Di water vs. tap water

coming from the reef world, Di water was necessary. Salt added back the things needed that were taken out by the Di process. I keep reading conflicting results for using Di water with freshwater. Can it be done without any additives? No plants in the tank. Anyone using Di water?

the reason i ask is because i would still like to use the Di water for my new setup to help with any type of algae control. This will be for a 120g aquarium.
thanks

What kind of fish are you planning to keep? Except for a few blackwater specialist species, most N.A. natives do better with tap water than deionized water. Fish food contains phosphate, so if you're planning to keep big fish or lots of small fish, DI probably wont help much in keeping P low. Why do you NOT want live plants? They are an easy and effective way to remove excess P and N.

What kind of fish are you planning to keep? Except for a few blackwater specialist species, most N.A. natives do better with tap water than deionized water. Fish food contains phosphate, so if you're planning to keep big fish or lots of small fish, DI probably wont help much in keeping P low. Why do you NOT want live plants? They are an easy and effective way to remove excess P and N.

i'll keep whatever i can either catch that is small or easily get via mailorder. Hopefully rock bass (catch).
I plan on using an algae scrubber to remove N and P so that wont be an issue. I've used one with saltwater and it worked well.

I may stick some live plants in my sump since it will be a 50g rubbermaid stock tank. I also most likely have 2 months before setup so i can decide if plants will work and i want to try them.

Duckweed, Frogbit, Coontail, Najas, Elodea, Java moss, Java fern, Watersprite, Nitella, Vallisneria, etc are good freshwater equivalents for your "algae" scrubber. I wouldn't bother with DI water.

i'll keep whatever i can either catch that is small or easily get via mailorder. Hopefully rock bass (catch).
I plan on using an algae scrubber to remove N and P so that wont be an issue. I've used one with saltwater and it worked well.

I may stick some live plants in my sump since it will be a 50g rubbermaid stock tank. I also most likely have 2 months before setup so i can decide if plants will work and i want to try them.

DI is generaly not good to use for most freshwater fish unless you are adding things back to it. I would suggest just using your tap. If you are worried about using tap water you can always age it in a tub for a day before you use it.

Ive been keeping natives for about a year now and I have gotten some great advice from the folks here, so you found the right place to ask questions. I dont claim to be an expert by any means yet, but I'll throw in my two cents. It seems like coming from salt water, you are used to fish that need very stable conditions. In my experience, Natives are practically indestructable. I think the most important thing with natives is to keep their conditions relatively constant, whatever they may be. I personally have never tested my PH, or nitrate or nitrite levels, and have always used water straight from the tub. Im sure Ill be yelled at by someone for admitting that, but I swear my fish seem perfectly healthy and happy.

Ditto to all the above!

di water not necessary for a reef or especially for native freshwater, i grew an acropora farm using tapwater, no dechlore and salt mix...to much tech will kill ur project!