FishWishDish
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- Jul 11, 2007
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I talked to someone knowledgeable about the well water in our area and he said that it should be OK to switch our fishies from distilled/drinking water to well water straight out of the tap (I'll add dechlorinator and stress coat though there's no detectable chlorine in the well water).
He said the biggest concerns are -
changing out gradually (20-25% at a time) because the mineral content of the well water would be about 800-1000 vs. 80 or so for bottled water
and the nitrates in the well water start out around 8-12. Well I tested it and sure enough it reads 10 straight from the faucet.
I'll test ammonia and nitrites again though last I did they were both 0.
Also he said dissolved O2 should be fine with aeration in the tank.
I was concerned about the PH being 8.0, which is higher than the bottled, obviously, but he said as long as we change them over to well water a little at a time it should be OK.
Going to move fish from a 10-gal (uncycled) to a 55-gal (plan to fishless cycle with well water).
The plan:
Set up 55 gal, start fishless cycle.
Sometime before the cycle is complete, begin making water changes in 10 gal with well water (probably start with 10% well water then watch to make sure no signs of distress) until fish are in all well water.
Once big tank cycles, do big water change or 2 till nitrates back down to 10-20, float fish in baggies and release them into their new home.
This makes sense to me, I think there are no unforseen problems, but if there's anything else I'd best check before enacting this course of action, someone please let me know! These fish are used to a lower nitrate level, but I've read to keep it below 40, and not that I would test it, I've read they can withstand higher nitrates (freshwater goldfish and pleco, assuming this change goes well we'll probably put our betta in the 10 gal and switch him to well water gradually too).
Thanks in advance for your help!
He said the biggest concerns are -
changing out gradually (20-25% at a time) because the mineral content of the well water would be about 800-1000 vs. 80 or so for bottled water
and the nitrates in the well water start out around 8-12. Well I tested it and sure enough it reads 10 straight from the faucet.
I'll test ammonia and nitrites again though last I did they were both 0.
Also he said dissolved O2 should be fine with aeration in the tank.
I was concerned about the PH being 8.0, which is higher than the bottled, obviously, but he said as long as we change them over to well water a little at a time it should be OK.
Going to move fish from a 10-gal (uncycled) to a 55-gal (plan to fishless cycle with well water).
The plan:
Set up 55 gal, start fishless cycle.
Sometime before the cycle is complete, begin making water changes in 10 gal with well water (probably start with 10% well water then watch to make sure no signs of distress) until fish are in all well water.
Once big tank cycles, do big water change or 2 till nitrates back down to 10-20, float fish in baggies and release them into their new home.
This makes sense to me, I think there are no unforseen problems, but if there's anything else I'd best check before enacting this course of action, someone please let me know! These fish are used to a lower nitrate level, but I've read to keep it below 40, and not that I would test it, I've read they can withstand higher nitrates (freshwater goldfish and pleco, assuming this change goes well we'll probably put our betta in the 10 gal and switch him to well water gradually too).
Thanks in advance for your help!
