[gator97531]

This may seem an odd question but hey aren't most? In my 56fowlr I generally have to top off about 2gals a week. I take the easy way out and buy all my water from the LFS as he sells 5gals salt water for 3.50. All is run through his RO/DI system and made with instant ocean.

Now to my question for the top off water. Living in Florida where it is HOT all the time I have in my den one of those stand alone air conditioners. This unit runs most of the time and has a collection bucket of about 1gal. Since the way this system works is to condition the air by taking the moister out of it could I use this water as my top off water? I mean all it is is the humidity taken out of the air...

Is this just a crazy idea or what?

[crasico]

I am new to the Saltwater game, but just from my reading my guess as to everyone else's answers would be that pollution of the water is a real big risk here. There is no telling what that water has picked up and you don't want to introduce those to the tank. Before you try hooking it up I would test that water for everything under the sun to make sure you are not going to be adding toxins or other undesirable wastes to your tank.

Otherwise if that all checks out and no one else has a reason not to use it, I think it would be a very economic way of reusing the water.

[120gallons]

Test the water and see what's in it first.

[Reefland]

First, you should not be using saltwater for your top off water. As water evaporates from your system the salinity increases since the salt does not evaporate. Adding straight water is essential to keep the salinity of your system steady. If you are adding saltwater to replace evaporated water you are simply increasing your salinity even more. I suspect I am reading this wrong though because if this was the case, nothing in your system would be alive.

Secondly, I would absolutely not use anything but RO/DI water for top off.

[Samper]

I'm glad you asked this question. I run an old dehumidifier in my house and just the other day tested some things out of curiosity.

#1 I guess some of the coils in it are made of copper because Cu was off the charts for my kit. Strike 1

#2 Phosphates were present in the water at .55 Strike 2

#3 the chamber that collects water has a rusty look to the sides so there is another strike against it. Strike 3

#4...my cats drink out of the sinks, tub and toilets...I don't know why because we change their water daily. Anyway they won't drink out of the dehumidifier

As reefland mentioned don't use anything but RO/DI and keep your filters changed as often as needed. If you are topping off your evaporated water with salt water your Specific gravity will be way too high to support most inhabitants. I would invest in a good refractometer and RO.