|
Post by babygeige on Feb 19, 2011 12:12:57 GMT -5
My dad's friend got his little portal aquarium almost ready. I think all it needs is a fish. I've been meaning to ask a question, but haven't really had time to get on here this week.
The well water at his house is terrible. When I went over there every day to change the water in his 50 gallon before I brought those fish home to my house, I took water from my house to use.
My dad told him he could fill containers up at our house, but he probably won't do that. I believe he mentioned distilled water, but I just look at Carl's site and he says to never use distilled. If our friend is going to buy water then, what would be best? Should he get spring water from the grocery store?
He was asking me about the special betta water they sell at the store. I think that's probably just a gimmick, but if it's better than grocery store spring water, he won't have a problem buying that instead.
I am hoping he calls me to help him put the betta in the tank. If he does, I will take a couple of gallons of my water over with me to replace some of the distilled water. I know that before he asked me to go take the fish out of the 50 gallon he would top off the tank with distilled water. I'm not sure what his wife used for water when she able to take care of the tank before she became ill.
Any suggestions?
|
|
|
Post by parker002 on Feb 19, 2011 13:32:32 GMT -5
Actual distilled water is boiled and the evaporation is gathered in a separate container, leaving carbonates, heavy metals, and other impurities behind.
Alot of places don't just sell distilled water anymore - they sell "drinking" water. It could be distilled, it could be purified via reverse osmosis, or it could be carbon-filtered.
None of them are suitable for fishkeeping because they contain no nutrients. In order to use RO or distilled water, you'd have to spend money to put back in all the stuff they worked so hard to take out.
In theory, several brands of spring water contain trace minerals, either because of where the water was obtained or because minerals were added to enhance the taste. However, the actual water varies from brand to brand so while Brand A may be perfect for a betta, Brand B might be horrible.
The special Betta water they sell at like Petco or Petsmart is purified by reverse osmosis before bottling. In other words, it's not suitable for a fish unless you're going to re-add trace elements.
The absolute best answer is to use tap water from your house, add some dechlorinator, and take it to him.
But if he's absolutely insistent on doing it himself, the spring water is probably the least of the 3 evils...
|
|
|
Post by Carl on Feb 19, 2011 20:08:03 GMT -5
Honestly not much more I can add after parker002 He can maybe "Cut" the well water with 10-25% RO or distilled water. If 100% (or even 50%) distilled water IS used, the use of products such as Replenish, Wonder Shells and alkaline buffer is a must. Some aquarium purists (I know a few) prefer to start with RO or DI water then add back the exact ingredients that they feel necessary for the fish kept. As for Drinking Water, most are not adequate for aquatic life, but as parker002 noted this can vary greatly. BTW, have you tested his well water and if so what is it that is "Bad"? (sorry if I come off as snarky there) Carl
|
|
|
Post by babygeige on Feb 19, 2011 21:33:15 GMT -5
Well, I've not actually tested it. I just know that when I would go there and run the water, the rotten egg smell that came out of the tap was just about unbearable. Granted, he wasn't living there at the time and it hadn't been run much for months, but even after going there and using the water every day for a month, (just to rinse stuff off), it didn't get better.
Perhaps when I go there I will get some of his water and test it. Maybe it's better, or he is running a filter of some sort now.
|
|
|
Post by Carl on Feb 20, 2011 15:37:32 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by babygeige on Feb 26, 2011 11:07:21 GMT -5
Interesting. I'm trying to remember if it only came out stinky with hot water, or if it was just 100 times worse with hot water.
He won't do all that to water for his fish. I'm going to try to convince him to just take a few gallons of our water home with him when he visits and use that for his water changes. We haven't heard from him in about a week. I don't know if he bought the fish yet or not. I hope he waits for me, then I can put some of my filter media in his filter to get some good bio-goobies going there.
|
|
|
Post by nickhun on Oct 31, 2011 2:33:06 GMT -5
Thanks for the informative post.. I seek more effective posts like this
|
|
|
Post by babygeige on Nov 2, 2011 16:30:52 GMT -5
Thanks for the informative post.. I seek more effective posts like this Welcome to the board! Is there anything in particular you are looking for or need help with? Incidentally, the guy I was trying to help with this still has the tank up and running without any fish in it. He's just going to keep it that way.
|
|