Distilled Water

[smokinjoe2122]

Ok, so for the last few months I've went from using tap (My bad) to distilled water. Still shopping for a deal on an RO/DI unit. My LFS keeps telling me not to use distilled because it removes calcium and other needed trace elements for fish/corals/LR. Is this true? Should I be dosing with anything? Also is there any correlation with phosphates and distilled water? I did call the company and make sure they do not use copper for distillation.

Thanks guys!

 

[rebrn]

First I am by no means a fish expert and certainly not a salt-water tank expert. So I can't really help you on what you would need to add if using distilled water. However, I do know that distilled water is essentially the closest thing to pure water available. Basically what this means is through the process of distilling the water, all the impurities, including all minerals and trace elements, are removed from the water. I too have been told that this is not good for fish tank water. This would make sense as fish do need some minerals. I found this on the Internet, hope it helps in understanding the distilling process. But again I really can't help you with your other questions.

Distilled water is the closest thing to pure water available today. Utilizing a water distiller, water is heated to its boiling point, thus producing steam and thereby separating impurities from the water. The steam is then condensed back into a liquid form. The impurities remain as residue and are removed. Water distillers remove waterborne biological contaminants such as bacteria, viruses, organic and inorganic chemicals, heavy metals, volatile gases, cysts and other contaminants. Distilled water contains virtually no solids, minerals or trace elements. It is clean, natural and healthy. Steam distilled water is the standard by which all other waters are measured.

 

[nano_reef_ubergeek]

Distilled water contains no phosphates ... if you use a TDS meter, it will say 000. It Can be used for replacing water that has evaporated.

Water changes are another mater ... perhaps some people feel that it may not be good for water changes, although ocean salt mixes Should have some of the minerals that a fish needs.

I'm buying reverse osmosis water from a store and using it if my TDS meter says 000 or 001 .... I had to go to three places though, the first two places measured 009 and 018.

It's only 20 cents a gallon, distilled water is about one dollar a gallon.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

I'm assuming distilled water is going to be 100% pure water (same as RO/DI Water) in which case it is perfectly fine to use (someone can correct me if this is wrong, I have never used distilled water.

Yes it removes all trace elements from the water, including phosphates, nitrates, chemicals and all the other bad stuff. When you mix in your salt this will replace all the trace minerals that you need.

 

[Betta5]

If the lack of minerals and trace elements were a problem then it would be wrong to use RO water. Distilled water is way better than tap. Also the water gets everything it needs from a quality salt mix.