Question about Water.

[Cham1807]

Hey everyone,

I have a question about what kind of water everyone uses in their misting/dripper/syringes? Since I got my guy I have been buying big jugs of distilled water for his mister. I'm just curious if tap water would be okay to use?
What is everyone's opinion on this? I thought I have read somewhere that as long as your tap water is okay for you then its okay for your chameleon as well? Thanks for any advice!

 

[Dino_]

I use only RO/DI (I have my own filter from my fish keeping days).

Nobody can really answer whether your tap water is alright, tap water is highly variable. Where I am our water is very clean and soft (benefit of being close to the headwater), other places aren't so fortunate with water so hard you could almost stand a spoon in it. If you're super curious you should be able to find a water quality report from whatever you get your water (unless you're on a private water source like a well or something). Tap water probably isn't very likely to harm your animal(s) in any way - what it can be is a pain for you in the maintenance department if you have hard water. Mineral buildup in your misting nozzles, algae in lines/water reservoirs, water stains (if you have glass panels).

 

[WAMBO]

This connects to a spigot to make RO water for your pet. Aquatic Life RO Buddie Reverse Osmosis Systems. Here are a few links for shopping:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=26888

https://petoverstock.com/aquatic-li...son+Shopping&gclid=CMyUiY7Jz9ICFV1WDQodPhILkw

https://www.amazon.com/Aquatic-Life...9273770&sr=8-1&keywords=aquaticlife+ro+buddie

https://www.amazon.com/Aquatic-Life-Reverse-Osmosis-100-Gallon/dp/B00204CQF6?th=1

 

[broderp]

This connects to a spigot to make RO water for your pet. Aquatic Life RO Buddie Reverse Osmosis Systems. Here are a few links for shopping:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=26888
https://petoverstock.com/aquatic-life-ro-buddie-3-stage-ro-system-50-gpd.html?utm_source=Google+Products&utm_campaign=Google+Products+Datafeed&utm_medium=Comparison+Shopping&gclid=CMyUiY7Jz9ICFV1WDQodPhILkw
https://www.amazon.com/Aquatic-Life-Reverse-Osmosis-50-Gallon/dp/B00DOG63OY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1489273770&sr=8-1&keywords=aquaticlife+ro+buddie
https://www.amazon.com/Aquatic-Life-Reverse-Osmosis-100-Gallon/dp/B00204CQF6?th=1

This is interesting. Would be a full time, never needed to be refilled water system. My tap water is very hard, would this remove that?

I wonder how long the filters last. Could be more expensive than just buying bottled water.

I've been hand misting for weeks, with distilled water. I just installed my Mist King,distilled water here as well.

 

[WAMBO]

The filters are not expensive, and should be changed yearly, but the membrane ain't cheap, but can be changed every 3 to 4 yrs, depending on use

 

[broderp]

The filters are not expensive, and should be changed yearly, but the membrane ain't cheap, but can be changed every 3 to 4 yrs, depending on use

I missed the membrane part. If it last 3-4 years, why not just buy a new system for $60?

EDIT:

The membrane is only $20. If you go with the 4 stage system, the other cartridge (the color change mixed bed resin) goes for $25.

Still not bad IMO. If I were to commit to this, I would buy the system, plus a few cartridges to be sure I'm good for a few years.

 

[carol5208]

As stated, depends on where you live and what the quality of your water is. I have been using regular tap water for 7yrs with no problems. Fill my water containers straight out of the hose in the backyard!

 

[Dino_]

An RO (or RO/DI) system is totally worth it - even a little system like that Aqualife. My system has paid for itself many times over in the over 10 (15?) years I've had it. I have a bigger 5 stage system that looks like this (not this brand, the brand I have probably isn't even in business any more).

I don't know much about the Aqualife system and don't know anything about what your water supply looks like but generally the prefilters on these things last 6 months to a year. They're dirt cheap to replace as well. Membranes typically last for several years as long as you do a reasonable job of changing out the prefilters when they need it. If you have a DI stage a year is pretty typical,

If you do get an RO system pick up some kind of TDS meter. You can get one that hooks up inline like this one.
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/dual-inline-tds-meter-dm-1-hm-digital.html

Or you can get just a handheld one like this.
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/tds-3-handheld-tds-meter-hm-digital.html

 

[WAMBO]

I missed the membrane part. If it last 3-4 years, why not just buy a new system for $60?

EDIT:

The membrane is only $20. If you go with the 4 stage system, the other cartridge (the color change mixed bed resin) goes for $25.

Still not bad IMO. If I were to commit to this, I would buy the system, plus a few cartridges to be sure I'm good for a few years.

I have two for home/human use, so I buy many filters at a time, and replace the membrane every 3 to 5 yrs, but we use it a lot.

 

[jamest0o0]

I have a ro/di unit back at my parents i used for our old reef aquariums years ago. Got it off thefilterguys, it's a higher end one that doesn't waste as much water as some of the cheaper ones, but they remove everything. I also used an in line tds meter that would tell me when to replace filters. Now thinking about it i need to go get that thing and hook it up here lol. For misters and such it'd probably help to use distilled/ro/di so the hard water doesn't mess anything up, but for hand misting i just use water through through the brita with no problem. I'm no expert just giving my 2 cents, spent a lot of time obsessing over aquarium water quality and if you're worried about that an ro/di will definitely do the trick.

There's also water fill stations at some places i was going to look into. Until i set up a mistking though i'm just using brita water from the faucet.

 

[Graves923]

I use filtered tap water. Just a simple Brita filtered water jug has been working for me. I used to use the RO/DI systems for my reef aquariums. They are great but produce alot of waste water that is pretty much only useful for watering outside plants.

 

[Nursemaia]

I have a well and use the water straight from the tap

 

[kinyonga]

I have always used tap water that I leave sitting out for a while. Using reverse osmosis water or distilled or Brita filtered water takes minerals out if the water that are useful to the chameleon. I understand that they clog up the misting systems...but maybe use the tap water in the dripper as a compromise??

 

[jagmom98]

I use only RO/DI (I have my own filter from my fish keeping days).

Nobody can really answer whether your tap water is alright, tap water is highly variable. Where I am our water is very clean and soft (benefit of being close to the headwater), other places aren't so fortunate with water so hard you could almost stand a spoon in it. If you're super curious you should be able to find a water quality report from whatever you get your water (unless you're on a private water source like a well or something). Tap water probably isn't very likely to harm your animal(s) in any way - what it can be is a pain for you in the maintenance department if you have hard water. Mineral buildup in your misting nozzles, algae in lines/water reservoirs, water stains (if you have glass panels).

I know this is old. My cham is a dino also!