# Misting water?



## Eoullis (Jan 7, 2010)

Greetings all this my first question and it's pretty basic concerning the water you mist with. I live in pennsylvania and the water here is very heavy with limestone. I'm sure other pa residents can concur with me on this. If I mist with tap water it will leave ugly white spots and smears on the inside of the container, and limestone dust could accumulate on the mantids and I'm not sure how this would affect them if ingested during their cleaning process.

My question is this: If I mist with distilled water will this affect the health of the mantids?

THanks for any feedback.

David(Eoullis)


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## PhilinYuma (Jan 7, 2010)

Eoullis said:


> Greetings all this my first question and it's pretty basic concerning the water you mist with. I live in pennsylvania and the water here is very heavy with limestone. I'm sure other pa residents can concur with me on this. If I mist with tap water it will leave ugly white spots and smears on the inside of the container, and limestone dust could accumulate on the mantids and I'm not sure how this would affect them if ingested during their cleaning process.My question is this: If I mist with distilled water will this affect the health of the mantids?
> 
> THanks for any feedback.
> 
> David(Eoullis)


No. Most of us use distilled water for that very reason. Many of us also use a folded paper towel as a substrate so that the increased humidity in the pot will last a few hours longer.


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## batsofchaos (Jan 7, 2010)

+1.

The limestone may not specifically cause harm to befall your mantids, but tap water has a lot of junk in it (especially fluoride) that mantids don't need. Distilled water is junk-free, so the risk that something in the water might affect your mantids drops to zero.


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## Rick (Jan 7, 2010)

It won't hurt but will leave the deposits on the sides. Distilled works well.


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## Eoullis (Jan 7, 2010)

Thanks all. I was hoping for some good feedback and thats what I got. I hope this post will help other newbies with this question.


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## Opivy (Jan 7, 2010)

I've been using distilled as well, no problems.


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## BellsBird (Jan 7, 2010)

Opivy said:


> I've been using distilled as well, no problems.


Oh, does that mean i should use distilled water too? I'm getting a mantis soon...but i was coutning on using tap water &lt;_&lt; 

--Robyn


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## Katnapper (Jan 7, 2010)

Robyn said:


> Oh, does that mean i should use distilled water too? I'm getting a mantis soon...but i was coutning on using tap water &lt;_&lt; --Robyn


I believe it depends on the keeper's preference unless there is an unusually high amount of minerals or impurities. I use plain tap water all of the time, and have for quite some months now on hundreds of mantids with no apparent ill effects.

You can see minor spotting from the misting on clear plastic, but it doesn't bother me... or the mantids. I used to add that aquarium clarifying stuff that takes the chlorine out of tap water. But I've found it doesn't seem to make a bit of difference. I should add that I have city water, not well water.

Anyways... bottom line for me is that I don't believe distilled water is necessary except maybe in unusual circumstances. And as much water as I go through each day (2 full regular sized spray bottles), I'd be broke if I had to buy distilled water. I don't see any advantage to it, other than reducing or eliminating spotting on the containers.


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## PhilinYuma (Jan 7, 2010)

Yep. You have that good Lake Michigan water, Katt. The water here, from the scrag end of the Colorado, is pretty disgusting. Even Tucker makes a face!


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## Katnapper (Jan 7, 2010)

PhilinYuma said:


> Yep. You have that good Lake Michigan water, Katt. The water here, from the scrag end of the Colorado, is pretty disgusting. Even Tucker makes a face!


Ours actually comes from nearby Lake Evergreen, and it's pretty good. No complaints from me, and I drink it regularly. But it is true that not all tap water is created equally, and something to keep in mind.


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## ismart (Jan 8, 2010)

New York tap is great! I have no complaints, and neither does my mantids!  If your tap is wack? Then maybe you should invest in a Bita water filter. They have filters you can connect right to your faucet.


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## ABbuggin (Jan 8, 2010)

I use distilled water. It's not expensive at all. A gallon is like $0.60 at Wal-Mart.


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## Cosmic (Jan 8, 2010)

I used to use distilled but switched to tap water with the same results the only problem is the lime deposits but I don't mind too much if the containers don't look pretty.


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## JoeCapricorn (Jan 11, 2010)

My tap water is notoriously bad, never used it for my bugs. I actually use Deer Park spring water, if it's good enough for me to drink it's good enough for bugs too. Half a bottle fills my mister.


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## kookamonga (Jan 23, 2010)

I ordered some fruit flies from flycafe.net and he sent me a care sheet. On it he said that if my medium was to dry prematurely "don't use tap water unless it is allowed to air for about 1 hour first as some tap water contains large amounts of chlorine or other chemicals". My question is does airing tap water out in a cup really help filter the water of "junk" at all?


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## PhilinYuma (Jan 24, 2010)

Kookamonga said:


> I ordered some fruit flies from flycafe.net and he sent me a care sheet. On it he said that if my medium was to dry prematurely "don't use tap water unless it is allowed to air for about 1 hour first as some tap water contains large amounts of chlorine or other chemicals". My question is does airing tap water out in a cup really help filter the water of "junk" at all?


No. The chlorine escapes because it is present as a gas, but the solids remain. 24 - 48 hours is the usual time to let chlorine in tap water escape.


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