You can use bottled spring water. Distilled water has too much of the minerals and stuff removed for long term use. Normally Chlorine disapated on its on after 24-36 hrs. Be sure and drop a flake or two of food into the tank every now and then while it's empty. That will give your bacteria a little something to feed off of.

Lisa

There's a LOT of chlorine in our water, and I don't have the space to sit out a bucket of water to let the chlorine dissipate. I'm happier buying a gallon of spring water every couple weeks.... that way I KNOW the chlorine isn't a factor.

I just wanted to verify which was the best bottled variety to get... I thought I'd seen that spring water was too mineral-y for them, but the general consensus from this and another forum is that spring water is preferred over distilled.

Thanks for the info. :)

Use a dechlorinating product, I suggest "Prime" by seachem. You can double dose it or use up to 5 times the normal dose. There are other brand named products that do the same thing, but prime is the most economical because it treats more water will a smaller dose, so it saves some cash. Chlorinated water will not allow your nitrogen cycle to begin or will kill any progress it has made. That is the reason chlorine is used to "purify" water or kill bacteria. The fish will not appreciate superchlorinated water either. The problem with spring water is pH. It will come out of the bottle very acidic and usually spike up in the high 7's. Reason, traped CO2. Once the CO2 disipates then the pH will rise. So that water should set out also. Fish will stress from constant change in pH. The bacteria do not like very acidic water either so a possibilty for a system crash there. See if any Local Fish Stores (LFS) sell Reverse Osmosis water (R.O.). It is usually inexpensive, somewhat, just add some "trace" elements back to the water, also available at the LFS. Fish need these nutrients to keep healthy so don't eliminate them. It may be in your best interest to invest in a R.O. system for your own drinking water. They are pricey but probably better then buying tons of spring water.

If you want to buy spring water, I suggest Poland Spring. It's the water with a pH closest to 7, if it's not already at 7.

Ironically, Poland Spring was one I tested. It came out pH