Better Strategy Than Buying So Many Gallons Of Spring Water?

So I buy only gallons of spring water like Ice Mountain for my 5 gallon tank for my one betta fish and I was just curious is there a much simple strategy than purchasing so many gallons? I do not want to use tap water, distilled, for many reasons and have always used spring water I buy from stores since I got my fish back in September, and I just am wondering is there a much better strategy or is this what people go through getting tons of gallons to stock up on of spring water? Any feedback would be appreciated, thank you.

 

Why don't you want to use tap water?

 

is this what people go through getting tons of gallons to stock up on of spring water?

No, most people, the vast, vast majority, use tap water. No one's buying and stocking up on hundreds of gallons of spring water.

 

I use tap water and dechlorinate with prime, which removes ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and heavy metals.

 

Unless you collect rainwater, the only way to refill tanks is with untreated well water, tap water treated with dechlorinator, with tap water ran through an R.O. system, or now I learned with spring water.

Same here as Fanatic stated.... I also use Seachem Prime.

Prime is very concentrated, making it economical in the long run.

For a 5 gallon tank, I reccomend getting a plastic 1ml syringe from a pharmacy to dise Prime

Prime dosing as follows:

0.1ml per 1 gallon treated water
0.5ml per 5 gallon
1.0ml per 10 gallon
5.0ml per 50 gallon

A 1ml syinge with 0.1ml markings will ensure you don't water your Prime when treating water changes in a 5 gallon tank.

 

Well, you could get an RO/DI system and use some seachem product to remineralize it, but that's pretty expensive and I wouldn't recommend it unless your tap water's parameters are terrible (like, unusually high or low pH plus 1ppm of ammonia and levels of toxic heavy metal that are *this* close to being harmful for human consumption).

Otherwise just treat your tap water with Prime. The stuff stinks like rotten eggs but it gets the job done and the dosage is very small compared to other products.

 

thanks everyone

 

However when you start with tap treated with prime, the parameters will be different.

You should slowly start changing water in, like half a gallon changed from spring water to tap everyday.

 

I just use buckets and collect rain water and the best thing is it's free. Don't know if that's a option for you depending on how your rain water is.

 

Tap is fine. Human can drink tap water. Pretty sure they can live in tap water with dechlorinator. Esp betta are not delicate lollll. They used to live in mud puddles. They are ok in tap water

 

Would using tap water cause calcium build up overtime though? Islandvic BlackOsprey Fanatic

 

Would using tap water cause calcium build up overtime though? Islandvic BlackOsprey Fanatic

Depends on how much calcium is in the water.

 

Would using tap water cause calcium build up overtime though? Islandvic BlackOsprey Fanatic

Only if your water is hard, otherwise no.

 

For a betta I would use tap water with API stress coat. It has aloe in it which is great for fish that have large delicate flowing fins.

 

I live where we have hard water, and I haven't seen a problem with calcium build up in my tanks so far.

 

Calcium buildup depends on two things: one, how hard your water is, and two, how much evaporation is happening. For example, my local tap water is basically liquid rock, and we have an axolotl tank that needs fans to keep the water cool via increased evaporation. As a result, the glass lid is pretty much crusted over. On the other hand, the regular tanks don't see much buildup at all.

Calcium will only have buildup in spots where water evaporates too, so it's not gonna fog the walls of the aquarium itself. It's kind of a non-issue for a betta tank tbh.

 

For a betta I would use tap water with API stress coat. It has aloe in it which is great for fish that have large delicate flowing fins.

They actually tested the effectiveness of stress coat and found short of dumping it right on the fish the aloe has no effect.

 

could you post a link to it. I would like to compare it to some of the stuff I have read.
I have seen some postings about it elsewhere but no one has produced anything I could read.

 

I use tap water and dechlorinate with prime, which removes ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and heavy metals.

It is good to use Prime, but it doesn't remove ammonia. It just makes non-toxic for fish for ~24 hours. If you don't have your cycle complete and consume that ammonia it will become toxic to fish.

If you tap water has ammonia, you can "prime it" and your cycle will eat the ammonia and fish are ok right? Maybe. If you have high ammonia that just means it will get converted to nitrates.

Catch 22. You do water changes to remove nitrates, but if you have high ammonia in your tap, you will convert it quickly to nitrates. Remove nitrates only to add them back!

 

It is good to use Prime, but it doesn't remove ammonia. It just makes non-toxic for fish for ~24 hours. If you don't have your cycle complete and consume that ammonia it will become toxic to fish.

If you tap water has ammonia, you can "prime it" and your cycle will eat the ammonia and fish are ok right? Maybe. If you have high ammonia that just means it will get converted to nitrates.

Catch 22. You do water changes to remove nitrates, but if you have high ammonia in your tap, you will convert it quickly to nitrates. Remove nitrates only to add them back!

Yes, it only neutralizes it, but for some reason I keep saying the word "removes" instead.