Help, RO water (distilled) (drinking water)???

[reefdude37]

Hey, i am planing on going to walmart or the grocery store soon and i want to get some Ro water. What should i buy, i have a 10 gallon and i wanted to buy like 20 gallons or so for water changes. Should i get Distilled water, drinking water what?

Please tell me a brand to get... also when i do weekly water changes do i mix the salt with the 1 gallon water changes. or do i just pour freshwater in the tank once a week. please help :notsure:

 

[bigarn]

Any RO or distilled water is fine IMO. When doing water changes you have to mix the salt and water together for at least 24hrs before doing the change. Check the specific gravity also ... you want it to be the same or as close to what's in your tank as possible. Use freshwater only when doing top offs.

 

[laddy]

Both........you'll want to maintain a specific level in your tank, so topping off every night (or every morning) is a must if you want to maintain your specific gravity levels you've established.
Also, you'll want to do weekly water changes, whereby, water is drawn out of the tank and replaced with fresh saltwater you've mixed, or purchased. I buy my RO water from the machines outside my local grocery store ($.25 per gallon), but in a pinch I'll buy distilled at the grocery store. On those occasions I've never noticed any odd side effects.
Good luck.

 

[reefdude37]

so what is the differnce between weekly water changes and top offs? Isnt top offs where u fill the tank back up every night or when ever whth freshwater? does the water evaporate from ur tank and u have to put it back in? im really confused because i dont even notice how much water evaporates from my tank daily.

 

[reefdude37]

and how much water do i poor in my tank everynight for top offs?

 

[bigarn]

With top offs you're replacing evaporated water with freshwater. Remember, only the water evaporates not the salt. You want to keep the water level a little lower than the top of the glass on your tank. With weekly water changes you remove a certain percentage of water and replace it with the same amount of saltwater.

 

[reefdude37]

so for top offs i put in like 2 cups or fresh distilled water?

 

[bigarn]

If that's how much you need to replace due to evaporation, yes.

 

[laddy]

Mark the back left, or right, side of your tank with a piece of tape (or something else), at the water level line where your salinity is where you want it. I keep mine topped off right at the plastic collar line (standard 10g), and have done so for simplicity. Bigarn makes a good point, when water evaporates THE SALT STAYS BEHIND, causing a rise in SG or salinity. You'll want to topoff with fresh water daily (twice daily is even better as to not cause a spike in salinity).
My hypothesis at the moment: The major barrier to nano reefs is a lack of small scale auto top-off systems. I borrowed a Pinpoint meter a month ago, and during the normal course of a week my SG was too rich by .02 and too weak by .02 depending on how often during the day I topped off my tank. My larger tank, pretty constant. Just an observation.