Is it a good idea to fill a fish tank with distilled water or tap water?
Monday, January 4th, 2010 at
5:18 pm
I had fish for quite a long time, but it was constant buying because they never stayed alive long. I gave it up, and now i got a new tank and want to start again. I’m thinking of things to do differently, and maybe thought distilled water (pure H2O) might be a better idea to fill my tank with. Help?
Tagged with: fish • google • h2o • long time • new tank • script type • text javascript
Filed under: Water Filters
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
tap water with water conditioner is perfect.( like $2 for a bottle lol)
gets rid of the clorine, chloramine, and the other chemicals in it. also help fishes slime coat^_^
I have been a fish owner for many years and when you fill the tank, distilled water is the best option for the fish. Keep the water at room temp. and make sure to refill with distilled water when cleaning.
well obviously. the fish died because of the chemicals in the tap water. its full of chlorine and stuff that your supposed to neutralize.
yeah, if you dont it evaporates and the $700 filter makes a awful sound
Ok, distilled water is BAD for fish – the distilling process removes essential minerals the fish need from the water, don’t use distilled!
Tap water should be fine IF you are dechlorinating it with dechlorinater such as this:
http://www.arcatapet.com/fullsize/9140.jpg
If your fish kept dying it could have been down to overstocking, bad water quality, under filtering, buying sick fish, or you were adding fish to an uncycled tank. Don’t blame the tap water until everything else is ruled out!
Distilled water wont fix your problems.
Use a water condtioner in your tap water to ensure it’s safe.
A more likely cause of dead fish is problems with filtering / nitrogen cycle, overcrowding, tanks that are too small or not enough water changes.
So definately do something different, but using distilled water is not the answer. It has not hardness, pH buffering or trace elements.
Ian
well i use tap water and my fish seem fine.you can test your tank for nemonia
I can’t answer for distilled water, but I used tap water for many years with a lot of success. I filled large plastic tubs with tap water and let them sit for 24 hours so the chlorine evaporated out and the water got to room temperature. I used that water without adding anything else to it. I kept three ten-gallon tanks that way for several years, and I only had one loss of fish — a placostemus, but not from the water. (It was bullied to death by my tiger oscar.) It’s also important not to overcrowd your tank with too many fish.
My routine was to partially change the water in my tanks twice a week — I siphoned half the tank out carefully, leaving the fish in, and replaced the old water with the water that had stood 24 hours. I removed the fish and did a complete tank change/cleaning every 3 weeks or so — I knew it was time to do a complete cleaning, if the tank water was still foggy after a partial cleaning. I kept cold water species so I didn’t have a heater in my tank but I did have an air filter.
If you let the tap water stand at least 24 hours it should be fine to use without any additives.
NO. distilled water has essential minerals taken out of it, and therefore is not good for fish. Tap water has bad chemicals, although, you can buy a water conditioner and add it to the tap water. That makes it safe for fish.
It doesn’t really matters but just be sure that if you use tap water, you have to use a water conditioner which you can buy anywhere. Tap water are not safe for fish, there are chlorines, chemicals, metals, and other substances that are harmful and kill fish. Water conditioner neutralizes all of that making the water safe for fish.
If you use distilled water, it’s a little bit better but just be sure to use a good filter for your tank.
Good luck!!