Topoff and Water Changes

[T Fades]

A few questions for ya:

1) To perform topoffs (currently doing it about every other day), I am using distilled water. Does the distilled water need to be treated with chlorine/chloramine remover like Amquel before putting into tank to topoff? Is it okay to just pour some distilled straight from the the arrowhead bottle in the tank for topoffs?

2) During PWC, until an RO/DI setup can be bought, I am going to the LFS to buy their water. Does the water from the LFS need to be treated before putting in tank with something like Amquel to remove any chlorine/chloramine?

3) Also during PWC, I currently plan on going to the LFS and get their water. This water will sit in the garage in a sealed jug for up to a week until the PWC can be performed. When should I add the heater and power head to the jugs to get temp and oxygen up to par?

Thanks all!

 

[Cathic]

No need to treat distilled water, it will make a protein skimmer work bad as well, your LFS water you will need to discuss with them the process it goes through before you buy it to determine if it is good quality.

 

[rdahlke1105]

1. No distilled is pure water
2. I would test the water with a TDS meter to make sure that it is pure. Some LFS don't change their membranes often enough.
3. Not necessary, but you do when you have added salt.

 

[wontonflip]

+1 everyone....the heater/powerhead thing should just be right when you're planning a pwc, just so you don't shock your inhabitants w/ cold water. Plus the powerhead will stir the water and help dissolve the salt. Some of us prepare our pwc water the night before. But don't put a heater unless you're going to do the water change, otherwise you will promote algae growth in your container.

Hopefully your lfs has a TDS meter hooked up to their rodi to make sure their water is good.

 

[T Fades]

Sweet. Thanks all, for the replies.

 

[rdahlke1105]

Just as an FYI, distilled and RO/DI water have the same purity levels, they just get there in different manners.