready.
now the question i can only get ro or di water what is my best bet. have to go to a super market to get they do not sell rodi it will only be 2 gal as i have my next change water made but i need a lil more.

the short of my babble ro or di what is better to use with no other options?

sporto0 · 01/22/2012, 03:35 PM

Take out what you need for the QT? Set up the QT tank, use bottled water if you want, the idea behind using RO/DI water is to prevent nuisance algae from forming in the future, to get off on the right foot. At this point you could even use tap water for the QT to start & just do water changes with RO/DI water when the filter arrives. The water pureness is not that much of a big deal to the fish. I would not put that fish in the DT though.

captrad · 01/22/2012, 03:45 PM

ok np still new and was just afraid to do more harm then good i see what ur saying about the qt doesnt really matter. sorry just flustered this kind fell into lap as im watching football lol. and no he will be going to qt i learned that leason years ago with freshwater.

Zappo · 01/22/2012, 03:45 PM

+1 for whatever is handy. Just don't put bright lights above the QT and you should have nothing to worry about.

captrad · 01/22/2012, 04:13 PM

ran to market and got di water the bulb is an old t8 its rather reddish dont want to have to clean a green tank in 2 weeks lol hope the di water will help some might grab new bulb in next few days. thank you all for the fast help

Augustus · 01/22/2012, 05:09 PM

If it helps a buddy of mine has a TDS meter and we just tested the cheap distilled water I use from the grocery store and it was reading better than his RO/DI water. Not much but it wouldn't register on his TDS meter and using the refractometer showed it as 0 as well.

The irony of this was I suspected my distilled water was the source of an algae outbreak and everything tested perfect but my bulb was old. So in the end he suspected the old bulb was likely one of the main causes of my algae outbreak, so change that bulb!

zigzag1 · 01/22/2012, 05:17 PM

RO, DI, or distilled will probably be fine in a pinch.. GL with your new fish!

captrad · 01/22/2012, 05:24 PM

got the lights on dt with free bulbs 10k in it cant wait to change for a 14k like those alot more. the bad bulb was just over the qt. thanks feel safer now about the di

sporto0 · 01/22/2012, 06:18 PM

Good, glad things went well, in this case, temperature, salinity & ph are more important than water purity. Good luck on the new fishy!!

kaipo13 · 01/22/2012, 06:34 PM

Deionized water is better, running RO water through a deionizer simply prolongs the life of the resin/catalyst the DI unit uses.

AVDweeb · 01/22/2012, 07:01 PM

What do you guys think about this aquarium pharmaceuticals DI?

01/22/2012, 03:30 PM	#1
captrad Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: irwin, PA Posts: 63	ro or di in a jam my lfs is closed my rodi unit is in the mail and my girlfriend just showed up with a new fish i been eyeing at the lfs (she got it when they were closing). my qt is not set up only choice is to make some more water and add to dt and take out what i need for the qt. i have a small a ac 50 i run in sump so its always ready. now the question i can only get ro or di water what is my best bet. have to go to a super market to get they do not sell rodi it will only be 2 gal as i have my next change water made but i need a lil more. the short of my babble ro or di what is better to use with no other options?

01/22/2012, 05:17 PM	#7
zigzag1 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Anderson, Indiana Posts: 1,276	RO, DI, or distilled will probably be fine in a pinch.. GL with your new fish! __________________ :beer: Mixed Reef, started 10/2004: 6' BB 125g DT, 100lbs LR, 40g sump, Dual Ehiem 1000 returns, Eshopps dual overflow, JBJ ATO, Vertex IN-180, PM Ca reactor, 250w MH w/VHO Actinic, AC3 w/Aquasurf, Tunze 6105 pair & 40B frag tank 8 Fish, 20+ corals, shrimp, snails, worms, bugs, etc.

01/22/2012, 03:35 PM	#2
sporto0 Moved On Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Pittsburgh, Pa. Posts: 2,924	Take out what you need for the QT? Set up the QT tank, use bottled water if you want, the idea behind using RO/DI water is to prevent nuisance algae from forming in the future, to get off on the right foot. At this point you could even use tap water for the QT to start & just do water changes with RO/DI water when the filter arrives. The water pureness is not that much of a big deal to the fish. I would not put that fish in the DT though.

01/22/2012, 03:45 PM	#3
captrad Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: irwin, PA Posts: 63	ok np still new and was just afraid to do more harm then good i see what ur saying about the qt doesnt really matter. sorry just flustered this kind fell into lap as im watching football lol. and no he will be going to qt i learned that leason years ago with freshwater.

01/22/2012, 03:45 PM	#4
Zappo Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Minnetonka, MN Posts: 582	+1 for whatever is handy. Just don't put bright lights above the QT and you should have nothing to worry about.

01/22/2012, 04:13 PM	#5
captrad Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: irwin, PA Posts: 63	ran to market and got di water the bulb is an old t8 its rather reddish dont want to have to clean a green tank in 2 weeks lol hope the di water will help some might grab new bulb in next few days. thank you all for the fast help

01/22/2012, 05:09 PM	#6
Augustus Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 73	If it helps a buddy of mine has a TDS meter and we just tested the cheap distilled water I use from the grocery store and it was reading better than his RO/DI water. Not much but it wouldn't register on his TDS meter and using the refractometer showed it as 0 as well. The irony of this was I suspected my distilled water was the source of an algae outbreak and everything tested perfect but my bulb was old. So in the end he suspected the old bulb was likely one of the main causes of my algae outbreak, so change that bulb!

01/22/2012, 05:24 PM	#8
captrad Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: irwin, PA Posts: 63	got the lights on dt with free bulbs 10k in it cant wait to change for a 14k like those alot more. the bad bulb was just over the qt. thanks feel safer now about the di

01/22/2012, 06:18 PM	#9
sporto0 Moved On Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Pittsburgh, Pa. Posts: 2,924	Good, glad things went well, in this case, temperature, salinity & ph are more important than water purity. Good luck on the new fishy!!

01/22/2012, 06:34 PM	#10
kaipo13 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Hawaii Posts: 138	Deionized water is better, running RO water through a deionizer simply prolongs the life of the resin/catalyst the DI unit uses.

01/22/2012, 07:01 PM	#11
AVDweeb Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: SF Bay Posts: 174	What do you guys think about this aquarium pharmaceuticals DI?