Well Water In Aquariums...

GyppyGirl2021 · Dec 12, 2008

Well, we've settled in a house way out in the boonies, and we don't get our water from a local (contaminated) city source, but rather from a mountain well. The water is purified via reverse osmosis, so it doesn't have harmful chemicals such as chlorine in it, but I am concerned about water hardness for fish that prefer soft and acidic water. (The terrain is very rocky and limey where we live and as such, the water tends to be pretty hard... it's good for livebearers, but not much else.)

Can anyone give me some setup advice? I'm willing to use bogwood/peat as a natural water softening/acidifying agent, but I'm not sure of the availability of those products, the cost and how to use them in general. Would it be more advisable for someone who doesn't possess significant knowledge of fishkeeping (no experience myself, just having read books/articles) to use a chemical water conditioner to reduce the hardness/alkalinity or could that be potentially harmful to delicate fish?

Mind you, the fish that we have (guppies, and a pangasius catfish I've been pleading with my mom to get rid of, but we've had it for a long time and she's developed an odd attachment to the stupid thing... *sigh*) don't seem to mind the water straight from the tap - it's not laced with chemicals so it doesn't harm the fish, but it does seem to have adverse affects on our pet hermit crabs (we lost several of them before switching to bottled water). We've theorized that the reason behind this is bacteria, but could that in any way harm fish?

I would like some advice. Thank you in advance to anyone who decides to help - I would much appreciate it.

(Sorry if I sound like a newbie, but I really don't have much experience in spite of being into the hobby for years... yeah, you can beat me up for animal cruelty or whatever, but you can't really do anything if you don't know, right? All I can hope to do at this point is prevent further mistakes by spreading the knowledge.)

pieman · Dec 12, 2008

If your looking for new fish, have you thought about the ones who like alkaline water? That way you would be able to use your mountain water.

I wouldn't like to give advice on the other bits i might end up killing your fish

Mikaila31 · Dec 12, 2008

Straight well water is fine. I live in Wisconsin, which has mainly limestone aquifers. Local aquarium group calls it liquid rock :lol:

. My water is still hard after going through a water softener. I use it straight from the tap and don't add any products to it. I've never had a problem keeping a majority of fish. Most fish can adapt to different water parameters just fine. Though I do steer clear of really sensitive soft water fish. Tetras, rams, rainbow, garra, livebearers, rasbora, and shrimp all do great in my water.

You should not have any harmful bacteria in your tap. If you have recently moved into the house I suggest having your well water tested by a DNR approved facility. Ours has to be tested once a year since we run a Daycare out of our home. You simply send in a water sample and pick what tests you want done. Cost depends on the tests. You have to remember no one is monitoring your well water, just because it comes out of the tap doesn't mean its safe to drink. Its up to you to make sure it is.

GyppyGirl2021 · Dec 12, 2008

Thank you for the advice. I've been considering keeping tetras and/or cyprinids, but I was unsure of proper water quality standards for them. I guess the best thing to do would be to test the water to see the hardness level and then look at the maximum range of pH and GH preference for the fish I plan to keep.

So there are tetras that don't have a horrible time in hard water? That's good to hear. Maybe the next time I get tetras, I can steer clear of unhealthy neons and get something a little hardier

Also, we've been in the house for 3-4 years now, I think I'm going to suggest the water test in spite of that. The hermit crabs dying kind of bothered me, especially since one of the ones that died we'd had for around 7 years (land hermit crabs, not marine).

Mikaila31 · Dec 12, 2008

The suggested gh-kh is really more for if you are trying to breed them. They can live happily and healthy outside those ranges, but they will most likely not breed. Example, the Rummy-nosed tetra in my sig is kept in moderately hard water, same with my German Blue rams. Both prefer soft to neutral water, but they can stay happy and healthy in moderately hard water.

OldMan47 · Dec 13, 2008

I thought that I read in your original post that you were using an RO. If it is working right, your water will be very soft, even if the well water is quite hard. My tap water comes in with a mineral content of about 325 ppm but from my RO it is less than 30 ppm. That is less than 2 degrees of hardness using the degrees system that most kits use. I have to blend tap water back into it even for my most sensitive soft water fish to avoid the water being too soft.

pica_nuttalli · Dec 13, 2008

Yes, if you're getting "RO" water with any significant amount of hardness, then something is wrong with either your system or your test kit. To test your test kit, test some distilled water and see if you get a reading. I don't know of the best way to test an RO system.

If your RO system is working correctly, then your fishkeeping troubles are probably related to inadequate hardness.