distilled water the way to go?

hi. i live in a town that has horrible tap water. i cant afford to buy a ro/di right now. would it make a difference using the tap water with a water buffer or should i go with distilled? i also read that you can buy premade salt water? is that safe to trust? im trying to get everything in order before my first water change is needed so i dont have to scramble to get supplies. any other options are welcome i just want the best way for the cost that i can get ;D thanks in advance for the help

 

Firstly Welcome to 3reef!

If you feel you cant afford a ro/di right now you can use distilled water from the grocery store or better yet if they have one of the ro water dispensers where you fill your own jugs for like .39 a gallon. I don't know about where you live but just from hanging out in my LFS I know they charge 1.09/gallon for premixed water or .45 gallon for straight ro/di.
Stay away from the tap water if you plan on having a reef set up. It will only cause you serious headaches with excess nutrients that will be rocket fuel for algae and possibly saturate your rock then leach out slowly over time.
A good unit can be purchased for less than 150.00 and quickly pays for itself. Something to think about.

 

I agree with reefmonkey. I started out with a FOWLR tank and using tap water, then I decided I wanted corals. I had a difficult time keeping them until I went RO/DI the n I had some wonderful algas problems.

 

Try not to use vending machine water, you are completely at the mercy of whoever maintains the system and thats not always wise.
I am not familiar with your part of the country but many places have Water & Ice type stores that are staffed and they are usually more than happpy to test the conductivity or TDS in your presence when you tell them its for a reef tank. The manned stores are usually very good about maintaining their equipment since its their source of income.

If thats not an option I would check the LFS to see if they have RO/DI (and a TDS meter which you make them use every time!) or even straight RO. next would be bottled distilled water then bottled RO as long as it is not labelled for drinking which usually is remineralized so will have high TDS.

A good RO or RO/DI is not expensive and will pay for itself quickly, especially if you consider travel time and gas into the cost of purchased water. Making RO/DI youself averages less than a nickle a gallon for most folks and that includes the water and sewer rates and taxes plus replacement filters and resin in that nickle.

 

In addition to using good quality freshwater like RO/DI, it is very important to also use a high quality salt to help avoid potenital future algae problems.

 

i plan on buying the ro/di unit in a couple months but i wanted to get my sump and skimmer and fuge built first because i figured that would be more benificial to starting the tank off. am i wrong? because i can change the order i buy things if it would be better for the tank. the only decent lfs around is about 45 mins away so thats not really a weekly option to transport 10-20 gallons of water lol. im going to check on the water/ice places because i seem to remember one around here somewhere. thanks alot for all the responces i need all the help i can get! lol

 

Water is the single largest ingredient in your reef and everything depends on that water quality. For me its a no brainer, I'd get the RO/DI before anything. I started from day one with RO/DI, even for curing the live rock and have never had a drop of untreated tap water in my system ever.
Sumps, skimmers and refugiums are nice to have but are not necessary while water quality is.
Spectrapure has their CSP-DI on sale for $100 off right now, I doubt the sale will last much longer as its been on there about a month now.
SpectraPure Customer Appreciation SALE! 20% - 50% off

It does not take many trips to the store to recoup $145.

 

Totally agree, it will be much better for the tank to start with RO/DI then start with tap and then go RO/DI. Add a sump and refugium later. As mentioned, the cheapest way to go is to just buy your own unit. Upfront costs may be a little more, but you will save money in the long run. Also check out airwaterice.com. They are a sponsor and have some great products for good prices.

 

Welcome to 3reef! I'm in CT also, wasn't sure where you are located. There are some nice LFS that sell RO/DI water for a decent price. PM me your location if you like I can try to help out.

Here is a great link for a ton of LFS in CT: Connecticut Fish Stores - CT

+1 on AZ's post for the SpectraPure, I have their 90gpd model and love it. It will def save you in the long run, no carting buckets back and forth.

 

I agree... but.

But I ran with tap water for a year with no problems whatsoever. Not all tap is equal and there is some level of luck involved...

Tap water that has been properly conditioned and tested with freshwater kits for things like phosphates, nitrates, copper is *not* a guarantee of failure as some would like for you to believe.

Tap can be fine. It's not necessarily, but it can be. If you're comfortable with the risk and test occasionally (the tap water i mean)... go for it.

Having said that, I agree, you can add a sump and refugium later (I never added either) and get the RO/DI sooner.