Mountain Spring or Distilled?

[paradicio]

I'm setting up a couple of small Pico Freshwater tanks and (since my tap water is absolutely horrible) I will be purchasing my freshwater. I am wondering if you all would recommend using Distilled or Mountain Spring water?

I will most likely end up buying a RO/DI unit later, but to get started what do you think?

Oh! The tank will house small community fish (i.e. Guppies).

[Mgamer20o0]

Mountain Spring. RO systems are great.

whats wrong with your water?

[paradicio]

Thanks! The tapwater here is awful, Ph is ~8.5ish.

[Mgamer20o0]

did you test it right away from the tap or did you let it sit out first and gas off? i think whats more important than having the right ph is a stable ph. a lot of fish can adapt to higher ph but ph that swings and changes a lot is more harmful.

[paradicio]

I've tested it right out of the tap, and I've let it sit out (for days). Either way the Ph comes out way high. :(

[liv2padl]

fish cannot live in pure distilled or RO water. to use these, you need to add back some mineral content. products made specifically for this include "RO Right".

[DebbyS]

Have you tried Brita or other filtered water? I like the taste and my fish don't seem to mind living in it. Our city water is well water, is hard, and of course has clorine and fluoride and who knows what else in it (like arsenic as well as byproducts of experiments at Sandia Labs...). I'd drink it if I had to... but I prefer filtered water. And I suspect buying filters and running at least 35 gal of water through each is cheaper than purchasing water by the gallon.