City water

[hisc1ay]

I moved last week from a house in the 'burbs to a place in the city. I'm wondering what kind of treatment I need for my water to be safe for my fish. I know chlorine is probably the biggie, and then there's hardness, pH, etc. but are there other things to watch out for?

Also, if I used a britta filter would it change the chemistry at all and make it more safe?

Thanks. I don't want to kill my loaches or betta when I finally bring them to my new digs.

-j

 

[cginflorida]

Get a water test kit (not the strips, the liquid kind that you add to test tubes) that measures ammonia, pH, hardness, nitrites, etc. Test the city water for hardness and pH. I think there are also tests for chlorine, but I've never used one. Just add dechlorinator to the tank on setup and when you do water changes and add water for evaporation.

There are a lot of different kinds of dechlor. I use AquaSafe which removes chlorine, chloramines and heavy metals.

I'm not sure how the Brita filter would affect it, but it's probably not necessary.

 

[hisc1ay]

That's good to know. I have all that stuff already. Here's a somewhat related question...if I didn't scrub everything that was in the tank before and saved a few gallons of water, would that lessen the length of a cycle? Should I cycle a small tank first, put the fish in that, and then cycle the large tank?

-j

 

[flipz]

You should bag up things like substrate, rocks, decorations, and especially your filter media in aquarium water, and don't let anything get dry. Then put it into the tank after the move, you should experience almost no cycle at all. At the very least you will get a mini-cycle.

Good luck

-brent

 

[poikilotherm]

I just checked my tap water (well, not city) before and after running it through a Brita filter. Before it had GH 10, KH 9, pH 7.4. Afterwards, it had GH 8, KH 7, pH 7.0. Not a big difference for all the hassle and time. The major benefit would probably be stuff like heavy metals and chlorine, but a water treatment (such as AquaSafe) should take care of that. Don't bother with the Brita, but test and treat your tap water as cginflorida suggested, and let it sit for a day or two before using it (to clean up the dissolved gases).

 

[hisc1ay]

Thanks, y'all. The way I see it, I have one shot to do it right, or I gotta start my tanks over again. I'm almost tempted to set up the tank and stick some feeders in there just to see if it's livable, but to me that almost borders on cruelty. Alas...I will have to decide.

-j

 

[TankGirl]

Hey there - are you in Richmond proper now? I think you will find relatively hard, alkaline water out of the tap. You will be amazed at what some leftover bacteria in the tank will do for your cycle. Go fishless and just wait it out. I just use your basic water conditioner, like Prime or Wardley's or whatever.

 

[hisc1ay]

Hey TG. Yup, I'm living in the Fan now, and I love it. I've wanted to live there for so stinkin' long.

I checked my water yesterday. I would assume that a test kit wouldn't go bad in a year. If that's true, then our water is very soft (or is it very hard). Didn't check the pH, but the KH and GH were less than 1 degree. I have these drops and they're supposed to turn one color from the first drop, then you add more til it turns another color. Well, when I put the drops in, both tests went straight to the other color with the second drop. The instructions said if it goes clear after the first, it's less than 1. So now I have to figure out how to harden the water. I don't want to put too many chemicals in it though.

-j

 

[TankGirl]

Soft water in Richmond? I am surprised, as I used to live in the Fan- but if that is the case then some crushed coral in your filter will help a lot. Check phosphates, too, those tend to be extremely high around here and contribute to major algae issues.

I live in Northside now and have KH of 5 and GH about 11 out of the tap.

 

[hisc1ay]

Are there phosphate test kits?

Would seashells work the same as crushed coral? I have some shells laying around that I can crush up and put in my filter, at least to see how well it works in my 10 gallon before buying a bag of CC and setting up my large tank. I think I read somewhere that shells work too...

Then I guess my next question would be how much to use.

-j

 

[TankGirl]

There are phosphate test kits - mine is Red Sea, I think. Just something to be thinking about.

I think seashells would work the same as CC, so I would use as much as you can stuff into the filter of the 10-gal, which might be tricky depending upon the filter. I have cut open a filter cartridge and exchanged the carbon for CC. It is much easier in larger HOB's that have media baskets or of course in a canister filter. I find this works better, having water rushing over it constantly, than just putting the shells in the tank, though this should help as well.

See if that takes your KH and GH up, and then test it periodically - for me the stuff in the filter will last about 3-4 months before it starts to be less effective, though I don't know why it would lose effectiveness. Maybe getting bound up with bacteria or something, but that is another thread

 

[hisc1ay]

I went ot PetSmart last night and they had no phosphate kits, so I think I need to make a trek out to Fin N Feather. And apparently I had waste of some sort in my tank because my cycle is well under way. I cleaned the tank out well, but I guess not well enough.

I'm putting the shells in tonight. I'll stick 'em in my filter.

-j

 

[TankGirl]

Fin N Feather will have it, as will Azalea, but that is a trek as well. There used to be a cool pet shop on Cary St. but they are gone now.

 

[hisc1ay]

Do you know of any in Midlothian around Brandermill?

-j

 

[TankGirl]

Noah's Pets (14243 Midlothian - don't know how close to Brandermill that is) is an excellent little mom 'n pop type shop with excellent FW fish and supplies that you won't find at the big chain stores (Omega One foods, Kent and Seachem, Red Sea, etc.).