Buying a biocide locally

I finished my first loop and it is up and running with distilled water. From reading about it seems I need some sort of biocide. Is this something I can get locally at a pet store or must it be ordered over the net. Also how long do I have before things start happening in the loop.

Moved to water cooling for you, you had posted it in the air cooling forum previously.

You only absolutely need a biocide if your loop will be exposed to light - if you have a window, or CCFL you should use it. If there won't be any light shining on your tubes, algae/bacteria won't grow because the copper from your components will be enough of a biocide (PTNuke works its magic because its made up of copper sulfate).

The amount of time it takes for things to grow depends on the amount of light on your loop - if you have CCFL's, it will accelerate the growth.

I'm not sure what's at the pet store in regards to biocide's, but if they have legit stuff your ok. I'd just order PTNuke online, and keep the light off your loop until it comes in.

i would think any light will be good enough for stuff to grow, eg lcd's, crt's, lights above you. but you can get it locally via a pet store as i.m.o.g. said.

Oops,Thanks for moving the post and response. I'll check tommorrow and if not order it online.

I use a stuff from sera and it's called algovec
Bought it in a local petstore in town here and haven't got any growt so far

So I went to the local pet store and the guy recommended a phosphate remover for removing algae. Can anyone verify if this will work and not corrode anything before I put it in my loop.

That would work well for an aquarium since the main problem with algae in a tank is over production of phosphate by the fish (when they defecate). You really shouldn't have any phosphate whatsoever in the loop so I doubt theres anything in there that will use it as food. I'd suggest something directly toxic to the algae like a copper sulfate or copper chloride based algaecide or better yet, a wheat germ based algaecide. The latter being non-toxic to most higher forms of life. Copper based chemicals are toxic to crustaceans and mammals (but interestingly enough, not fish... when used properly).