do i use distilled, purified, or tap water for my aquarium? what are their benefits?

[AquariumNoob13]

i have been using distilled water for my aquarium, but i was just told that it doesn't contain the nutrients my fish need to survive. i have 2 albino african cichlids and a plecosomous. what type of water should i start using? what are the benefits of each?

 

[red devil]

Is the tap water in your neighborhood really terrible? Does it have some particular problems? Yes, distilled/RO water is void of things that fish need. If your tap water is "normal" it should be ok to use as it is. If your tap water is especially hard or some other situation you can dilute your tap water with distilled water.

 

[echoofformless]

Actually if it's African cichlids and a pleco, especially hard water is exactly what you want.

Unless your area's tap water is known to contain dangerously high levels of pollutants like copper, phosphate, nitrate, et al then it should be quite safe for your fish. Test its pH and hardness. If it's too soft for cichlids, we'll take it from there and start discussing buffers to boost the hardness/alkalinity.

 

[Rbishop]

Can you post ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, pH, GH, KH on your tank?

And the same on your untreated tap water?

 

[Malefic23]

Actually if it's African cichlids and a pleco, especially hard water is exactly what you want.

Good for the africans, but plecos like soft water.

 

[Fish Obsession]

Tap water is perfectly fine. As everyone else has said, the only reason you shouldn't use it is if it has abnormally high levels of something dangerous to your fish.... Tap water with a dechlorinator is perfect.

 

[gmh]

The Africans will not last long in distilled water. I would add tap water with frequent partial water changes so as to gradually raise the PH and GH/KH. You are probably wise to just go with tap water assuming there is not something wrong with your local supply.

 

[Marinemom]

Use tap water as opposed to the other options. Tap water has essential trace elements in it that fresh water fish need to survive long term in your aquarium. Distilled and RO water are too pure and you will end up adding buffering agents and chemicals to your water to remedy the situation.

Marinemom

 

[echoofformless]

It depends on the actual species of pleco; plus even though plecs come from the Amazon, most live in faster flowing clearwater areas where that are closer to neutral and sometimes even slightly hard. They do perfectly fine in cichlid conditions. (And this is coming from the guy who is probably the biggest blackwater advocate on this site.)