Need help!!!

[abrahamavelar]

Hello, I'm getting back into the hobby after 7 or 8 years of not having any fish. Im getting the aquatop Recife eco 40 aquarium, but I want to start the cycle from scratch, taking my time to get it down perfectly.
My issue is that I do not have an rodi unit and I don't have but a 5 gallon jug to fill up with salt water. The guy at one lfs told me to cycle I could use tap water and since i will still be doing water changes I could then add rodi instead of the tap also with each too off, but the. I was thinking could I use distill water or the one they sell at Walmart that you refill your own jug. I have one of those machines at the store that's 2 min from my house I would not mind do 20 trips there help please.

 

[Sniperhank]

Good morning.

It is usually best to start with ro/di. This way you have the best starting point and won't have to continue to do water changes to get the parameters in line with whatever is added from your tap or distilled water. I had to run distilled for some time in my prior reef and I always had algae issues. With the money I spent I could have just ran a ro/di unit.

 

[abrahamavelar]

Is there any other way to get rodi water besides the lfs or do they have portable rodi units or can you get rodi water from the water store etc

 

[okapizebra]

Why not just buy a few more 5 gallon buckets?

You can also purchase your own rodi unit and make your own water. Check out bulk reef supply, they have great units for great prices.

 

[Sniperhank]

Besides BRS, which make nice units, I am currently running this unit and really like it.
https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/4...MIy6fFsqCV4wIV0ZFbCh3GuwXAEAQYAiABEgKSMvD_BwE

Having your own ro/di unit saves you a lot of time and money.

 

[abrahamavelar]

The issue is landlord won't allow me to install an rodi so I got one of the portable units from chewy.com n it's gonna take atleast till the 12th to get here n I just wanted to get started now but if I have to wait, I got 3 5 gallon jugs already I'mma get 2 more, issue is that's all it fits in my car

 

[Sniperhank]

Distilled will help get things started and would be best if that is the case, but I'd wait until the ro/di unit arrives to start filling the system for best results.

 

[abrahamavelar]

Yeah I've decided to do that instead of rushing it