Ro Water Or Bottled Water

[thomas10051988]

Hi all

i have a 10 gal tank which will be a mini reef but the problem is i cant get RO water i was wondering if bottled water would be just as good

thanks

 

[Colin_T]

bottled water is usually just filtered tap water.
You can usually buy deionised or distilled water from the shops or chemist. Unless your tap water is full of nitrates just use it straight. Or distill your own.

 

[SkiFletch]

Distill your own, that's ambitious...

I'd be more inclined to use distilled water from the supermarket

 

[thomas10051988]

thanks for your replies is distilled water from the supermarket expensive

 

[Colin_T]

no more expensive than drinking water from the supermarket.

 

[kj23502]

I know I'm reviving this from a couple months back.. sorry.

So distilled water is the same as Reverse Osmosis water? I'm considering all my options for a couple tanks. A nano tank is looking VERY atractive to me

Thanks so much for an answer

 

[Musho3210]

I know I'm reviving this from a couple months back.. sorry.

So distilled water is the same as Reverse Osmosis water? I'm considering all my options for a couple tanks. A nano tank is looking VERY atractive to me

Thanks so much for an answer

they are similar, both are (or try their best to be) pure water (at the very least 0 tds). Distill evaporates the water molecules, with the hopes of the heavier metals staying behind since those do not turn into a gaseous state at the same temp water does. reverse osmosis uses... well osmosis... basically a membrane only allows small molecules to pass (water being small) while bigger molecules (metals) dont get through, and are flushed away.

 

[kj23502]

thank you! Do you know, is $1 a gallon for r/o premixed saltwater from the lfs a good deal?

 

[SkiFletch]

It's about average for what an LFS would charge... Doesn't mean you cant do it WAY cheaper with your own RO unit and salt through...

 

[kj23502]

I guess. But R/O units are sooo expensive initially! I may be able to buy one that hasn't been used for awhile...Is that ok that it's been sitting awhile? I haven't asked specifically, but I'd guess it's been 1-2 years. I'm now reading that Nano REALLY ISN'T the way to go for a newbie to start saltwater... sigh. I'm not sure if I could put a 50 or 60 gallon tank where I was going to put the Nano. I'm not even sure atm how much one would weigh with all the rocks and water. Right now I'm reading and researching everything I can. Basically, I'd want to stock 2 clownfish(thinking black and white ones) and a green mandarin and build the rest of my stock around those three fish. What do you all think of all this?

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, yes, a Nano is not exactly the easiest way to learn saltwater aquaria, but it can certainly be done. The difficulty is resisting temptation and going slow enough so that you don't have losses or worst, tank crashes. A nano tank can quickly turn against you, ESPECIALLY if you go too fast.

Lets first decide if you NEED to use RO or Distilled water. Do you plan on keeping corals? If so, which corals? Your fish stocking sounds fine, but that's only a drop in the bucket

 

[kj23502]

Well, after my tank is well established (prob a year or so), I'd like to get an anemone for my clownfish pair! What what I've read, so far, they require superior water quality....do you think? Other than that...any easy to keep, colorful corals.

And reef safe fish, as I'd want a clean up crew...and don't want them to be eaten left and right...or for that matter for them to eat my beautiful corals. Yea....I have a lot of planning to do!

 

[SkiFletch]

Humm, well a duanting but doable task. You're right, they do require superior water quality and it will probably take you a while to figure that out. Where abouts in south dakota do you live? Near any cities, or are you out on your own well water?

 

[kj23502]

We're in Sioux Falls. We have city water(and who knows what kinda junk(chemicals) they put in it. I probably don't want to know. It would only take me about 10 minutes to get to the only pet store that sells pre-mixed saltwater. But if I could buy a used r/o thing and mix my own water for alot cheaper than at $1 a gallon, especially since I'm going to do a bigger tank, I'll be up for that!

At the end of this year(or maybe early next year) I do plan on creating a South American Puffer tank with some bumble bee gobies, so I can practice a little bit of testing on that tank since I'll make it brackish.

By the way, SkiFletch, THANK YOU soo much for answering my ?'s. I really appreciate it!

 

[SkiFletch]

Sioux Falls Water Quality Report every major county is required by law to put out something similar in this country . So you've got some HARD water there, wow. Your metals look great, very very low and most other elements would be just fine with dechlorination; my only worry though is the exceptional level of sulphate in your water. It's not that big a deal for corals, but I do know one pest that can use it as a fuel... Cyanobacteria... Might be worth the investment in an RO unit or distilled water from the supermarket as a temporary measure. TBH, the best place to find an RO unit on this side of the pond is ebay