Use of Bottled Water for Water Changes?

[Jeff6.0]

I have been using well water for my water changes and the PH is not constant.
This is making it hard on my fish.
I am considering using a bottled "all natural spring" water but I have concerns...

Does Bottled Spring water have chlorine or fluoride or anything else in it that would be harmful?

Are there enough natural minerals in it to support a health tank?

Should I use a water conditioner?

Is there a better solution to my problem?

Thanks!

 

[jlk]

Hi! What seems to be the issue with your ph? Using bottle water seems to be an extreme (and expensive) measure to take unless theres an issue that can absolutely not be remedied. Some more info will help!

 

[Jeff6.0]

My well water PH swings from 6.4 to 8.2.
I don't know why.... I'm guessing there's a complex water system down there...
I have added drift wood to my tank as a natural PH buffer.
Last Saturday I had a PH in the tank of 8.2 and that's way too high for Neon Tetras!
I've brought the PH down slowly by adding spring water.
Currently I'm at a PH of 7.4.
I don't mind the cost of spring water because it is only a ten gallon tank, as long as it is safe.

 

[jlk]

It varies this much out of the tap or in your tank? Have you tested the taps ph after it has gassed off? If not, set out a container of tap water with an airstone/bubbler. If you dont have an extra, just give the water a good stir every so often & check the ph in 24hrs & let us know how this looks. A reasonably stable ph is much healthier for your fish than trying to manipulate it to achieve an 'exact' ph. Contrary to what you may have read, you dont need to provide a specific number ph for your fish unless you are keeping a sensitive or exotic species. If you want to continue using spring water, test its parameters & stick to the same brand. Different brands vary quite a bit in their parameters. As long as its labeled as 'spring water' (and NOT distilled or purified), you should be ok. You may want to consider though cutting the spring water with a bit of tap because the ph of spring water can be quite low (as in 6 or lower) but it varies by brand. This though can be a bit tricky because then you once again will be manipulating the parameters to try to achieve an exact number. In my opinion, this is more work & expense than its worth & I personally would just stick to using tap. Just something to think about!

 

[Jeff6.0]

I have not used the air stone trick but I have let my tap water sit before and gotten nearly the same range of PH readings.

The tap water usually matures near 7.5 ... and I'm happy with that but lately it's been all over the place.
I agree that tap water is the way to go, I just would like more consistency for the same reason you mentioned, health of the fish.

I tested 8.2 out of my 7 days ago, now it's 6.4 but again, these are raw right out of tap readings.

I will drop in an air stone and test it tomorrow.

 

[jlk]

Thanks! Wow, thats quite a bit of variation in your tap water! Well water is affected by all sorts of variables (such as heavy rain/snow or lack of, runoff, etc) and this is pretty much out of your control. I guess if you dont mind the expense, finding a decent source of bottled spring water seems like a reasonable solution. I would test a couple different varieties to find one that has a suitable ph. I know theres a site that lists most of the different spring waters & their various chemical makeups/ph's but I cant find the link at the moment- try googling this & it will save you some legwork of testing different brands. Now, if you decide to setup that 55g in storage, we will have to figure a reasonable way for you to do wcs without resorting to spring water!

 

[Jeff6.0]

Thanks!
Yes, we had about two weeks of straight rain here, that's probably the issue.

I'm thinking about selling that 55 and trying a Saltwater set-up.
If/When I do this I'll be using a RO unit for the water.

 

[jlk]

A saltwater setup sounds exciting but its something Ive never attempted! Best of luck! Getting an RO unit will solve the bottled water dilema as well. You can safely use RO water in your fw tank but you just need to add back minerals, etc with a product such as Replenish or RO Rite.

 

[Jeff6.0]

I have an air stone in a bucket of water from yesterday.
The PH was 6.4 12 hours later it.s 8.2.

 

[jlk]

Thats a big difference. It also explains why your tank readings using tap are all over the place. If you want to use tap (and keep ph stable at 8 range), I would suggest setting out water for changes the night before with a bubbler. Otherwise, investigate your bottled options until you have an RO unit. Good luck!

 

[Aniistarr]

I use the empty spring bottle water to fill the tap water and leave it there for a day or two and when i change the water of my fish tank i just fill it with the bottle. I heard if you put the tap water aside for a day it will clear out some chlorine.