Alternative to RO/DI water for Nano Tank

[lotzofgibberish]

Hey all,
So I recently set up a 14g biocube and was wondering if there would be a difference between me using RO/DI water and going to home depot and using bottled water in those 5 gallon jugs that you invert and commonly see in offices.
Either way, I intend to get an RO/DI water filter but it would be nice to be able to delay the purchase.
Thanks in advance for your help!

[dkeller_nc]

The 5-gallon bottles designed for drinking water still have minerals in them (because RO/DI and distilled water do not taste good at all). If you want to substitute for a home RO/DI system, use either distilled (not "purified") water from the grocery store, or purchase purified water from your LFS.

[firebirdude]

Originally Posted by dkeller_nc

(because RO/DI and distilled water do not taste good at all)

Oh yeah? Tell me the difference between the two. And have you ever drank distilled water? Healthy for you or not, it tastes very similar to bottled water.

In short, the water you get in the 5-gallon jugs is generally just RO water. It's a better choice than using tap water, but still likely contains things that may cause algae outbreaks, etc. That said, we have plenty of users who use it without problems. In fact, we have some that claim to use tap water without problems. The idea behind distilled water is that it's a perfectly purified baseline to start with, before you add your choice of salt water mix. You know exactly what that water contains and know it doesn't have contaminants.

If you have a LFS in your area, they generally sell distilled water or pre-made saltwater pretty cheaply.

[Jonviviano]

I have tested many different water sources with my TDS meter.

RO/DI - 0 ppm

distilled water - usually 3-7 ppm

"purified water" - 20-40 ppm

Distilled/purified water was bought from wally world in gallon jugs.

I have used distilled water for water changes in my 8 gallon biocube with no adverse results. But it generally is expensive over time. $1 a gallon/weekly 1 gallon water change = $52 dollars a year give or take. A decent RO/DI unit would pay for itself in 2 years. You can also tap into it before the di resin and add a pressure tank for drinking water, ice maker, etc.....

[dkeller_nc]

Originally Posted by firebirdude

Oh yeah? Tell me the difference between the two. And have you ever drank distilled water? Healthy for you or not, it tastes very similar to bottled water.

Well, suit yourself, but I personally think highly purified water such as RODI or distilled tastes like crap. Many must agree, because an awful lot of bottling operations will add magnesium and calcium salts back to the water before bottling it for drinking (and it usually states the reason on the bottle: minerals added for taste).

[lotzofgibberish]

Hmm well now I want to try distilled water to test this debate. I shall also be ordering a RO/DI unit.
Thank you all for your guidance!

[tmz]

It's a matter of personal taste and what the distilled or RO/di takes in from the air before you sip it. Pure water acts like a sponge .
Even purified drinking water will have some impurities, potentially free metals within safe human consumption levels . Those levels are ,unfortunately, not always safe for all the animals we keep in a reef tank. Copper for example at more than 30ppb can harm corals.

[bertoni]

Distilled water likely will be okay, although the cost might get to be a bit much.

Drinking water can vary a lot in quality. I suspect you'll mostly be fine, but I wouldn't promise it.

[blanden.adam]

Originally Posted by tmz

It's a matter of personal taste and what the distilled or RO/di takes in from the air before you sip it. Pure water acts like a sponge .
Even purified drinking water will have some impurities, potentially free metals within safe human consumption levels . Those levels are ,unfortunately, not always safe for all the animals we keep in a reef tank. Copper for example at more than 30ppb can harm corals.

Tom brings up an important point. We talk about TDS and how that correlates to water purity, the problem is that TDS tells us absolutely nothing about the suitability of water for our reefs as not all TDS are created equal. 20 ppm of sodium chloride only would be great for use in a reef, but a reading of 0 ppm doesn't exclude the possibility of 50 ppb copper, which would torch the entire tank.

When we factor this into our decision, it just doesn't make sense to me to experiment with different water sources to determine if they are suitable or not. You really have no way to be sure the water you are getting is appropriately pure unless you made it yourself. Water is really one of the cheapest things in this hobby, why bother gambling?

[Chuck H.]

I've used various grocery stores' distilled water for years. When I've had occasion to test TDS it has always been 0. As mentioned, this isn't cheap and is the main reason I've restricted myself to a smaller reef (the Midi is considered a 36 gallon aquarium). I've tried zero waste DI type filtration for my tap water, which comes out well over 300 TDS, but found the resins deplete so fast as to be less cost effective than buying distilled. I may bite the bullet some day if I can wrap my head around the high waste ratio to usable gallon of water produced by most RO/DI units.

[blanden.adam]

Originally Posted by Chuck H.

I've used various grocery stores' distilled water for years. When I've had occasion to test TDS it has always been 0. As mentioned, this isn't cheap and is the main reason I've restricted myself to a smaller reef (the Midi is considered a 36 gallon aquarium). I've tried zero waste DI type filtration for my tap water, which comes out well over 300 TDS, but found the resins deplete so fast as to be less cost effective than buying distilled. I may bite the bullet some day if I can wrap my head around the high waste ratio to usable gallon of water produced by most RO/DI units.

The 4:1 waste : pure ratio with ideal pressure seems pretty bad until you realize a 10 minute shower takes like 50 gallons of water. So you're 5-10 gallons a week for water changes takes less water than one person uses in a day to bathe.

[markalot]

Distilled water around here (Cincinnati) purchased at Walmart, Meijers, and Kroger all tested 0 TDS with a temperature correcting TDS meter. I used distilled for a few months until I purchased an RO/DI.