I have some water problems and questions...?

Question

I am going to be setting up my first aquarium tomorrow. A brand new 10gal tank with one goldfish. My only problem now is that I have been keeping goldie in a bowl and been using spring water in the bowl. This isn't such a big deal because I buy the water anyways for my betta bowl also, but these are both small bowls. Now I am getting a 10 gal tank, but I don't have town tap water, I actually have well water which my dad tries to maintain with chemicals. I don't want to spend over $10 getting a bunch of bottled water, but I'm afraid my well water will not be acceptable for the tank. What to do? I don't think water conditioner will be able to correct the well water either. At our house we don't even use the tap water to brush our teeth or in cooking, we used bottled! Does this mean I have to go out and buy a bunch of water? What do i do?

Answer 1

Wow, if your well water isn't even safe for you to drink, then it doesn't sound safe for your fish! It looks like your are going to have to buy bottled (not distilled) water after all. And with any fish, you need to change at least 25% of the water every week to keep it from getting toxic.

Answer 2

The water from your garden hose is the same water from your Dad's well. Ask your dad first of all, what is in the well water that he feels makes it unuseable for drinking, brushing your teeth, etc. Ask him when he last had the water tested, if he never did then check into how much it would cost for a water test.

(usually it costs around $60, but your dad should have it checked for the safety of his family, not the fish.)

Since I am not a fish aquarium expert by any means, but did hrow up with well water.. I would suggest you go to your local pet (or pet supply) store and ask them. You can also call your local Vet and ask them. They shouldn't charge you a single dime for asking such a question. The vet would probably have the most honest, and direct answer for you. The pet store might try to get you to buy a lot of chemicals or water treatments that you don't need, or that might not work.

No matter which water you go with, if I remember correctly (Dad had a 80 gallon fish tank while I was growing up) you need to put the fish in a baggy and let it float in the new water for a while until the temp adjusts for the fish. Then your release them into the new water. Otherwise just dropping them from one bowl into another bowl or tank can kill them from shock (temp change).

Ask dad if he if he uses a water softner also, the extra salt might kill the fish. Best advice, talk to the local vet right over the phone.

Answer 3

Go to Wal-Mart and buy 9-10 gallons of distilled water. This is water that has been set so that there are no harmful chemicals in it. Also, with goldfish, the water doesn't have to be treated. It is one hardy fish. The betta will need the water treated though and I suggest that you house them together. Right now in my 55 gallon tank, I have goldfish and a betta and they do just fine. Don't be mislead by some people who will tell you that bettas are very aggressive. They aren't, except to thier own kind. P.S. At Wal-Mart, 1 gallon of distilled water is 64 cents.

Answer 4

First never use distilled it has nothing in it and the fish will be dead in a month if you use it

Second, if your well has a water softener on it, bypass it, if you cant bypass it you are going to have to buy spring water. I would use a water conditioner that neutralizes heavy metals and removes chlorine and chloramine and stimulates the slime coat on the fish. Because most of store bought water turns out to be just regular tapwater. If you have a friend that lives in town, see if you can get water from them. I use well water for all of my fish tanks and i dont have any problems. My well water is hard water and full of iron and smells like sulphur when the well gets low but still i have no problems.

Answer 5

I would try and see why your water is unsafe to drink. Goldfish are generally pretty adaptable to a wide variety of water conditions. Some of the basic tap water conditioners can treat tap water so it is acceptable to at least most of the common hardy fish(Aquarium Pharmaceuticals sells a tap water conditioner that dechlorinates as wells as helps take care of some heavy metals) If it is just hard water then they can handle it as well. Otherwise then look at getting bottled water - even Wal-Mart has the RO water dispenser outlets anymore - or even one of those tap water purifiers that most of the pet store chains sell.

Answer 6

Depending what is in your water, there are contaminate removers , mineral removers as well as chlorine and ammonia removers. Some of these come combined. and some come in handy tablets. If the water is contaminated with one celled organisms boil let cool, then add conditoners and removers. Let tank set for a few days so you don't get cloudy water from new tank syndrome , then add the fish. With goldfish you have to change water fairly frequently and change filters, they secrete alot of waste. Good Luck!

Answer 7

i use a python water change system to take water out of my tanks and add water.

but it is a good idea to use buckets and let the tap water sit for a few days b4 u use it in a fishtank.

Answer 8

if you dont drink your tap water its a very good idea to use bottled water, make sure its spring watter, not distilled. good luck

Answer 9

you can get Reverse osmosis water at local water stores for less then 50Cents a gallon...sometimes local petstores also sell R/O water..but for more then a water store.

you can also get it from those water things you see at grocery strores