My first ever tank!

[ambrosia04]

It is but the liquids can be imprecise still i must say your water is hard and i would consider hard water fishes going forward and avoid those that thrive in soft water. Same for plants - most commonly available crypts should do well.

I was planning on buying some bottled water that my LFS told me tests almost 0 hardness to mix with my water when changing it to make it softer
I'm not sure hwo to go about it tho

 

[anewbie]

I would mix in a pail fresh tap water with chlorine removed with the bottle water but that is not a good solution because long term it will become quite expensive unless you have a cheap source of bottle water

Also some (lot?) of bottle water have additives which might be non-optimal for fishes.

 

[ambrosia04]

I would mix in a pail fresh tap water with chlorine removed with the bottle water but that is not a good solution because long term it will become quite expensive unless you have a cheap source of bottle water

Also some (lot?) of bottle water have additives which might be non-optimal for fishes.

I change like 10L biweekly and I'd change like 3-4L of bottled water and a 8L bottle is 0.96€ so even if long term is expensive if its better for them I'll do anything
I'll buy it and if it's no good after the tests I'll just drink it myself
Would distilled water work better?

 

[anewbie]

I change like 10L biweekly and I'd change like 3-4L of bottled water and a 8L bottle is 0.96€ so even if long term is expensive if its better for them I'll do anything
I'll buy it and if it's no good after the tests I'll just drink it myself
Would distilled water work better?

Your test won't be effective on bottle water - distill water is a lot better because it is guaranteed to be pure as long as it is true distilled water - at least in usa purified and bottled water or similar can have additives but distilled water is suppose to be pure distilled water. It is also usually less expensive. I can buy a gallon for a dollar in usa.

I am only speaking about my experience in usa and your experienced might differ in spain though my understanding is eu are more rigid about such things.

 

[ambrosia04]

just tested TDS, my tank is 356 ppm
and my untreated tap is 264ppm
the bottled water we currently have is 197ppm
I still haven't bought the supposedly low mineral bottled water

 

[jigsyboy]

Thanks! I'm still not entirely sure and I'll ask in my fish store too when the time comes, but for now my research made me want to get these:
View attachment 378598

I started last year for the first time ever and we started with tetras and guppy’s and now it’s like a haven for guppy’s as was not aware that guppy’s have live babies but it’s fantastic and you will enjoy it so much

 

[ambrosia04]

I started last year for the first time ever and we started with tetras and guppy’s and now it’s like a haven for guppy’s as was not aware that guppy’s have live babies but it’s fantastic and you will enjoy it so much

Yeah, I was and still don't feel ready for livebarers at all hahaha, they'll have a designated tank when I get another one though

 

[anewbie]

just tested TDS, my tank is 356 ppm
and my untreated tap is 264ppm
the bottled water we currently have is 197ppm
I still haven't bought the supposedly low mineral bottled water

As i said you want distilled water do not use bottle water because you just don't know what has been added to it.

A few comments:

First i would test gh/kh of your aquarium and compare it to the tap - the reason is that while tds will naturally rise over time due to various reasons yours is quite elevated and you want to make sure something you put in the aquarium is not leaching minerals.

Second at 264 you would want a 50:50 mix with distill water or 75:25 mix (75% distill) naturally the fishes wouldn't object to softer water.

If your aquarium is leaching kh/gh you should identify what is leaching and remove it.

 

[ambrosia04]

As i said you want distilled water do not use bottle water because you just don't know what has been added to it.

A few comments:

First i would test gh/kh of your aquarium and compare it to the tap - the reason is that while tds will naturally rise over time due to various reasons yours is quite elevated and you want to make sure something you put in the aquarium is not leaching minerals.

Second at 264 you would want a 50:50 mix with distill water or 75:25 mix (75% distill) naturally the fishes wouldn't object to softer water.

If your aquarium is leaching kh/gh you should identify what is leaching and remove it.

I'll test the tap water for gh/kh tomorrow as I plan on buying some distilled water!
Wouldn't it be better to start with 25% to not shock the fish? Also I don't want it to drop drastically bc I still want my shrimp to molt properly and my snails to be ok

I do have a 2cm piece of coral but I think the higher tds is because it's been 2 weeks since I changed the water and I just top it off because of evaporation, so I hope tomorrow it'll lower with the 10-20% water change

 

[anewbie]

I'll test the tap water for gh/kh tomorrow as I plan on buying some distilled water!
Wouldn't it be better to start with 25% to not shock the fish? Also I don't want it to drop drastically bc I still want my shrimp to molt properly and my snails to be ok

I do have a 2cm piece of coral but I think the higher tds is because it's been 2 weeks since I changed the water and I just top it off because of evaporation, so I hope tomorrow it'll lower with the 10-20% water change

yes lowering the hardness gradually would be a good thing - i was talking more about the end results.

 

[jigsyboy]

Yeah, I was and still don't feel ready for livebarers at all hahaha, they'll have a designated tank when I get another one though

Well my guppy fry seem to flourish as every week they seem to have more, so now I need to get a bigger tank I feed them big bites and flake food and they all seem happy

 

[jigsyboy]

Well my guppy fry seem to flourish as every week they seem to have more, so now I need to get a bigger tank I feed them big bites and flake food and they all seem happy

Bug bites

 

[Boundava]

You can get an inexpensive RODI buddy instead of risking any bottled H2O. RO buddy is not at all expensive.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00204CQF6?tag=fishforums-20

 

[anewbie]

You can get an inexpensive RODI buddy instead of risking any bottled H2O. RO buddy is not at all expensive.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00204CQF6?tag=fishforums-20

The op is in spain and one shoudl not discount the cost of wasted water until one understand ones cost for water.

 

[Boundava]

The op is in spain and one shoudl not discount the cost of wasted water until one understand ones cost for water.

oh, my bad. Sorry.