Tap Water Conditioner or Distilled water

[blaster]

Hello all,

I wanted to know which is better for salt water fish for adding water because I keep getting different answers. Some people told me that distilled water is better but I found it to be a little expensive. Then I went to my local pet shop and bought myself Aqua Plus tap water Conditioner from Nutrafin.

Know which is really goo for the salt water fish and if Tap Water Conditioner is any good which brand gives the better performance.

 

[scuba_steve]

di water is better imo by far !! shop around for a water machine normally like 50 cent a gallon !! or just get an ro/di unit worth the money

 

[jamal-188]

If you have a wal-mart near buy they usually have ro/di machines for $.33 a gallon.

 

[blaster]

Why is di better than Tap water Condition? It also has a special coat to even protect the fish while the di does not have.

 

[scuba_steve]

di water is the puriest water ya can get !! it pulls out all unwated metals/ect!! as for the special coating !! one imo its only good for new fish that have lost it due to nets/handling/stress !! you will find that most products that offer the slime coating that it will make your skimmer go crazy !! its not that important imo !! the tap conditoner is just removing the clorine and mabe masking someothers not removing them like an ro/di unit would !!

here a ? do you have slime algae in your tank??? if so it from your water more than likly !!

 

[scuba_steve]

oppps hehehhe as ya see my typin' sucks heheh and didnt reread check before sent sorry !!!

 

[HoopsGuru]

As stated, the tapwater conditioner only detoxifies chlorine and sometimes heavy metals, it does not remove impurities. Your tapwater can still be high in nitrates, phosphates, and other nutrients that will fuel algae and other detriments to your tank.

 

[drinkingbird]

Treated tap water may also contains high levels of silicates- this will cause a diatom bloom in your tank (brown "algae like" spots on substrate) Getting a RO/DI or RO unit will clear this up too. The initial output of $$ may shock you ($130US and up, depending on model & requirements), but in the end it is well worth it; less problems to deal with down the road.

Take it from someone who learned the hard way. Tank is much better now.

 

[Doan]

I have to chime in on this as well. I set up my tank initally with treated tap water and that was a mistake.. I have always done water changes and all with RO water I get at walmart and it is getting better but doing it this way is just such a bad idea...My skimmer still hasen't recovered after about 3.5 weeks of having the new skimmer on, there are more microbubbles in there than you can believe.. I know exactly where you are with the whole I have just spent a ton of money on all this now I have to buy and lug water all over the place this is crazy thinking. But belive me not going RO of the bat was almost as big a mistake as buying the Fluval 404 (should have bought a RO unit) Just go to Wal mart buy 2 of those 10 gallon jugs and add the water over the course of a few days.. It will be worth it in the end and really

Doan

 

[tkos]

For saltwater it is the best way to go. Since you will be adding electrolytes back into the water anyway. It isn't as good for freshwater as it strips out even the good stuff.

 

[drinkingbird]

Doan , you have a fluval too! I have a 104 for my turtle tank & I hate it. I will just have to deal until it decides to stop working. What is it you hate about your fluval?

 

[afilter]

IMO, RO is the way to go. I recently returned to SW and set my 75gal tank up about 4 months ago with RO. Prior to that I had a 20gal SW going until I finished some remodeling to make room for the 75 Gal. I used tap water with conditioners in the 20gal. My water tests always came out good except nitrates were always on the high side and I was getting brown algae. I continually did water changes to try and reduce the nitrate levels. Finally, the light came on and I tested my tap water to find that the nitrate level was the exact same level as what I was finding in the tank.

Test your tap water, but for the money RO is the best IMO. It cost me $35 for water to set up my tank and now about $5 a month for water changes, but the quality is great!

Good luck,

 

[Doan]

Drinking bird.. well I have a reef... and I bought the 404.. well to put it simply it's a nitrate facrtory.. I am currently in the process of slowly fasing it out.. I have my first empty basket and am gonna empty the second on on sunday while I watch the eagles kill the panthers...


Doan

 

[drinkingbird]

I agree Nitrate factory, I find it very messy to clean. I'll be doing that this Sunday too. Have fun watching the game

 

[blaster]

Looks like everyone is clear on this. In a way your all right because I am getting like really brown stuff in the rocks and micro bubbles as well.

I will slowly be adding RO right away and adjust the problem.

Thanks to all for your advice.

 

[mansiz]

In my country, the tap water is RO water, but they did add in chlorine. Heavy metals i'm not sure, its NO3 free, so can I use water conditioner? Or should I test for others elements? If so what should I test? RO system seems to be very very expensive here, over S$1000, US$500++.

 

[dralarms]

Everyone keeps talking about a ro unit. I'm just an ol cuntry boy , are you referring to something like the Pur filter that you buy and set on your counter for drinking water? Is that an RO? Boy this is getting confusing. :?

 

[steve-s]

are you referring to something like the Pur filter that you buy and set on your counter for drinking water? Is that an RO? Boy this is getting confusing. :?

How Reverse Osmosis Systems Work

Cheers
Steve

 

[dralarms]

Thanks for the link, but is a "Pur" brand filter unit a ro?

 

[steve-s]

Thanks for the link, but is a "Pur" brand filter unit a ro?

No, the Pur water filter is primarily just a carbon filtration unit that filters out large micron items. An RO unit can filter down to one micron and will remove about 98%+ contaminates.

Cheers
Steve