HELP I need RO water FAST!!!!

[mikeyfish]

How's everything!! Well my tank is doing prety good!! I have two small clowns and a small Foxface in a 55 gallon tank that has been up over a month. Amm is 0 nitrites are 0 but nitrates are 20, I want to get them down so it is time for a water change. when I was mixing the water last night I thought it was a good idea to test the tap water and there it was a NITRATES of about 10 in my tap water. I used this crap water from the start of things. Now I want to change to Ro water. I can't afford a unit right now!! My question is were can I get this water?? I hear people saying Walmart. But I was just there and the only RO water I saw was the one in a plastic container that said drinking water and it said Purified by Reverse osmosis. It is 58 cents a gallon. Is this the one everyone uses?? Please help..... I want to do a water change as soon as possible and I don't want to use Tap Water anymore.
Thanks so much!!

 

[buzz]

You can get it in almost any grocery store. Also, if there are any water stores in your area, that is a good source.
Tap water is a bad idea...

 

[brinkdrum]

Yup I use the same stuff. Drinking water processed by Reverse Osmosis and Ozonization. Picked up at walmart. Its been working fantastic for me! Give it a shot!

 

[mikeyfish]

Hey guys thanks for the input... Yeah my walmart doesn't have a machine that makes RO water. I bought 1 gallon of the water that says drinking water, it doesn't say anything about minerals added to it , there was one that said added minerals. I didn't get that one, anyway I bought a gallon so I can test it and no nitrates or phosates in this water. I was thinking about adding it to my tank. Kip you said the minerals are bad for the fish, what minerals do you think they might add to it, I thought as long as there were 0 amm, nitrites and nitrates and phosphate everything would be fine!!! Well thanks!! If anyone else used this water please let me know!!!
Thanks
mike

 

[nas19320]

At my local walmart I buy distilled water for 48 cents a gallon. Its in a 1 gallon milk jug with a purple cap and a purple label. Has worked fine for me.

 

[brinkdrum]

I use the RO from walmart and run a phosphate sponge. Solved my problem, been running great ever since.

 

[leigh]

i get RO water from my fishstore for around .35/gallon. if you smile pretty the guy running the shop will even carry the jug to your car for you

 

[bas12547]

I see a lot of talk about RO water from Walmart. Do they sell it by the Distilled water?
Brian

 

[mikeyfish]

yeah they sell it buy the distilled water. It says drinking water on it and it comes it a container with a green cap. It says in small letters Reverse Osmosis water. It usually cost 58 cents a gallon. I got some yesterday and tested for Amm, nitrite, Nitrate, phos and copper and I got 0 for everything. So I did a water change today with this water. It's got to be better than TAP WATER!!
Michael

 

[crazy4reefs]

at the few walmarts in my area only the super walmart has a ro/di water machine from the culligan man.. its only 39 cents a gallon. its located in the front of the store. you may want to check other walmarts around you if there is any..hth

 

[bergshawn]

Went out to my local super wal-mart and they didn't have the RO water either. I have an RO system in my house but didn't have enough time this past week to get together 20 gals. of RO water as it takes a very long time. Ended up with about 8 gals. of RO water and used the Wal-Mart Distilled water (purple label and cap) for the rest of the water.
I do have one question. Is the water I purchased from Wal-Mart better or worse than water that comes out of my PUR faucet-mount filter? Was just curious.
Thanks..

 

[elan]

Originally posted by bergshawn
I do have one question. Is the water I purchased from Wal-Mart better or worse than water that comes out of my PUR faucet-mount filter? Was just curious.
Thanks..
most likely.

 

[bergshawn]

Most likely better?

 

[mishka]

If you get your water from a machine in front of the store, be careful, maybe test it once in awhile. The filters clog and become useless if someoune hasn't been out to check, service and change them. Then that water is just tap water!!

 

[tlk]

I just did a test on my tap water....NO2 - 0 and NO3 - 0. Do I still need RO water? Anyone else from Columbus, OH test there tap water with diffent results?

 

[tlk]

retested my Nitrate again.... this time I have a 2.5 (low range) reading. This is the second lowest rating on my chart. Am I ok with this or is any Nitrate bad?
Thanks Again

 

[broomer5]

Tim,
You really want to avoid "any" nitrate in your freshwater source.
Topping off a 75 gallon tank each day, using freshwater that contains some nitrate levels..... could eventually cause tankwater nitrates to rise over time ( in addition to the natual nitrate production from bacteria activities ).
Very likely this will occur.
It's an accumulative thing ...... water evaporates, and leaves many of the chemical compounds behind in the tank.