Distilled water...

Congaken · Mar 11, 2016

Randy: I went to NY Aquatic yesterday to pick up a purple firefish...my water came up in our conversation...I don't know if you know that I have been using bottled steam distilled water for my 10 gallon nano pretty much from the beginning, since June...I thought I read that it is OK (?), but I don't know what other options I might have...I can't really afford an RO unit at this time...Do you think that this could be affecting my fragile water situation (pH)?... My well water is very good but comes out at about under 7.0...Michael at NYA felt that the distilled water may be leaching plastic from the storage tub and even minerals from the live rock...is there anything that can be added to distilled water to make it closer chemically to RO?...still waiting for my calibration fluids for the pH meter...please come up with a great and final solution...getting frustrated...Ken

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 11, 2016

Distilled water will have no effect in the tank that is any different than RO/DI, assuming that it is not distilled with copper cooling coils (where copper might be an issue). While something might leach from the plastic, it is no more likely to do so than in stored RO/DI.

There's no reason to be concerned about how distilled water (or RO/DI) will impact tank pH.

If the pH is low and alkalinity is normal, the cause is excess CO2 in the water. In fact, if you know the CO2 in the water and the pH, you can calculate the alkalinity and that is how one hobby device works to measure alkalinity.

Congaken · Mar 11, 2016

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Distilled water will have no effect in the tank that is any different than RO/DI, assuming that it is not distilled with copper cooling coils (where copper might be an issue). While soemthing might leach from the plastic, it is no more likely to do so than in stored RO/DI.

There's no reason to be concerned about how distilled water (or RO/DI) will impact tank pH.

If the pH is low and alkalinity is normal, the cause is excess CO2 in the water. In fact, if you know the CO2 in the water and the pH, you can calculate the alkalinity and that is how one hobby device works to measure alkalinity.

Thanks, Randy...I suspected that the NYA guy did not know what he's talking about...and I'm learning that I shouldn't listen to everybody...Thanks, one load off of my mind...

Retro Reefer · Mar 11, 2016

Sounds like he was hoping to sell you a RO unit with all the bells and whistles

Im using Distilled water exclusively on my current nano's and I have used it off and on for years when in a pinch on my larger systems with zero issues however I do check each gallon with my TDS meter just to make sure I didn't get a bad batch before mixing with salt.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 11, 2016

Congaken said:
Thanks, Randy...I suspected that the NYA guy did not know what he's talking about...and I'm learning that I shouldn't listen to everybody...Thanks, one load off of my mind...

You're welcome.

Good luck!

Congaken · Mar 11, 2016

Retro Reefer said:
Sounds like he was hoping to sell you a RO unit with all the bells and whistles Im using Distilled water exclusively on my current nano's and I have used it off and on for years when in a pinch on my larger systems with zero issues however I do check each gallon with my TDS meter just to make sure I didn't get a bad batch before mixing with salt.

No, I think that he only sells fish...Michael was actually very nice, had a lot of fish and seems to do a big mail order business...just had some "definite" opinions...

Cory · Mar 11, 2016

I have a water distiller. I like that in comparison to an ro/di there is a lot less to worry about when making water pure.

With a distiller, it will always read 0ppm, as to the nature of it.

With an ro/di you need to worry that all the membranes are fuctioning. Sometimes the deionization resin expires without actively testing for it. Then it can release ammonia.

My first choice is distilled water, but i use ro/di because its cheaper than the cost of electricity.

Duke4Life · Oct 12, 2016

Going to need 2 top off later today and called the company to see what type of coils are used. I know copper are bad but what about those that use stainless steel 1s? Is this a risk considering I have an eel?

Cory · Oct 12, 2016

Duke4Life said:
Going to need 2 top off later today and called the company to see what type of coils are used. I know copper are bad but what about those that use stainless steel 1s? Is this a risk considering I have an eel?

Stainless steel is good imo for a distiller.

Im currently building a solar water distiller for summer months.