Distilled Water

Question
I set my new tank up last week. I have not bought any fish for it yet. I want to make sure the water is right for the fish. I bought one of those kits that test your water for the good and bad stuff in the water. The results from the test are as followed. nitrate-safe, nirite-safe, hardness-very hard 300, alkalinity-high 300,
pH-alkaline 8.4. So I then went to my local pet store and ask them the same questions I'm asking you. What can I do to slove these water problems? They gave me a pH balancer. I have been using it just like it says on the bottle. But my pH is not coming down. Is there any thing else I can do. And one more question before I go. Is distilled water or regular bottle water better for my fish aquarium. I forgot to tell you it is a freshwater aquarium.  

Answer
Hello,

Distilled water is better for your aquarium. Bottled water can have minerals and other things that may not be good for yoru aquarium. Tap water is also suitable for tanks, and as it is much cheaper it is always my first recommendation.

About your pH- the only way to make it come down is to continue patiently using the pH balancer. It takes a while to come down so you need to be very patient. However, you may find it better to simlpy buy fish suited to that pH and hardness if possible otherwise everytime you add new water the pH will fluctuate and may need to be lowered again. A lot of fish sold in pet stores in the area where you live will already have adapted to the tap water conditions of your area.

I hope this helps.

Regards,
Stephanie