Distilled Water

[solmartin]

Ok - my parents have the idea that distilled water is good to use for a water change. any thoughts?

 

[smb]

Would be extremely expensive I would think. I'm not sure about the buffering capacity of distilled water tho. Does anyone know?

 

[reg2k2]

Buffering capacity same as RO....none.
Would need to add salts/minerals or tap before adding to tank.

 

[jaywings19]

I'm a newbee to the aquarium hobby, so take my information with a grain of salt...

My tap water is low pH and very soft, so I tried using bottled water instead (from the 1 gallon jugs). I didn't realize that I was using "distilled" water from Poland Spring for my water changes/refills.

Anyway, there is no negative effect on my tank so far. Basically, I've found that the bottled water in general has a higher pH and is harder than my tap water.

The difference I've found between "regular" and "distilled" bottled water was that distilled (87.5 ppm) was slightly harder than regular (52.5 ppm).

Can anyone else provide more concrete facts about this?

 

[Alien Anna]

Distilled water can't be "Hard" or "soft" and has a neutral pH.

 

[mrV]

Never use or never drink distilled water. It should be handeled like poison. Humans and animals sells don't last pure water.

Like reg2k2 wrote, you need to add salts first, before you can use pure water.