Water that is to Clean????

[Texreefer]

i use tab water and still have a slow growth problem

read my first post. the stuff in tap water will contribute to slow or no growth

[CASTLES]

I have never used tap water and I do not trust the water from down here, so getting r/o system just makes more sense on the other hand I was told that it needed to have a di unit as well is that correct ? is it really useful to get a tds meter , i have never tested the r/o water compared to tap but i do noticed that if the water is from another r/o system or filters are old there seems to be some algae growth, and Ray my wife wanted that system to in our home but our plumber stated it was to late during the building of the home to go back and install it supposedly!!!1

[RayAllen]

The plumber lied. Ours was tied into our system within 1hr and that was 2months after our home was built.

[Joshua]

Long ago when I was dosing vodka my water ended up being "too clean" for my zoanthids and they didn't like it at all. The SPS loved it, the zoas not so much. It's basically a lack of nutrients, good nutrients that some corals use for food.

As for the RO water discussion, if you don't have one spend $100 and get one. It's what I would consider one of the absolute necessities of this hobby. Unless of course you have a nano tank, then the wal-mart distilled is what I like.

[Joshua]

I would highly recommend purchasing a RO/DI filtration unit. They are cheap and nice to have for drinking water and tank water. I love my unit. I have tested the water from the LFS I used to buy DI from before I got the filter. Their water checked out at 0 TDS.

I remember long ago when I first got my TDS meter, the LFS water I was buying tested 350+ tds, worse than my tap was in the 320's or so.

[Joshua]

Yeah, I usually use about 6 gallons a month, so it really isnt very expensive. Is distilled water or spring water the best bet if I got the off the shelf route? I actually started my tank with distilled which I ran for a couple months initially and then was told by the LFS that distilled was not good for the tank because it doesnt have any of the needed elements and what not. Thats when I switched to RO. I did purchase premix salt for a little while as well, but got sick of paying for it and having to deal with seperate containers for salt and topoff. I agree that investing in an RO/DI is a wise choice but I cant justify the purchase presently with my current usage and budget.

I prefer the wal-mart distilled to any other, it's filtered through RO and DI'd before they distill it. Most other brands simply distill it. IMO you don't need nutrients from your water, you get it from so many other sources.