Top off with distilled?

ClearwaterReefer · Feb 17, 2021

I have always done top off with distilled in my FOWLR. I do water changes with Rodi. Can I still top off with distilled for a reef tank? (32 biocube)

I don't have rodi onsite. I get from a windmill in a grocery store parking lot. LOL. Florida... link below.

Find a Water & Ice Refill Station – Watermill Express

watermillexpress.com

Skynyrd Fish · Feb 17, 2021

Yes you can. Make sure it’s steam distilled. With no added elements.

NeonRabbit221B · Feb 17, 2021

Short term, I see no issue with that. It may be a good idea to put an RODI unit on your radar in the future.

vetteguy53081 · Feb 17, 2021

You can but distilled often has a lower ph from the steam process
RO is the best choice

Reef. · Feb 17, 2021

There is a great tank on here that only uses distilled water from Walmart I think it is, distilled is just another way to purify the water, should be totally fine.

Melanie Fish · Feb 17, 2021

I top off with distilled and rodi for water changes. No problems at all.

zoaprince · Feb 17, 2021

imo distilled water doesn't deserve the bad rep it gets. Distillation is just another way to purify water. Properly distilled water will have 0 TDS. No problem at all topping off your tank with 0TDS water.

Casket_Case · Feb 17, 2021

You can use distilled, I used it for water changes also I just experienced algae problems.

flyguy13 · Feb 17, 2021

I use distilled from Walmart when I don’t fill up with rodi from Whole Foods. Had bad algae outbreaks from water from lfs!

LeftCoastRN · Feb 17, 2021

I doubt that any water purchased from any machine supplying drinking water is RODI water suitable for being used in a reef aquarium. A home RODI system for a reef aquarium is designated to remove as many chemicals and dissolved minerals as possible. This results in bland tasting drinking water. Most grocery store water machines will do reverse osmosis and then add some minerals for taste. This in NOT what you want in your reef tank. Steam distilled water is okay to use for water changes and topping off. Best to either find a LFS that supplies RODI water or another local reefer that will share their RODI water. That, or just buy a 4 or 5 stage stage RODI system for yourself...eventually it will pay for itself.

Reef. · Feb 17, 2021

LeftCoastRN said:
I doubt that any water purchased from any machine supplying drinking water is RODI water suitable for being used in a reef aquarium. A home RODI system for a reef aquarium is designated to remove as many chemicals and dissolved minerals as possible. This results in bland tasting drinking water. Most grocery store water machines will do reverse osmosis and then add some minerals for taste. This in NOT what you want in your reef tank. Steam distilled water is okay to use for water changes and topping off. Best to either find a LFS that supplies RODI water or another local reefer that will share their RODI water. That, or just buy a 4 or 5 stage stage RODI system for yourself...eventually it will pay for itself.

No one advised the OP to buy store drinking water, the OP was advised that Store distilled water was fine to use for a reef tank, which it is.

LeftCoastRN · Feb 21, 2021

Reef. said:
No one advised the OP to buy store drinking water, the OP was advised that Store distilled water was fine to use for a reef tank, which it is.

OP states he uses RODI from a Windmill water station for water changes. Looking at the Windmill website, they state they provide quality drinking water. I was suggesting that may not be best for using in a reef tank.

sfin52 · Feb 21, 2021

LeftCoastRN said:
OP states he uses RODI from a Windmill water station for water changes. Looking at the Windmill website, they state they provide quality drinking water. I was suggesting that may not be best for using in a reef tank.

That he did.

Reef. · Feb 21, 2021

LeftCoastRN said:
OP states he uses RODI from a Windmill water station for water changes. Looking at the Windmill website, they state they provide quality drinking water. I was suggesting that may not be best for using in a reef tank.

I took it that was where he was getting his Rodi water from...either way the fact still remains that distilled water is fine to use, if the distilled water has elements etc added to it then it is no longer distilled water, so no it’s not good to use. But distilled water is perfectly fine to use.