Tap Water or Bottled water

[bigmick474]

I was just curious about whethe it woul make any difference to my fish, (when i add them to the tank), if i used bottled mineral water or bottled spring water instead of tap water.
Stupid question really but i just wondered.

 

[Bloo]

As far as I understand, bottled water is unsuitable, as it does not have any hardenss (ie buffers) and will cause PH imbalance and instabilities.

Perhaps someone else can clarify better.

 

[Undawada]

Yes there are big differences.

The short answer is don't use bottled water.

The long answer is that the chemistry is bottled water is intended for drinking, not supporting aquatic life. Hardness, PH, dissolved minerals, trace elements are different in each region, once you start using bottled water, you should continue using the same bottled water, even the brand makes a difference. Also any type of bottled water other than "Natural Spring Water" is bad, don't use it period. Distilled water for instance will kill your fish by leaching all the minerals out of the fish and into the water. Mineral water has minerals added to it for human consumption, I have no idea what this would do to fish, but it's not better than tap. Some people use reverse osmosis water for lowering hardness, but other than that, don't bother.

 

[sinistral]

In addition to what Undawada wrote, the most obvious difference would be to your wallet-- bottled water costs $$ per water change, tapwater is just pennies. Generally speaking, the difference in cost far outweighs any potential benefit, particuarly since the majority of tapwater is suitable for a wide range of freshwater aquatic life.

 

[yvez9]

bottled water is usually spring water. As mentionned, it would be really expensive to use it and there is no real benefit.

People who live in remote areas often have a well, which is basically equivalent of bottled water as it is pure water from nature. It would work, but you would have to get the same brand and make sure it is collected from the same source every time you purchase it

 

[freddyk]

There is a lot of benefit to using bottled water or R/O water. You lose the impurities and inconsistancies of tap water and end up using very nice and clean and pure water.

However, because of all the reasons mentioned it is imperitive that you use the proper mineral additives meant for the purpose of re-introducing nutrience into the water, which spring and R/O water loses. In the end it just keeps costing, but money isn't an issue for everyone.

 

[@ombomb]

A friend of mine filled his goldfish tank with mineral water before adding the fish. Needless to say the fish died within a couple of hours of putting them in. Not only are there more minerals in the water, but I understand that there is less oxygen in there too.

 

[Ziggy25]

Which then raises the questions of whats the differences in tapwater from London and that of somewhere else.. e.g. Manchester..

 

[Dubby]

Probably softer water in Manchester

 

[freddyk]

but I understand that there is less oxygen in there too.

The problem was that he didn't let it aerate properly. Bottled water and freshly filtered R/O water contain little or no oxygen, but the water itself will hold as much as any, once it is allowed to aerate (through use of filters, air pumps etc.)