Rainwater, RO water or Distilled water for my water change

[Axel_Justice]

Got a problem. With my tank, I'm doing a fishless cycle and my nitrates are through the roof over 180ppm. Turns out my tap water has like 60ppm of nitrates

My water parameters haven't moved in about 3 weeks, ive tried moss balls and duckweed but its barely helping, so it's been suggested I do like a 50% water change with pure water.

I cannot however get a clear answer on what to use. I've got a bunch of rain water, I know it needs to be treated with something but I can't workout what, guy at the reptile shop told me put some kh up in it and it'll be fine but I'm not convinced

A garden centre near me sells RO water, £3 for 25 litres so that's a bargain, and they sell seachem equilibrium which I believe is specifically made to treat RO water however my car died and I have no way to get to the garden centre and no where sells it for delivery

I can buy distilled water off of amazon but again I can't find a clear answer on whether can use distilled water or how to treat it. This would be easiest option for me though

What would you suggest?

 

[wolfen]

seachem equilibrium is for planted tanks and contains high amounts of potash and iron which although are good for plants are bad for axolotls.
please go to Axolotls - Requirements & Water Conditions in Captivity for info on holtfreters solution and modified solution for the minerals and salt required for axolotls.
axolotls ideal nitrate level is <10ppm but they can tolerate <110ppm. on a cycling tank don't do a water change until it is 110ppm or higher.
60ppm nitrates in the water will be fine whilst it is cycling. but rain water/ro/distilled would be better once it is cycled but salts and minerals will need adding.
check you ph if the cycling seems to have stopped/stalled, if it is below ph7 add bicarbonate of soda to bring it up to 7.4 - 7.6

 

[Axel_Justice]

I checked my pH and it seems to be fine. I didn't know that about the equilibrium thank you for that, saved me from buying the wrong thing.

So do a water change with my tap water for now?

 

[wolfen]

I checked my pH and it seems to be fine. I didn't know that about the equilibrium thank you for that, saved me from buying the wrong thing.

So do a water change with my tap water for now?

whilst it is cycling the nitrates in the tap water wont make much difference, just make sure it is dechlorinated before hand.

 

[kwarzym]

For water changes I have two big 5 gallon jugs that I get refilled at the local grocery store for $0.25 a gallon. I used to use tap water and dechlorinate it, but I have really hard tap water that leaves behind white mineral deposits as it evaporates. I would think distilled water would be your best bet for partial water changes to lower that concentration - the distilled water is basically just pure water.

 

[wolfen]

For water changes I have two big 5 gallon jugs that I get refilled at the local grocery store for $0.25 a gallon. I used to use tap water and dechlorinate it, but I have really hard tap water that leaves behind white mineral deposits as it evaporates. I would think distilled water would be your best bet for partial water changes to lower that concentration - the distilled water is basically just pure water.

for axolotls hard water is perfect, they originate from a environment that is fed by mountain streams that are rich in mineral and salts.

 

[kwarzym]

@wolfen good to know