Water
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Daniel@R2R
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RODI water is best. Distilled can be used as a reasonable substitute.
redfishbluefish
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Without question RO/DI. Might wish to check out THIS recent thread on using tap water and conditioner.....and especially the link @thehammer1985 posted.
thehammer1985
Well-Known Member
I would never use distilled you can't guarantee that they are not using copper coils in the evaporator section
Copper hasn't been used in most commercial and industrial distillation systems in decades. I can remember the party they had at the environmental testing lab I use frequently when they retired the old still 15-20 years ago. it took a crane to lift it out through the roof.
Today they use exotic metals like titanium or epoxy or glass lined exotic metals. Even if you find one that uses copper, the levels would be so low it would be all but undetectable with anything other than lab instruments.
When purchasing water from any source do yourself a favor and spend $25-$30 on a good ATC compensated handheld TDS meter so you can make sure you are getting the quality of water you are paying for.
Today they use exotic metals like titanium or epoxy or glass lined exotic metals. Even if you find one that uses copper, the levels would be so low it would be all but undetectable with anything other than lab instruments.
When purchasing water from any source do yourself a favor and spend $25-$30 on a good ATC compensated handheld TDS meter so you can make sure you are getting the quality of water you are paying for.
beaslbob
2500 Club Member
Depends on what you're gonna have in the tank.
In a system balanced out and stabilized with macro algaes with fish and soft type corals, IMHO any potable water is fine. (tap water).
But for more delicate corals then I hear you need rodi to lower the copper concentration.
my .02
RO/DI.
RO by itself is a 90-98% efficient device, it takes the final DI step to get the treated TDS down to 0. I haven't used tap water in almost 20 years and it is the single best change I made. It started with RO only purchased from a water & ice store near me then a Watts Premier drinking water system purchased from Costco which was later modified (at great cost) into a RO/DI followed by 5 more RO/DI systems until I arrived at what I have today which has been in operation over 7 years.
RO by itself is a 90-98% efficient device, it takes the final DI step to get the treated TDS down to 0. I haven't used tap water in almost 20 years and it is the single best change I made. It started with RO only purchased from a water & ice store near me then a Watts Premier drinking water system purchased from Costco which was later modified (at great cost) into a RO/DI followed by 5 more RO/DI systems until I arrived at what I have today which has been in operation over 7 years.
beaslbob
2500 Club Member
I also do no water changes which could be a very important aspect of using tap water as well.
Again this is with a system that is balanced and stabilized with (macro) algae. To that point that ammonia, nitrates and phosphates are unmeasureable. Sure you get temporary nitrate jumps as the algae returns the system from some shocks. But that is a direct result of the macros breaking up any possible tank crash by consuming ammonia.
But just out of curiosity what "other stuff" is in the water that isn't ok for "any marine life"?
Sure I understand delicate sps corals but "all marine life?"
chorine and chloramines are not significant because they are rapidily removed from the system and not massive being added through large frequent water changes.
And the macro algaes not only recycle fish wastes into fish food but also bioaccumulate iron, copper, and most other "nasties".
I was just curios what was not taken out that would not allow a fish only system to thrive for years and years.
you can get a DI resin bottle fill it up with resin then just filter the water through that, that's the easiest way to do it but a bit more costly in the long run. You can always get your water from a LFS if there's one nearby.
