Water

jrein40806

Member
I read on this board to use the water that Wal-Mart sells. When I went there they had 2 kinds. RO and Distilled.Which one should I use?
 

timsedwards

Active Member
am i seeing double?? :D Try and stick to one forum that way we wont get confused. Im not ignoring it I just dont know the answer! RO and DI is best.
Someone else will fill in.
Best Wishes,
Tim.
 

timsedwards

Active Member
LOL no problem we have all done it!
The Reef forum is the busiest of all of them just so you know for future ref.
BTW what time is it in the states? What are you still doing up!? :p
Tim.
 

timsedwards

Active Member
Awwww bless. Normally I am the only person on this board until 2pm my time (i think you are 6 hours behind...) so I have time then to read posts and help where i can :) This does work conversely when i need help there is no one there until later! LOL.
The joys of time zones......
 

bheron

Member
JRein,
I have direct experience with Wal-Mart water so I though I could offer some input...
The Walmart by me sell 1 gallon bottled jugs of RO Water (its a white and green label and says "drinking water" but a closer look says "Reverse Osmosis"). They also sell another, purple label, that says "Distilled Water." I think this is what you're talking about.
I've been using this for top offs and water changes for almost a year now. Aside from the 25 1 gallon jugs I have to lug out of there each month, I've also found something else:
For some strange reason my PH has been very high (8.6-8.8) the past 8 months and I think its the Walmart RO water I use. Try it yourself before using alot of it. I tested the plain water right from the jug and received a PH of like 7.6 . After I added Seasalt from Aquarium

[hr]
(respectable and widely used) the PH jumps to the 8.6-8.8 range! I cant explain why. I even contacted the nice people at Aquarium Pharm and bought a new batch just to make sure. Whatever it is, I have come to think that its something in Walmat's RO water. I would love to hear if anyone else has founf this, too.
So, bottom line, my opinion is that it seems to be great except for this strange PH thing. I would just test a batch of it, mixed with your seasalt first.
Hope that helps!
 

jrein40806

Member
Having the internet is a blessing. We get to converse with people all around the world anytime we want!
I tried the saltwater about 10 years ago only to get frustrated and quit. Finding this board has been AWESOME!! I don't do a lot with my tank before asking. I appreciate all the help!:)
 

timsedwards

Active Member
Hi JRein,
I totally agree, i was lost before this board. Wasted lots of money and didnt get much enjoyment out of it.
No problem for the help, you will find that people like me who enjoy this hobby thoroughly enjoy helping other people!
Tim.
 

bheron

Member
JRein, Sir Tim, I agree - you can't have a successfult tank w/out this site!
Nas19320 - thanks for the tip on the "purple cap". I know it says "distilled" on the front of the jug, just didnt know it was RO/DI!
JRein - be sure to also add some salt to the RO and test that, too!
 
What about the Water macines that are located outsie or inside thstore like Safeway. our safeway seels R0 water for 29 cents a gollon and you just put the galon jug under it and it fills up, would this pe the same?I was thinking about buying 3-2gall water containeers just for tyhis purpose to fill my tank and top it off
 

brewercm

Member
I've been using the machines to get my water. They usually are required to put stickers somewhere on the front of the machine showing the dates of maintenance. Not that they wouldn't just slap a sticker on but if you find one that's trust worthy and tests well most likely it is maintained well.
 

beaslbob

Well-Known Member

Originally posted by bheron
JRein,
I have direct experience with Wal-Mart water so I though I could offer some input...
The Walmart by me sell 1 gallon bottled jugs of RO Water (its a white and green label and says "drinking water" but a closer look says "Reverse Osmosis").
...
For some strange reason my PH has been very high (8.6-8.8) the past 8 months and I think its the Walmart RO water I use.
...

The high ph is no suprise at all. When I started my 20g macro algae tank i used water from my 55g ph which had a ph of 7.4-7.4 (at that time). The 20g immediately had a ph of 8.6+. After a couple of months with macro algae it has lowered to the 8.2-8.4 range.
I am also not suprised that water from various sources of "pure" water actually has stuff in it. That is one more reason I use straight tap water.
 
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