In a saltwater fish tank, is deionized water safe or does it need to be mixed with reverse osmosis water?
by Aquaboy on Friday, March 26th, 2010 | 5 Comments
saltwater aquarium water quality
I have access to deionized water only.
Good question
dont take shortcuts, cause you could kill your little buddies…
Deionised water is in no way as good as RO water but could be deemed as an acceptable alternative as long as it is dechlorinated. I have in the past run a reef tank on deionised water but encountered far more problems than when I switched to RO water. RO units are not that expensive any more and would give your livestock more of a fighting chance of survival in your system.
which sea creature inhabits a perfectly pure environment…..none.therefore if you place them in de-ionised water they are in an environment they are not used to.. they could then become stressed & prone to bacterial diseases. therefore, from experience, i re-iterate ro water is better than de-ionised.
DI water is perfectly safe for for saltwater fish. The other poster has it backwords, DI water is actually far more pure than RO water, it’s actually overkill which is why most people simply get a good RO system. If you got DI water, use it. Just make sure the salt is completely mixed and let it set for a good 20 minutes or so before puring the new water in the tank. DI water is SO pure, it is actually very REACTIVE and can de-gluke the fish rapidly if it is not mixed well enough (but this is EXTREMELY rare).
I agree with Fishguy. DI water is pure H20. RO water actually has small traces of minerals, which is why many people have a DI stage at the end of their RO unit. DI water will be fine in your aquarium.