Reef Aquarium Fact #145 Distilled water is a good substitute for ro/di water when topping off your t

[revhtree]

We are going to continue discussing the reef aquarium facts submitted by our members. Do you agree or disagree? What are your thoughts?

Fact #145

Distilled water is a good substitute for ro/di water when topping off your tank.

Truth or False? What else might we need to learn on this subject? Please also share any pictures that may pertain to the subject.

 

[wysiwyg]

never tested the tds of distilled water. i do have a friend that uses it in a pinch. i would say true just for the simple fact i would use distilled water in a pinch over tap water

 

[Fatman]

Yes!

Distilled water is a good substitute for RO/DI water. Much better than the "filtered" water available at the grocery. Recently I tested distilled water, store filtered water, my RO/DI water, and the "spring" water you buy in bottles. The distilled water had 0 TDS, store filtered water had 28 TDS, my RO/DI water had 0 TDS and the "spring" water had 43 TDS. I'm not sure on the current technique for creating commercial distilled water, but there is a chance that is may have been distilled using copper pipe, so it would be wise to do a copper test on it before using it.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

I do not have an RO/DI unit, so I use distilled. My tank looks great and I have not had any issues. I do plan on getting a unit in the future.

 

[ironworker]

i cant be for certain but i believe it is distilled in stainless pipes do to galvanic corrosion that builds inside copper, yet alone the cost of copper.

 

[AZDesertRat]

TRUE.
Distilled water when made with a modern still is almost as pure as good RO/DI. In the olden days some distillation units still used copper plumbing but today respectable vendors use glass or epoxy line exotic metals so copper and trace metals are a thing of the past.
For small systems it is cost effective but on the average a gallon of RO/DI is about a nickel to make with your own RO/DI system at home so very cos teffective for larger systems or if you also use the RO only portion for drinking and cooking as many of us do to eliminate all those store bought plastic bottles at a buck a quart of so.

 

[REEFKEEPER10]

I started my first tank with a gallon of distilled water and a bag of redsea salt mix. It was a one gallon beta tank. the tank lasted a week but that was because I had know clue what I was doing thanks to the LFS. But anyways the fish was fine that entire week so I say yes.

 

[jonbar1]

I've used store bought distilled water for years. I never spent the money upfront to get an RO/DI when I should have and now it's my $5 a week habit. The back info box on the jugs I get say it is in fact RO/DI, I think the term distilled is just marketing to let you know it's the pure stuff compared to the other types on the shelves.

I fill the used jugs up with tap water and let them sit to dechlorinate for use on the freshwater tanks. I've got at least a hundred stored in the basement and whenever family comes over they jokingly refer to it as my Apocalypse Water stash.

 

[JWD57NH]

Yes!

Distilled water is a good substitute for RO/DI water. Much better than the "filtered" water available at the grocery. Recently I tested distilled water, store filtered water, my RO/DI water, and the "spring" water you buy in bottles. The distilled water had 0 TDS, store filtered water had 28 TDS, my RO/DI water had 0 TDS and the "spring" water had 43 TDS. I'm not sure on the current technique for creating commercial distilled water, but there is a chance that is may have been distilled using copper pipe, so it would be wise to do a copper test on it before using it.

They boil it and collect the steam

 

[brandon429]

I’m on year seventeen using any brand distilled I can find for top off including gas station random brands distilled, grocery store, if it says distilled my reef has drank it.

on a side note, I wish I could find the post here from the man who api ammonia tested wal mart distilled on api and got solid green positive, not a joke the thread exists. Didn’t smell, didn’t taste bad, but pegged api to the sky. Then again, what doesn’t peg api to the sky but that always left me confounded