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  L# Bottled Water for water changes.
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SubscribeBottled Water for water changes.
soclosetome
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EditedEdited by soclosetome
This may seem like a silly question since I do not usually take care of a betta but my sister recently came across one and I had to step in before she killed it (she isn't the best at fish keeping). Anyway, I have him in a tiny maybe one gallon tank with a little plant and some rocks. He has been doing fine for months now but I noticed that he took the water change kindof hard today, the weather is quickly changing because of spring time here in Cali and I think this may have affected him with this water change. My question is, is it safe to use bottled water to change his water? His tank is small enough that I think one bottled water would probably almost fill it up, the rest can just be the water that he is already in to top it off.
Post InfoPosted 12-Mar-2008 03:01Profile Homepage AIM MSN PM Edit Report 
brandeeno
 
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bottled water lacks nutrients and chemicals in the water that tap water contains. you will need to dose with a bacteria boost, and a starting chemical everytime you do a WC. i have found a good product called "Tetra easy balance" it helps me to keep stability in my tanks if i dont do a WC weekly or even monthly... ... but i would just suggest you have the water for a WC sit out for a couple hours and you add water conditioner... this will eb far better.. or you but the betta water like at petco...

also i think one gallon tanks are great, but you should upgrade to a 10g or something and get him a few firends... they will be fun and allow you to explore other realms of fish keeping as it appears you are a beginner...

its good you came to FP, there are alot of people here to help you out with whatever you need!

GOOD LUCK!

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"
Post InfoPosted 12-Mar-2008 03:12Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
soclosetome
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EditedEdited by soclosetome
Thank you very much for the information, not a beginner, just a beginner to bettas I have never really cared for one before so I am trying my hardest to keep him alive and happy. I will try the conditioning of the water and letting it sit out for a few hours and do weekly water changes and see if that helps him out.

Usually I scoop him out into a little cup of his own water and then take the little tank to the sink and wash it out and refill it, then I let that tank sit for 2 hours or so and then dump him back in with his own water he was sitting in.

This was working fine up until today when it seemed that it may have put him into shock. So I am going to try that conditioner you mentioned and see if that helps.
Post InfoPosted 12-Mar-2008 03:19Profile Homepage AIM MSN PM Edit Delete Report 
Callatya
 
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EditedEdited by Callatya
Be careful what type of bottled water you get. still spring water would be ideal. Avoid demineralised, sparkling, mineral and the rest of the more processed waters.

The contents will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer (or packager to packager... not sure how much manufacturing you can do with water) depending on the source of the water, weather, time of year and the industry controls. Just because it comes in a bottle does not make it better quality water. It should, but it isn't always the case.

For the moment, go for it. Weather changes are a pain and they can play around with your tap water source.
It might be worth considering ageing your tap water though. That is, not just dechlorinating but dechlorinating and leaving a largish (5gal) bucket to sit and age for the week between changes. That seems to help make the water changes less of a shock.


For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Post InfoPosted 12-Mar-2008 04:32Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
Shinigami
 
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I am not sure why you would dose water with a bacteria boost. Tap water doesn't contain bacteria either. You do, however, probably need to provide some sort of minerals. Tap water is a good source for this. Many people that purify water for freshwater tanks might mix it with some part tap water to provide some of these minerals.

I'm not sure if you said it, but what is actually wrong with the tap water?

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.
Post InfoPosted 12-Mar-2008 05:30Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
brandeeno
 
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tap water dose conatin trace bacterias that might have grown despite the chlorine in the water source (these are tried to be kept at a minimum)... also the bacteria that get into the bucket and such also boost this as some can adapt to the new aquatic enviroment... but you wouldnt need to condition the bottled water and many conditioners contain trace bacterias (cycle, strees zyme, and etc are all conditioners and bacteria boosts [if i am not mistaken]) also soclosetome what type of tank do you run and do you have parameters or tank description (decorations and all)...

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"
Post InfoPosted 12-Mar-2008 05:38Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
Callatya
 
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EditedEdited by Callatya
You'd be stunned and revolted by some of the bacteria that is in bottled water, it'd make your toes curl. I found little flocs in mine once. Give me tap water any day!

Really, the only bacteria you need/want are the ones involved in cycling, and for weekly changes then it is about 50/50 if you want to try and cycle or try and stop the cycle as it'll cancell every 7 days. If you change part of the water then whatever bacteria is remaining in the tank should be enough to keep it chugging along. It kind of depends how you have set up and maintain as to if it'd be worthwhile or needed. Bacteria boosters aren't a bad idea, I wouldn't say they were strictly necessary.

Most water conditioners/dechloriminators add trace elements, not bacteria. Some are an all-in one type thing, but more often than not it is a separate dose. I wouldn't think that bottled water would be lacking in trace elements, however it might well be unbalanced depending on the source. The same could be said of tap water though.

Really, the main benefit you get from bottled water is some level of uniformity and a bypass of whatever part of the tap water system you are using that is affecting the fish. Other than that, IME they are much of a muchness.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Post InfoPosted 12-Mar-2008 06:10Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
brandeeno
 
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got it i guess i was a little confused with some of my info and i appologize... we cant know everything...

but also when yo do your water changes do a 50% shange rather than a nearly 100% change... this will allow for less shock and better bacteria presevation... a good way to do this would be to syphon the water out of the tank with some airline tubing (about 50 cents) into the sink or a water bottle and then toss it into the garden or onto a house plant and add new treated water...

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"
Post InfoPosted 12-Mar-2008 06:38Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
soclosetome
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Thank you everybody for all the great information, but the betta I have is kept in a small plastic little critter tank, it doesn't have any filtration system or lighting or anything really, just rocks and a small plant. I came across him by chance and am trying to keep him alive, a bigger tank with filtration is just not an option at the moment.
Post InfoPosted 12-Mar-2008 09:34Profile Homepage AIM MSN PM Edit Delete Report 
brandeeno
 
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well try this...
get an aerator and a larger bowl or kritter keeper...

it will be happier in this!

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"
Post InfoPosted 13-Mar-2008 04:10Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
bettadude
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idk if this is kinda off tobic but so far i have been useing zepherhills spring water with a good filter and all my fish seem to be okay i am just making sure that this water is okay...soooo...is zepherhills spring water okay??

experience is something you dont get until right after you need it
Post InfoPosted 13-Jan-2009 05:16Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
Cichlid Kid
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if its spring water, and isnt processed then yes.as said before.
Post InfoPosted 13-Jan-2009 05:40Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
bettadude
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okay thank u

experience is something you dont get until right after you need it
Post InfoPosted 13-Jan-2009 14:42Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
Cichlid Kid
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yyup
Post InfoPosted 13-Jan-2009 16:54Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
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