Can you use spring water to top off evaporated water?

[chris345]

i went to this pet store this other day and i saw alot of healthy saltwater fish,corals,and inverts. i asked the guy how he keeps the fish so healthy and he said he tops off the water with spring water. can you do that?:splitspin

 

[digitalreefer]

You should use RO/DI or distilled water. That said, using spring water is better than tap in most cases and I ran a 20g tank with nothing but Poland Spring for awhile. Once I switched to RO/DI water, I noticed less algae and better overall health of my corals.

 

[jrodjordan]

use distilled spring water, not regular. of course RO/DI is the best, ad cheaper in the long run

 

[chris345]

nice tank jorjordan i think i might try spring water . im just curious if it will grow big.

 

[Tonyscoots84]

chris do not use reg. spring water... if you have to use distilled water... there are many chemicals they use in the water that you do not want in your tank... some people will argue with that but hey do what works for you... were only here to offer you sound advice and you are the one that takes it or leaves it... as previously mentioned the way to go is RODI get yourself a filter from ebay they are cheap and very effective.... good luck...

theres alot more to growing things big then just water...

 

[Deanos]

jrodjordan: What is distilled spring water? Once water is distilled, it is pure, regardless of its origin. Did you mean distilled water from the company Poland Springs? You seem to have confused chris345 into thinking spring water and distilled water are the same.

 

[deelucky]

i used poland springs for awhile in my old 29gal and i ended up with cyano,not to sure if that was the cause or not,so i called poland springs and they said there water is ran through ro but that after that they add things to the water and that distilled should be used in a SW tank not poland springs.

 

[Quang]

According to Chris Rock:
"You can drive with your feet, don't mean it should be done."

How big was this guy's tank? I doubt topping just spring water on a large system would be THAT beneficial. What works for him might not work for you but eh, give it a try if you dare.

 

[loismustdie]

This question should be a sticky in the newbie forum. It seems that we are asked about spring water, distilled, tap etc every week.
As froggie said, it can be done, but it's not a good idea. As a new guy, you've got enough working against you. The one thing you have total control over is the quality of water you add to you tank, so every effort should be made to make it as good as possible. An RO/DI on e-bay for $100 will save you money and headachs in the long run.
Yes it can be done, but it shouldn't. I think your LFS guy is wrong.
chris

 

[redbora]

if u must, use great bear with the green top, it MUST be green, NOT blue, I know Shoprite and Pathmart have it at I believe .89 or 1.00 per gallon, it's R/O and so is Aquafina but it's expenisve

I used the green for about a year no problems, but in the long run it'll be easier to just get an R/O filter instead of lugging jugs of water