My tap water is pretty hard and basic and i was wondering if mixing it 50/50 with distilled water (I dont have access to RO water) would be ok in an effort to soften the water. I know distilled water alone would be bad but this would always be a 50/50 mix or whatever ratio I would need to get my water softer and close to neutral.
distilled water for water changes
- Thread starter Khlash
- Start date
distilled water is completely void of any minerals that might be helpful to the fish so you may end up having to add some supplements to the water to keep your fish healthy. If you need to "dilute" your tap water a bit adding distilled water along with tap water - or conditioned tap water - might be a good solution.
That's what the OP said, mixing the distilled with tap water.
Khlash, I would start with a lower ratio mix than 50/50, especially if your fish are already in the harder water. Start with 90/10 and see what sort of results you get from test kits. It often doesn''t take too much dilution to get numbers down. Just be careful to have some distilled water on hand at all times in case you need to do emergency water changes. You could shock your fish with straight tap water at that point.
In the long run the distilled water will be costly if you have a big tank and have to buy it all the time. If you have access to cheap water then great.
Khlash, I would start with a lower ratio mix than 50/50, especially if your fish are already in the harder water. Start with 90/10 and see what sort of results you get from test kits. It often doesn''t take too much dilution to get numbers down. Just be careful to have some distilled water on hand at all times in case you need to do emergency water changes. You could shock your fish with straight tap water at that point.
In the long run the distilled water will be costly if you have a big tank and have to buy it all the time. If you have access to cheap water then great.
check out a program called SoftWaterWare ... its free and will tell you mixing ratios for RO(pure) water and tap water.
Distilled water and RO water are not the same but both kinds are too pure for fresh water setups. Try a 20% distilled to 80% tap water and see how it goes. Freshwater fish need the minerals in tap water to survive. You can always adjust accordingly. Most fish can adjust to most tap water without too much trouble.
Marinemom
Marinemom
