Adding Still Bottled Water

penguin22

Fish Fanatic
Joined
Dec 16, 2006
Messages
143
Reaction score
0
Location
Walsall,West Midlands,UK
I have recently started to add still bottled water (asda smart price) to my aquarium during water changes. Im doing this because it is softer water than my tap water and my fish would be happier in the slightly softer conditions. At the moment (3 wks in) everything is going well and my water is getting softer slowly but surely. I was feeling very proud of myself thinking I was a perfect fish keeper when i was told the still bottled water wouldnt contain essential vitamins my fish need. This got me thinking would it hold the same amount of oxygen as tap water, i have no idea about mineral or oxygen contents in water someone please help me. :unsure:
 
i'd think if you added tap safe in after any water then you would really be safe. if you are really worried about it ten do smaller but more frequent water changes than one big one. but entirely up to you :good:
 
i'd think if you added tap safe in after any water then you would really be safe. if you are really worried about it ten do smaller but more frequent water changes than one big one. but entirely up to you :good:
Thanks, I was hoping i could carry on using the bottled water will do half/half unless someone says otherwise :good:I always add tap safe
 
The vast majority of fish will cope perfectly well in water that is "too hard" for them. Obviously they would be happier, have better colouration and be more likely to breed in water more closely matched to their natural habitat but often it's not worth the hassle of making water harder or softer.

What fish do you have?
and what is the hardness of you current tank water?
 
The only thing to watch for is temperature. Room temp water poured into a tank is cold enough that any fish swiming directly through the current could get stunned and killed.
 
The vast majority of fish will cope perfectly well in water that is "too hard" for them. Obviously they would be happier, have better colouration and be more likely to breed in water more closely matched to their natural habitat but often it's not worth the hassle of making water harder or softer.

What fish do you have?
and what is the hardness of you current tank water?
Yes my fish do seem happy in their current water but was just trying to get ideal conditions for them. My fish in the tank are neons, black phantoms, khulis, corys, platys, and guppies. My gh was 11 now 9 would like to get it to 5. Thanks for reply :good: I know what you meen by hassle once ive got it there ive got to keep it there.
 
The only thing to watch for is temperature. Room temp water poured into a tank is cold enough that any fish swiming directly through the current could get stunned and killed.
I tip a bucket of cold water in, the fish swim through it as I do it. The cold water changes I find are good for the fish, I get breeding straight after a cold water change so it can't be that bad?

Also to the OP the fish in question will be fine with the GH they had before, it's perfectly fine for them all.
 
Oxygen is easy to provide, just use the filter output to break the surface. Lack of minerals could be a problem, though if you cut it with tap water e.g. do half bottle half tap water, it would be fine.

Also don't worry about the temperature in my opinion, you'd have to do a huge water change with very cold water to make a big enough overall difference.
 
The only thing to watch for is temperature. Room temp water poured into a tank is cold enough that any fish swiming directly through the current could get stunned and killed.

Your fish would have to be exceptionally sensitive and very weak for a little cold water to "stun and kill" them. In general, fish are actually quite adaptable to varying conditions, including temperature and pH change. If a little cold water was all that was needed to stun and/or kill a fish, the fish in the wild had better stay away from any mountain stream. Or even rain wash-off since that rain is probably not the same temperature as the stream/river/lake/pond the fish is in. I am sure that you have been outside in the summer when a quick cold rain comes up. I have never heard of a massive fish die-off after such an occurrence.

Beyond that, I know that I perform large, often >50%, waterchanges with room temperature water all the time, without any fish loss whatsoever. In fact, the cooler water often starts a spawning event for several of my fish. Not only are they not dying, they are reproducing!

Research actually shows that the most stressful change is actually a change in hardness. However, as the OP is only changing the mineral content by a tiny amount, the fish will adapt to the tiny amount pretty easily and quickly.

My only warning is that not to convert to 100% bottled water, as sometimes bottled water will be very poor in buffering capability. However, 50% bottled and 50% tap should be fine. If you really want to be sure, get yourself a KH test. So long as the KH remains significantly above zero, there will be no concerns about lack of buffering.

The minerals in the water basically have almost no impact with how much oxygen the water can hold. I cannot say exactly zero, but it is very, very close to zero. In other words, dissolved oxygen and dissolved minerals are completely independent upon on another. The amount of dissolved oxygen is much more dependent upon temperature than upon the minerals that may be in it.
 
I have recently started to add still bottled water (asda smart price) to my aquarium during water changes.
What kind of bottled water is it?
Because if it's 'table water' or if it doesn't say 'spring water', 'mineral water' or the like, it will just be water straight from the tap (and some brands still have chlorine and such other chemicals in them, not filtered out).
I actually watched a program on bottled water a little while ago...(it's sad that I found it so interesting).
Anyway, unless it it spring water/mineral water - you may as well use tap water as it contains the same amount of minerals (depending on locality obviously but not worth paying for and no way to tell).
Tap water with conditioner works out much cheaper, is just as good mineral wise and is much safer (the store could close, stop stocking that brand or switch the source of the water).
 
Again great replys the bottled water just says still water, the reason im using it is purely because its softer than my tap water. After these coments though i will definitly not revert to more than 50 percent bottled. Thanks :good:
 
Just to let you know, corys, pleco, platys and guppys prefer harder water,and your tetras and khulis will prefer softer water. So really what you are doing isn't helping the majority of your fish. I would suggest going back to your tap water.

J4MES
 
Just to let you know, corys, pleco, platys and guppys prefer harder water,and your tetras and khulis will prefer softer water. So really what you are doing isn't helping the majority of your fish. I would suggest going back to your tap water.

J4MES
Oh ive been missinformed then, i thought tetras and khulis and cories preffered softer and rest were pretty neutral. Not really sure what to do now, bulk of people are saying stay with tap water so i think thats what i will do. :unsure:
 

Most reactions

Back
Top