Top offs with Bottle Water

K

kmckienz

Reefing newb
Does anyone here use bottled water to fill or top off your tank?

I started using bottled water for tank top offs about 2 months ago. This is because I finally tested my well water that I had been usng and while everything else was perfect the nitrates were off the chart (over 160ppm). I could never get the nirates below 10-15ppm in my tank.
I tested my water this morning and for the first time my nitrate level is between 0-5ppm.
Does anyone else here top off with bottled water and find it works well?

What would be some of the draw backs?
 
I buy my RO water for 4 bucks a month. It is much cheaper for me because RO units use a lot more waste water. But, then again I only have a 55 and a 12 g.
 
.37 cents a gallon might not be to bad if your only topping off a small tank where you dont lose as much water to evaporation but for a system where your losing 1-3 gallons a day thats gonna add up. if your adding 3 gallons a day at .37 a gallon thats roughly $1 a day or $30 a month and the money you've spent for 5 months of water you could have purchased a RO/DI unit and be making even better water for your tank. That is also not taking into consideration weekly or bi-weekly water changes. An RO/DI unit other than the "must haves", lights, skimmer, etc, was the best investment for my tank. I know im putting the best water you can into my system. Aswell as i now have 50 gallons of water on demand if theres ever a disaster :)

If you do continue adding bottled water to your system i would always test it before adding it to the tank to make sure it's not loaded with nitrates and phosphates which lead to algea. Just because it's bottled doesn't mean it's pure.

Not saying these things to come across as a prickley pear but running a smaller tank can be so much harder to keep all water parameters in check and water quility is a huge deal no matter what size tank.
 
I use the RO water from Wholefoods as well. I just recently tried their DeIonized water instead and my diatoms seem to have diminished a little.
 
Altohombre said:
I use the RO water from Wholefoods as well. I just recently tried their DeIonized water instead and my diatoms seem to have diminished a little.
Click to expand...

That brings up a very interesting, and testable question: what's better RO or DI water? I have always assumed they are both good enough that either will do. Has anyone ever done a test of RO, DI and distilled water using scientifically accurate measurements down to much less than 1ppm for any toxic chems?
 
My RO unit has dual Deionizing canisters. :mrgreen:

Get a good RO/DI combo unit. Best of both worlds. Probably the best thing you can put in your tank other than NSW, and even that won't be the quality of some synthetics if you harvest it from the wrong spot. It could be loaded with hydrocarbons or other toxic chemicals found in the oceans. It's just so diluted in the ocean that it doesn't harm the fish as quickly as in our teacup sized tanks.

It's as essential as a light and pumps for your tank. IMHO, no reefer should be without one. A GOOD one.
 
Bottled water is fine to use, but there's a difference between bottled drinking (mineral) water and bottled RODI water. Most bottled drinking water is just repackaged tap water (read the label, most will say that it comes from a municipal source -- know what that means? Same place the water from your tap comes from). Bottled water from a municipal source is not good to use, IMO. If it's bottled RODI water, it will say on the label that it was purified via reverse osmosis or deionization. I would not use bottled water unless it states on the label that it's RO and/or DI.
 
Depending on the temperature of your well water and the water pressure you could be talking a cost of 10 to 20 cents a gallon to produce your own RODI water figuring your well water costs you the same amount to produce as to buy municipal water. Maintenance on the units would be based on amount of water being produced, figuring at 20 gallons a week for all your tanks combined your maintenance costs would only be about 30 dollars per year. The cost of the RODI filter will depend on your water pressure. If it is 50 psi or more you can get a system for a round $125 with shipping, ask Buffer for the URL. If you need a booster pump for pressure below 50 psi, the add another $200 to the filter cost.
 
I have less than 200 invested in my RO/DI unit and pump. I had to use a pump due to low water pressure. It's a 6-stage unit and does exactly what I needed. Puts out about 2.5g in 1/2hr.
 
Just got the water report for Arlington Co VA and we have radioactive barium in our water at the EPA limit! (Hey, maybe it could cause some cool mutation in one of my fish!)
 
Purified or RO bottled water is okay, BUT...

...stay away from SPRING water. I've tested several bottled/spring/purified waters for nitrates and phosphates. Everything I've tried, including waters from municipal sources, are okay and test 0 on nitrates. However, SPRING water, usually from natural sources, is super high on nitrates from my experience. Spring water is usually pasteurized but NOT run through an RO filter, as it would remove minerals and defeat the purpose of spring water. This leaves the nitrates, and so spring water is a BAD idea for your tank.

Spring water is always labeled as such - Dasani and brands like that are usually from municipal sources; even the Publix and Winn-Dixie brand purified water seem to be safe for tanks. Personally, I get mine from the RO machine at Publix for 30 cents a gallon.
 
Rcpilot said:
I have less than 200 invested in my RO/DI unit and pump. I had to use a pump due to low water pressure. It's a 6-stage unit and does exactly what I needed. Puts out about 2.5g in 1/2hr.
Click to expand...
:bowdown: How did you manage that? A pump and a pressure switch for a 100 gallom per day pump usually runs around $250 with out a RODI unit, and that is from a supplier of RO parts and membranes etc. A pump alone from some place like Marine Depot would run over $290 by itself if it was a pump for 100 gallons per day. We all could use an URL for a site with prices like you say. Plus an output of 5 gallon per hour means 120 gallons a day. That would be a pretty unbeatable price. :mrgreen:
 
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When you all say a six stage unit, do you mean one stage being a RO membrane and the other five stages all being canisters holding 10 inch filters or cartridges?
 
ROunit02.jpg


theres mine
 

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