Distilled water

[lisamarie806]

Can I use distilled water for top offs?I want to get r/o water sys. a.s.a.p. I have only a few corals in my tank, my dispar anthias died sometime in the night. I have been reading everything I can about salt water. Sometimes I think no matter what I do, I get no where with this salt water aquarium. I want to have a nice salt water aquarium. I love tropical fish, cichlids and I will love my salt tank if I can get through the headache
:frustrat: Im going to get the hydro pumps maybe this will help some with the water movement, along with the two power heads. So can I use distilled water for now. About how many gal. of water will I need to replace if I pull off 10% of the water in my 75 gal. tank?
Thanks again for all the help everyone have gave me.

 

[ccCapt]

Distilled water is fine....but pretty expensive.
10% of 75g is 7.5g. ;)

 

[lisamarie806]

Thanks again for the help. I just want to get the aquarium right. I can see it takes time and patience when it comes to the salt aquarium.

 

[yote]

Lisamarie,I'll bet your local wal-mart has a RO water machine where you can fill your own containers.If they do,that water will only cost you about .33 cents a gallon.

 

[lisamarie806]

yes Im pretty sure they do have one. Thanks,it will me a lot less expensive until I can get an r/o sys. My water in my salt aquarium, I could not even get it to turn a true yellow as it is suppose to do in about 8-12 drops in the kh test it took like 15 drops for it to turn like a like an orange yellow so this is way to high I need to get the kh down to around 8-12 range Im not sure why Im having an algae problem it is like a brownish/red color on the glass. Can you tell me some really nice bottom cleaners to get. I ask the guy at the lfs to get me something that would eat the junk on the sand bed, he gave me an, emerald crab and all that thing does is hide in the rocks and eats stuff off the rocks. When I clean my tank is it best to leave the sand alone or vac it, to get some of the junk on top of the sand off. I have done about 10% water change Sunday and Im about to do 10 more tonight or tomorrow night. What do u think about a sea cucumber and some turbo snails.

 

[ccCapt]

Your alk (dKH) is probably high from using tap water. Once you start doing water changes with good water, it will start to drop....how fast depends on what salt you use.

If I remember correctly, you just set this tank up recently? New tanks go thru different stages. You'll get a dose of diatoms, maybe some cyano, maybe some hair algae. Just have patience and get into a steady routine for maintenance and water changes. Nothing really eats diatoms or cyano, so I would hold off any additional cleaning crew at this time.

 

[lisamarie806]

yes my tank is only like maybe 10 or 11 weeks old. I will go with 10% water changes with distilled and keep check on all readings. I was really thinking...someone please tell me that my tank will soon take care of it`s self, I hope soon :) Thanks for all the help.

 

[dustin_P74]

once it matures (about a year old) its start to stabilize itself. also what salt are you using, sorry if you mentioned it early

 

[Teixeira29]

U can get distilled water in your local market. They also sell RO water too. You might be having algae problems from lack of circulation in your tank! What kind of powerhead are you using? Hydor Koralia Water Circulation Pumps are good, one on each side! Just be patient and eventually everything will come together! Hang in there!

 

[dustin_P74]

You might be having algae problems from lack of circulation in your tank!

algae doesnt grow because of lack of flow, thats cyano. algae grows from high nutrients like phosphates

 

[yote]

yes my tank is only like maybe 10 or 11 weeks old. I will go with 10% water changes with distilled and keep check on all readings. I was really thinking...someone please tell me that my tank will soon take care of it`s self, I hope soon :) Thanks for all the help.

And you thought this was supposed to be a relaxing hobby:D

Eventually it'll settle down.As you learn and the tank matures,you'll see less and less algae.