Emergency top off

If I really needed to, I didn't have access to ro/di, or even distilled water. Could you use spring, or drinking water to top off? My tap is out of the question, I won't drink it, I don't put it in my tank.

 

Im not totally for sure about this but i put tap in my tank for those "Emergency Moments" as long as it isnt a more thank about 5 gallons. Really depends on how big the tank is, because u dont want too much of a swing! If u do though, i would recommend the Tap Neutralizer liquid if u have some!

 

My tap is rusty as hell. I have a bottle of Marine Conditioner I got at a swap, could I use that?

 

Spring water industry has less regulations than tap water. There have been cases of companies bottling well water and labeling it as spring and others labeling non glacial water as such. There was a case of feces contaminants too. Getting that out of the way, I don't think it's a big deal if needed.

Iron (rust) is believed to be one of the limiting factors in phyto (basis of food web) in our oceans. Thank Africa for the constant supply.

 

Water conditioners will not remove any TDS/minerals/heavy metals. What about some jugs of RO water from the store? That's much better.

 

Where can I find Reverse Osmosis water? aside from the closest LFS which is 45 minutes away. I have "Steam distilled" water, but I don't really know what that means! x)

 

That's how water is distilled and it will work fine.

 

Sometimes grocery stores have water dispencer machines that sale RO water, I got 2 5 gallon water jugs I keep full with RO water

 

Only thing that worries me is the last step in their process. They add minerals back in for taste.

 

If you have a Meijer close by go there and get their bulk water. They use a multi stage filtration system which goes through various sediment/carbon style filters, then an RO, and then UV. They don't have the DI but it's way better than tap. I've been using this in my system for over a year now. May want to check the PH on it as i only recently realized it was a little on the low end... oh and it's only $.29 a gallon! Of course way better in the long run to get a whole hose filter and your own RO/DI but they can be costly. Been looking at the systems at budgetwater.com. Seems to be a good possibility. Not a mainstream option though so hard to say how good they are...