water supply

[FishFreak1961]

I have a 4 month old saltwater tank and we are on well water.
I have been purchasing RO water from LFS, but am getting tired
of toting buckets and she may not be open when I have an emergency.
I wonder if purified or distilled water works ok? I have not tested
my well water yet. I use Instant Ocean salt for mixing.

 

[joy13]

Have you thought about a RO unit?

 

[FishFreak1961]

I was trying to work around that.
Aren't they expensive? Are they difficult to set up?

 

[joy13]

They aren't really that expensive and not hard at all to put in. Check around and find one that is in your price range.

 

[FishFreak1961]

I just ordered one!! Better safe than sorry. I got a countertop model
for about 250. To me it is worth it. I have a freshwater tank too and
it will be very useful. Thanks for your advice - I took it!! No more worries.
We can drink it too

 

[mfdrookie516]

i would be hesitant to use it in your freshwater tank without treating it with some sort of buffer. with saltwater, the salt mix, rock, and substrate do that for you... with a freshwater tank, you'll have to add something to it

 

[cmor1701d]

What brand/model did you get?

Is it a RO or RODI unit?

RODI water is NOT recommended for FW tanks. RO water I believe is fine for drinking, but I'm not sure about it's use in FW.

Distilled water is fine.

 

[CaptainAhab]

You can use it for Freshwater, you just need to add back the essential minerals that were removed during the purification process.. RO-Rite or somthing similar is one of the products. Once you add it, check the PH to determine if you need to buffer the PH. Make sure you wait till you add everything back in before checking the PH.. Testing the PH of pure water is iffy at best since it has no buffering capability.. it can change quickly.

Distilled water is no different than RO/DI (I would think).. pure H20 no minerals.