# Distilled water



## Nolacrazygrl (Jul 11, 2011)

Please read whole post before jumping on the "Oh noez don't use distilled water, it's horrible!" bandwagon...

I have done research on the net regarding using distilled water and I'm even more confused now.

I have found opinions ranging from "distilled is fine, I use it" all the way to "omg the fish is going to die a horrible death if you do" type of answers for this water. These opinions seem to come from average people all the way up to some type of aquarium site.

I've had my betta in distilled for at least 2 months now and first let me say this: he's fine as far as appearance, eating, activity, etc. He's not acting lethargic or breathing heavy. His appearance is great, no ragged fins or anything of the sort...etc., etc.

I've read that plants nor the fish can survive in this water, and either I have "superman" for a fish with 2 types of "superman" plants (that have to be trimmed every 2 weeks) or bettas are much hardier than what people think. :dunno:

My tap is way too hard leaving a nasty residue on anything it touches and I'd rather add to the distilled if possible instead of being a scientist when it comes to my horrible tap water that is going to make my tank look not so pretty. I tried a slow swap to spring water and it caused a major spike in acidity among other things...pH was the most alarming for me though as the spike was off the chart (literally) when I did that so I've switch back slowly and it's close to 7 again.

*It seems distilled is missing possible minerals the fish needs. Is there a way to put those back into the water without causing a major problem?* *What exact minerals are missing?* I've also read that it's a matter of simply adding aquarium salt to the water. How true is this?


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## Punki (Apr 30, 2011)

I used bottled spring, not as good as tap but much better then distilled. Not sure hwy you had an issue with spring D; Maybe a different brand would work better? D;


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## Nolacrazygrl (Jul 11, 2011)

Punki said:


> I used bottled spring, not as good as tap but much better then distilled. Not sure hwy you had an issue with spring D; Maybe a different brand would work better? D;


I know that because distilled water has nothing in it, that any minor chemical change can affect the pH but as much as the acidity spiked, it made me a bit nervous to continue to switch over.


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## Jirothebetta (Jul 15, 2011)

...You could test the acidity of the bottle spring water, I know different brands have different Ph. Kentwood is very acidic for instance...perfect for chiclids, but not necessarily betas and guppies....


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Distilled water can be too pure and lack the needed minerals, trace, electrolytes and oxygen all needed for proper osmotic function that can cause problems with the fish’ ability to move fluids in and out of their bodies and in the long term resist disease, lacks buffers for a stable pH.

What is your source water- pH, KH/GH


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

I used distilled water for years because I thought tap water was deadly for fish over long term use, even with conditioner XD Now that I'm using tap water I love how conveniant it is.


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## Pitluvs (Jun 22, 2011)

*removed my rant, not in the mood*

Anyways, I have no knowledge on distilled water, as I was told not to use it. So, I didn't. We have hard city water, it's white from the tap, I still use it and my fish are fine. We let ours sit for 24h. 

Really odd that your levels spike when switching to bottled.


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## Nolacrazygrl (Jul 11, 2011)

Oldfishlady said:


> Distilled water can be too pure and lack the needed minerals, trace, electrolytes and oxygen all needed for proper osmotic function that can cause problems with the fish’ ability to move fluids in and out of their bodies and in the long term resist disease, lacks buffers for a stable pH.
> 
> What is your source water- pH, KH/GH


I assume by source, you mean tap? I haven't tested the tap water because by looking at my shower head and other faucets, the amount of deposits are not something I want to deal with in my tank. 

Since my tank has a pump, there is movement providing oxygen although I read bettas don't require all that much oxygen.

What I'm looking for is possibly what elements and/or minerals that are missing from the distilled water that causes these issues. I keep reading about them missing but nothing stating exactly what is missing.


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

Hard water deposits (which I'm assuming is what you're seeing) are not going to show up in your tank unless you don't do necessary water changes. I have very hard water and never get build up.

Anyways a better option to distilled water would be revers osmosis water, you can buy this at walmart I believe and some fish stores offer it. This water lacks the hardness but has the necessary minerals added back in.


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## PewPewPew (Nov 26, 2010)

I agree with all that is posted. It truly is lacking, and unless the water is very, very bad, it really isnt needed. 

In future, try not to start threads out in a confrontational way. We're not going to jump on you. At least no one worth listening to, anyway.

Assuming we all would or that's the type of reply you'd receive may well net you the very response you do not want.


If you ask for reasons, rather than just if its okay, you're going to get better, more educated replies. That's all that's needed.

If, say, you were leaving 10 male bettas in a single 2 gallon tank, we'd certainly have something to say, but as far as this stuff goes, we're really not all that bad. Have faith and get to know us before getting defensive. We're pretty good people


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## Pitluvs (Jun 22, 2011)

1fish2fish said:


> Hard water deposits (which I'm assuming is what you're seeing) are not going to show up in your tank unless you don't do necessary water changes. I have very hard water and never get build up.
> 
> Anyways a better option to distilled water would be revers osmosis water, you can buy this at walmart I believe and some fish stores offer it. This water lacks the hardness but has the necessary minerals added back in.


I'm reading RO water should be used in combination to tap water 60/40 RO). Point is to dilute the tap water to make it softer, but RO water alone shouldn't be used. That's what the tropical forum says anyways! But great suggestion!


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Any time a switch is made from one type of water to another, it should be done slowly so as not to shock the fish.


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## PewPewPew (Nov 26, 2010)

Agreed! Do a mash-up.

I believe, though am not sure, that conditioners should be done much the same... My fish did not react well going from Top Fin to Prime.

But thats just an extra bit~


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## Arashi Takamine (Mar 3, 2011)

Pitluvs said:


> I'm reading RO water should be used in combination to tap water 60/40 RO). Point is to dilute the tap water to make it softer, but RO water alone shouldn't be used. That's what the tropical forum says anyways! But great suggestion!


 That's odd because I use RO water alone because our tap is definietly...Questionable. Fine for us to drink but it tastes awful and honestly with how random the fire department is with testing the hydrants our water will turn orange at random points in the year.

(I kid you not. I had to use diet 7up to brush my teeth because I didn't want that crap going in my mouth.)


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## Pitluvs (Jun 22, 2011)

They do that here about4 times during the summer, our water turns red/brown. Actually the night I bought Ben, I was driving home and heard about the warning that the water would be discolored LOL Ben spent the night in his dirty cup, I had no water for him.

This is just what I read on the Tropical fish forums today (the one linked to this forum) when someone was asking about water. Someone said to use the water to dilute tap water, but not alone. I dunno!


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## Tikibirds (May 26, 2011)

My tap water is horrible so I was using 1/2 distilled water with 1/2 tap water. I only had 2 bettas back then, but now with 12 bettas, it's too expensive. They did alot better with 1/2 distilled then they do with 100% tap but I use stress coat as a conditioner and that seems to help alot.


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## Nolacrazygrl (Jul 11, 2011)

1fish2fish said:


> Hard water deposits (which I'm assuming is what you're seeing) are not going to show up in your tank unless you don't do necessary water changes. I have very hard water and never get build up.
> 
> Anyways a better option to distilled water would be revers osmosis water, you can buy this at walmart I believe and some fish stores offer it. This water lacks the hardness but has the necessary minerals added back in.


I did read some things on that and also noticed the water from Walmart said it is RO. Specifically I have found this:

"For freshwater applications, using an R.O. unit will provide water without General Hardness (GH) or Carbonate Hardness (KH). This allows addition of trace elements and electrolytes to match the natural water conditions of the fish we keep. The removal of the KH allows use of buffers to easily set the water's pH wherever you wish. This is great for plants and soft water loving fish like Discus and Angels. "

I think I'm going to research this a bit more.



dramaqueen said:


> Any time a switch is made from one type of water to another, it should be done slowly so as not to shock the fish.


25% water change was what I did on my "slow swap" and it spiked my levels on the one change.



Tikibirds said:


> My tap water is horrible so I was using 1/2 distilled water with 1/2 tap water. I only had 2 bettas back then, but now with 12 bettas, it's too expensive. They did alot better with 1/2 distilled then they do with 100% tap but I use stress coat as a conditioner and that seems to help alot.


I may try this if I'm not happy with a little research I find on RO. I'm trying to avoid nasty build up on the rocks and "waterfall" at the top since I have a Chi Tank. At $0.80 a gallon, distilled is not really breaking my bank and that's why I just rather have used that instead of being a chemist every week. I'm stopping at 1 fish since my 2 cats won't allow me to have anymore.


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

Pitluvs.. you may be correct on the RO ratio... I don't know much about RO beyond what I've read on forums so I don't know if they mix with tap or not. They also might mix to make it cost effective.


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## Littlebittyfish (Jan 5, 2011)

You can checkout your local water report to see what sort of minerals and such are in your tap water.This is usually right online.
Our local water is pretty bad as well..and it always has ammonia in it. I used to use spring water and I never had any ill effects from it.I have since gotten more than 1 tank though (now have 8) and change out more than 15 gallons a week..this for me would be super expensive to buy that many jugs weekly.. so I switched back to tap water. I bought a really good water conditioner (Prime). 
So far so good.


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## bahamut285 (Dec 10, 2010)

Nolacrazygrl said:


> I did read some things on that and also noticed the water from Walmart said it is RO. Specifically I have found this:
> 
> "For freshwater applications, using an R.O. unit will provide water without General Hardness (GH) or Carbonate Hardness (KH). This allows addition of trace elements and electrolytes to match the natural water conditions of the fish we keep. The removal of the KH allows use of buffers to easily set the water's pH wherever you wish. This is great for plants and soft water loving fish like Discus and Angels. "
> 
> I think I'm going to research this a bit more.


Essentially the reason for using the products and methods above is because Discus and Angels require extremely specific water conditions. The R/O will create pure distilled water and "reset" its KH and GH to zero... in which you can then use those products to re-add the trace minerals to a safe and desired level, as well as set your own KH Buffer.

It is EXTREMELY convenient and safe, albeit will eventually be expensive constantly buying the product.

If you would like a more detailed analysis on what kind of water would be ideal (pure or mixed), I will need you to test (everything you can possibly test) from:
- your tap water out of the tap 
- your selected spring water


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