Fresh Bottled Water & Premixed Saltwater?

[dan2x38]

Anyone with discus or breeding fish ever buy the fresh bottled water? It is only RO not DI too right? Does it really help the health of the discus? Does it increase breeding? In other words is it worth buying bottled water and would you do it?

Anyone ever buy that premixed saltwater? Is it RO/DI before they add salt? Does it reduce algae? Does it come at a different SG levels? Was curious if it was a good deal?

Where in Ottawa can you buy RO/DI water? Where in Ottawa can you buy premixed saltwater? Is it forth it instead of buying your own salt and RO/DI unit? Cheaper than replacing all the filters and the membrane in a RO/DI unit?

Bottom line would you buy water for your tank freshwater or marine for convenience or savings? Wondering where I save money all these hydro and gas prices is creating a pinch these days...  

[bt]

The 5gal water cooler jugs Costco sells for a little over $3 maybe?  I'll check the label tonight to see at least if it's "spring water" or "purified water".  I'd offer to test it too, but I don't have the necessary test kits yet.

[dan2x38]

+1  for $3 I am betting it is spring water. It would likely also carry some TDS levels and maybe more than your average reef should have. Thing with water whatever is in it will build up in your tank. It will be absorbed into the porous rock. Once this happens you end up with an algae bloom out of control. Have heard it many times on here of hobbyists getting algae break out after 1 or 1.5 years of initial setup and they are baffled why it is happening now? This is were teh technique of cooking your LR (not literally)to remove all built up nutrients.

Really curious of any and all sources of water out there? Also if there is any premixed RO/DI saltwater? Thing with most bottled water at best it is just RO it still contains nutrients especially silica even after the RO filtering.

[bt]

Yeah, I don't know that I'd even bother to test it if it's "Spring water".  "Purified" would probably be worth testing, though.

I'd do a bit of research right now, but I don't remember the brand name.  Pretty sure it wasn't the Kirkland house brand though.

[dan2x38]

I would still question what purified means? No promise that is any better than tap water. For marine tanks and sensitive breeder plus discus tanks it is best to know exactly what is going into the tank.

[bt]

That's what testing it would be for.  I wouldn't just dump it into the tank and hope for the best 

Of course, I could very well get home and check the label to see "mineral enriched spring water", in which case I wouldn't need to test it to know I shouldn't use it in my tank.

[bt]

Scratch that, "Natural Spring Water"

[bt]

Checked out the bottled water machine at Loblaws last night.  It is tap water run through RO (though not DI) and a few other steps (UV for example).  $0.60/Gal, coin-operated.

I've read elsewhere about people having good experiences with these in other cities, though I've also read that they can sometimes go a little too long between cartridge changes.

[NanoSF]

There are also a few places in Ottawa that sell RO or distilled water for around $4 depending if you pay upfront for a bulk amount or not ($4 is the most for a 5 gallon refill, gets cheaper if you pay for 10, 20, 50 upfront). The one in my end of town is in Bells Corners and is called Water Mart. They have massive RO machines (not sure if it is DI) but the TDS is around 2-3 ppm. This would be a less risky situation than a Loblaws. That is unless you have your own TDS meter with you and can be sure the filters are changed properly before buying from them.

[dan2x38]

+1  Yeah it is not likely DI if there is still TDS... the DI removes everything so it will be zero TDS. The remainder is likely silica which is a huge issue for diatoms. Can also be some PO4 and that is a big contributor to hair algae. One thing though the heavy metals at that stage should have been removed they are the larger particles.

Distilled as I understand it needs to be double distilled to insure it is pure. Distilled water and correct me if I am wrong is the more expensive route to go when talking prepared water?

But has anyone heard of a place to buy RO/DI saltwater? And s/w that is supplemented with CA, Mg, etc.? This would or could be very handy. In California I've read about Catlina s/w which is natural saltwater but it is lower SG than our reef requirements - it is 10.023 so when hobbyists buy it they have to still add salt. I read that closer to the source (Catlina) the cheaper like $0.50/gallon. How that would be very cool even if you had to add a little salt. It already have natural elements so at $0.50/gal. would be a serious consideration.

Anyone know of prepared saltwater here and how much? Would anyone buy it to save mixing it, supplementing yourself and not having to filter it? Might be cost affective or at least cheaper on a weekly bases.

[JetJumper]

It would defiantly save the time on larger systems then to making all that RODI yourself.  No more waste water at your own house driving up the water bill.  I never thought of what it costs me currently in time and supplies to do my own waterchanges.

[Cheebs]

I was just browsing through older threads and saw this. About 2 years ago before I got my RO/DI unit, I went to a handful of grocery stores and tested their bottled water to see what was best for my tank. Let's just say it was doing this that convinced me to get my own unit. I purchased a few different types, from the pre-bottled Culligans, PC brand and the coin operated machines. All of them, at least at the time, had a huge TDS reading. My tap water had a far lower reading. I'm talking 200+ in some cases.

If you are going to be a lifetime reefer, or at least long term, there's no question at all that getting your own RO/DI unit is the way to go. Replacing a membrane a couple times a year for a relatively low cost does not compare to lugging bottle after bottle of overpriced, hgh TDS water home. The initial cost isn't bad, and the money saved over time is phenomenal.