Wal-Mart Distilled Water???

[Mr Cob]

My time has been very tight because my wife will be in labor any time now and I have a 2 year old. This morning I had some time to do a few errands which included my water change and top-off refill. It was before the fish stores open so I couldn't get my usual pre-mixed water and RO/DI.

So....I bought 25 gallons of Distilled Water. Bad? Good? Fine? What was I thinking? Google was no help...tons of different opinions.

Your comments please...

[ErikH]

ive used it before, but I did not have any corals then.

[ErikH]

Hey, I just read an article that states not to use it because it is made for human consumption. With that said, they sometimes use copper to treat the water that is safe for us to drink, but it's toxic for corals.

[Gseclipse02]

ive heard distilled Water was bad .... ive used the RODI gallon bottels from HEB

[mharmon]

For years I've used mostly HEB purified water in my freshwater tanks. I use it occasionally in my saltwater tanks. I've never noticed any ill effects. If there is any evidence that this is wrong, I'd really like to know.

[brewercm]

I used the water for years from Wal-Marts machines and never had a problem. I had used a TDS meter on it and it actually was pretty good.

[corkyGramma]

I've never used distilled water, but I have used the Culligan RO water @ Walmart.

[ACE]

I used Walmart water at first for my water changes and top off. After awhile some green algae started to grow from the sand in my aquariums. Once I stopped using that water and started using the RO from Russ, never had another problem.

[MattK]

I use it in my nano with no ill effect. Distilled water is derived from steam and is considered pure with a pH of 7.

[Mr Cob]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm going to use it and will let everyone know if I have any problems.

[mozartkt]

Like others, I have used the Wal-Mart machines however, check when they were last serviced.

[cbianco]

I have used both the gallon "purified water" from HEB and WalMart's purification machine.

I think the bottled stuff is your best bet.

I got algae outbreaks (occasionally) when I used the WalMart machine. I am certain that the machine's dependabilty is entirely based on the quality of the service it recieves.

:)

[NateDogg]

Heb has a Glaciar water machine in front of the store. It is 1.25 for 5 gallons at the one on Bandera and 1604. It was 1.75 at wurzbach and i10. I use it when I make my own reef mix and I have never had problems. It goes through ro and carbon filtration treatments according to the machine.

[alasg001]

Though I never tested the water I did try to top off my tanks with it, maybe 6 gallons that week. I suddenly ended up with an outbreak of cyanobacteria. My guess is that it contained phosphates. I stopped and it cleared up. I am guessing the machine I used may not be serviced as much as it should be. Of course I didnt test it and have no proof it was the cause of the outbreak. I have not used it since.

[mozartkt]

I use the HEB water machines in the front of the store now without problems. Wal-Mart water did cause a couple algae outbreaks, so we stopped using it, but the HEB machines have been pretty good.