I was wondering. The water quality where I live is pretty much terrible. I have a 29 gallon fish tank. Could I use distilled water in my tank?
2007-02-26 10:03:23 · 9 answers · asked by Shelly W 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
Distilled water is not a good idea for a tank. You can use bottled spring water but it's often rather hard. What is it about your locall tap water that makes it bad for fish keeping? Maybe someone here could offer you some suggestions on fixing the problem.
MM
2007-02-26 10:09:01 · answer #1 · answered by magicman116 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
This Site Might Help You.
RE:
Distilled water in fish tank?
I was wondering. The water quality where I live is pretty much terrible. I have a 29 gallon fish tank. Could I use distilled water in my tank?
2015-08-13 08:24:58 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, you could use distilled water, but this would not be ideal. Fish gain minerals from the water they drink, much like ourselves. Salt, for instance, in very important to a healthy tank, even a fresh water one.
Using spring water would be ideal, but very expensive.
Tap water is fine, but it needs to set for a while, since it is generally chlorinated (chlorine is the gas of choice for WMD, bad for fish).
The best way to adjust the water quality of an already established tank is to do 30% water changes roughly once a week.
A great site to learn great information is aquariumfish.net. Loads of great information and cheap fixes to most problems.
2007-02-26 10:13:04 · answer #3 · answered by king_of_new_england 1 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Distilled water is very bad for fish. It's acidic, way too soft, and lacking in minerals. No experienced fish keeper uses it straight. There are RO systems, but generally you just dilute the tap water, or add in minerals after.
As far as quality what is wrong with your tap. Lots of minerals making it basic, and hard. That's only wrong for certain fish. The livebearers like molly, guppy, and platy/swordtails prefer water in the 7.5 to 8.5 range. Many African Cichlids would like it even higher. Check out the fish profiles here for more details.
2007-02-26 12:15:05 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I use only reverse osmosis deionized water that also goes through a UV sterolizer in my saltwater tanks and have never had any problems, especialy with fish parisites.
You can buy it at a lot of grocery stores or you can invest in an RO unit that attaches to your existing kitchen sink pipes.
Makes good drinking water too.
2007-02-26 10:59:18 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. Use Reverse osmosis water. I used to go to those filling stations outside of the grocery store for water, but that got very cumbersome. I finally invested in a tap water filter. It costs around 40 bucks and takes most of the chlorine and particles out of the water.
2007-02-26 10:39:06 · answer #6 · answered by luckyvegas535 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Distilled water have no buffer in it. You ph range will go nuts.
2007-02-26 10:16:07 · answer #7 · answered by .... . .-.. .-.. --- 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I think most experts would tell you that this is not a good idea.
2007-02-26 10:08:04 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
distilled water isnt really the answer, just add something to keep the ph to 8.0
2007-02-26 10:08:17 · answer #9 · answered by big bill 3 · 0⤊ 4⤋