[cdearing]

I have been looking into buying an RO/DI system to do my water changes with. For now, I get water at my parents (they have RO) or I bum water for another local reef buddy. The other night I wanted to do a water change so I decided to use bottled distilled water that I bought from the grocery store. The next day, nearly everything in my tank looked dead. The next afternoon, I did a water change with RO/DI, still not knowing what was causing the problem. I just figured it was something in the water and not the water itself. I did another water change, the next morning, today and things are looking better. I have a prize xenia that was really going to town and I just about killed it. My yellowtail damsel was having difficulty breathing. All other creatures in my tank except for my percula clown, crabs and snails were on their way out of this world. Everything is perking up now. Thank goodness! I had read on the internet that distilled water was OK. Now, since this happened, I've been doing more studying and have found that some distilled water is stored in copper containers! OMG! I feel like such a jerk for doing that to my tank. Kind of embarrassing to post this but just wanted other newbies not to go through what I just did.

[cdearing]

Xenia before distilled water incident:




Xenia after jerk put distilled water in tank.

[SouthBayPhoto]

I'm wondering if you got an unlucky batch of distilled water or not.

I actually was in the store trying to figure out what the difference was between distilled and purified water. Was the same price on the shelves in the store, but they have different names, but the same brand (CVS brand).

I actually picked up each bottle and read them. The "distilled" water bottle, said it was just filtered water. However, the "purified" water bottle said it was "Purified by reverse osmosis, filtered and ozonated to ensure quality". I figured that since we're supposed to use RO/DI water, that it would be the better choice since the "purified" water stated it was RO water.

So, that's what I used. Now, I'm only running a FOWLR tank in my 46, so I couldn't watch to see if any corals died, but my fish were fine. No breathing problems or anything.

So, next time you're in a pinch, you might be able to use the "purified" water instead.

I'm also still looking for an RO/DI unit, so I feel your pain. Every time I get close to buying one, I end up needing something else and spend the money. I need to just buy one and be done with it. LOL

However, it's good to see your xenia coming back.

[charlie]

Cyn, if you need more water to do another change, you know where I live!!!

[cdearing]

Mat,
I guarantee you that I will NEVER put any kind of bottled water in my tank again. Not after what I just went through. You just don't know what they put in it, exactly how it is processed or how it is stored before it is bottled. I will have an RO/DI ordered by the end of this week. I'll just have to put it on my credit card. My father said he would come over and help me install it. I now believe that the only thing distilled water is good for is to put in your steam iron and that's what I'll use it for. In fact, I had the distilled water bottle on my counter because it still had water in it and I would just get so mad every time I looked at it that I finally went and put it in the closet!

Charlie,
Thanks for your offer. I will probably need a refill this weekend.

Everyone in the tank is still looking better. Xenia is still not back 100% but is on it's way. Whew! That was a close one.

[Ninong]

Distilled water is perfectly safe as long as it has never come into contact with copper, brass, bronze, etc., at any time during the production process or the storage process.

Unfortunately, as you learned the hard way, we have no way of knowing how the distilled water that is sold in those gallon jugs on supermarket shelves for about 68 cents each was manufactured or stored.

Thanks for bringing this up.



P.S. -- Wal-Mart sells R.O. water in dispensers in the front of their stores. It's just R.O. (without D.I.) and it goes through a U.V. sterilizer as it is being dispensed. It sells for 25 cents a gallon if you supply your own containers.

P.P.S. -- They shouldn't store distilled water in any metal containers unless they are tin-lined.