Can I use iron water in a 10 gallon fish tank?

Question

My mom wants a fish tank for her birthday. Si I am getting her a 10 gallon one and she has well water but it is full of iron. Can I use this water in the tank? Or do I need cleaner water? I get my water from our spring , do I need to take some water to her for her tank? Or buy special chemicals for it? TIA!

I want to buy her some nicer fish that can tolerate not having a heater. No Goldfish, any idea's?

Answer 1

Here is what I'd suggest for a 10 gallon tank:
A decent filter (whisper makes affordable waterfall models but I prefer the bio-wheel type).
A heater (unless you plan to get a goldfish, but keep in mind it's one goldfish for every 10 gallons of water)
Use either distilled water or check local pet stores. Most of them sell reverse osmosis (r/o) water for about 30 cents per gallon (you have to bring your own water jugs..we use new gasoline jugs..never ones that have been used before!). We had horrible issues with well water. Not only will it have high iron but also high mineral content and the ph may be off as well. Spring water may have issues as well.
A decent light..flourescent is fine..incandescent tends to grow more algae it seems.
Typically you would use a pound of gravel per gallon..and whatever decorations you want. Live plants are always nice if you have good lighting but make sure to inspect them well for snails before you put them in the tank.
Once you set it up, wait a week before you put anything in. It might get cloudy for a few days. That's normal. Once it clears have the water tested at the pet store and add one or two hardy fish (platy, molly, etc work ok). If they do ok then add a couple more. The rule for fish is an inch of fish per gallon of water...so 5-7 inch long fish would be a good plan. Remember to make sure they'll stay the same size their entire lives.
Other than that, just don't let her overfeed and you should be good to go. By that I mean a tiny bit of food a couple times a day (have her scoop out anything not eaten in 1 minute).
Let us know how it goes!

Answer 2

Ok, I have been asked this question many many times (I used to manage a fish store). It really depends on the fish going into the tank. If they are goldfish, they are fine. If they are something nicer, you'll need a heater and some better water.
Just make sure she changes 10-25% of the water once a week

Answer 3

The standard is 1" of fish per gallon, but you have to take into consideration that fish grow, so in your 10 gallon, you could have 10 1" fish, but they would have to stay 1" for the life of the tank. Tetras would be good in a 10 gallon and there are lots of different kinds of Tetras. I have a 5 gallon for my frog, betta and algae eatter. For the 29 gallon, I have a 29 gallon with 5 African Cichlids, they are really active and fun to watch and the colors are amazing, alot of them have saltwater fish coloring. If your going to put African Cichlids in the 29 gallon, be careful how many you put in, most Cichlids get to be about 5-8" long. Also, make sure you cycle your tanks before you put fish in them, get a couple hardy goldfish and only have them in the tanks for the first month or so, till you can reach a 0 level of ammonia, nitrite and only have nitrates. It takes a while, but it will save you alot of stress and water changes trying to keep fish from dying from spiking ammonia. Good luck with your tanks!!!

Answer 4

The high iron content water is a problem,and unless you live in the Tropics it's either Goldfish or a heater.

Answer 5

Don't use that,some fish are sensitive with that type of water.