Tap water quality question

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Rolance

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Mar 18, 2013
Messages
450
Location
Louisiana
So i have been using distilled water and i want to start using my tap water with prime. I just tested my tap water parameters before the prime and they are

pH = 8.2
Ammo = 0 ppm
Nitrite = 0 ppm
Nitrate = 0 ppm

my fish tank water parameters are
pH = 7.2 Temp = 77 deg F
Ammo = 0 ppm
Nitrite = 0 ppm
Nitrate = 80 ppm

If yall think my tap water will be safe to use i will do a water change using half distilled and half tap with prime conditioner. Is my tap water safe to use?
 
So i have been using distilled water and i want to start using my tap water with prime. I just tested my tap water parameters before the prime and they are

pH = 8.2
Ammo = 0 ppm
Nitrite = 0 ppm
Nitrate = 0 ppm

my fish tank water parameters are
pH = 7.2 Temp = 77 deg F
Ammo = 0 ppm
Nitrite = 0 ppm
Nitrate = 80 ppm

If yall think my tap water will be safe to use i will do a water change using half distilled and half tap with prime conditioner. Is my tap water safe to use?


What type of fish are you keeping. Your nitrAtes should be brought down IMO but I know that's not your question so.... I see no issues with your tap other then your Ph. Adding tap will shock your fish if you go from 7.2 to 8.2. Stability is key. You could do it slowly. But again type of fish IMO will factor in. I WISH I had your tap pH. My Africans would love me! My tap pH is 6.0!!
 
I have tropical fish. How to i use my tap water when it is that high?

That may too hard for them. You could test first. Fill a 5 gallon bucket with tap water, try and have some movement in the bucket, something that would simulate your tank and let sit over night and see if the pH changes. Sometimes you'll see a drop or a rise.

You could also move to tap very very very slowly. Over a period of time. Your fish will adapt. Just monitor them for signs of stress. Unfortunly it is rather high and although I've given things you could try it is IMO a dangerous move but could work.
 
You think my fish can live in a pH that high? or should i just keep using distilled? or should i use pH down or pH Balance at all?

You are saying i should do a water change with like 80% distilled and 20% tap then do another with 70% distilled and 30% tap and so on?
 
on top of what convict has said, if you want to use tap water imo the best way to go about it is to use 10% tap and 90% distilled for the first water change and then the next go 20 % tap and 80 % distilled and so on until your on full tap.

id do this weekly, if you do multiple water changes a week, then for instance in the first week do all the water changes with 10% tap and 90% distilled till the week is up and goto the next step.

not a 100% guarantee it will be stress free for your fish, but i feel it will be the least stressfull
 
a ph of 8.2 should be fine depending on the type of fish, my PH is 8.2 (7.2 now because i inject Co2) however i keep live bearers who like the high PH and hard water

you should research the fish you keep and see what water parameters best suit them.

also do not use any ph changing products, with distilled water it will cause the ph to swing widely because it has no buffer (KH) and with a ph of 8.2 in your tap i imagine your water is also very hard so bringing the ph down with chemicals will be impossible with out first bringing down KH, which is very hard to do safely
 
Ok i can try that, just need to go get some more distilled water. How often should i test all the parameters?
 
i would test PH daily to make sure it is not changing rapidly, testing everything else is up to you, my tank is fully cycled so i only test for nitrates once a week to make sure my plants have enough.
 
Oh ok.

So if my tap water is pH of 8.2 and i eventually am using just tap water is my tank always gonna be at 8.2 or could it possibly be lower than that? Maybe i should try useing gallons of spring water?? ugh...
 
Oh ok.

So if my tap water is pH of 8.2 and i eventually am using just tap water is my tank always gonna be at 8.2 or could it possibly be lower than that? Maybe i should try useing gallons of spring water?? ugh...

Not necessarily, if your tap pH is 8.2 then your tank should be 8.2 maybe a little swing like 8.0 (maybe) but it should be stable.
 
well you could lower it with peat moss and lots of drift wood, that would be the best way, though im not sure how effective it is since ive never tried my self. i would just advise against chemicals....you could always just do half and half once the fish are acclimated, that should give you roughly 7.0-7.2 ph
 
Ok. I might have to

Would spring water be a better choice? Does it have all the nutrients tap water has that distilled doesnt? and maybe its pH is closer to 7.0
 
its just aggravating that the tap water is that high. What do most people do when the tap water is that high and they want to keep tropical fish, or angel fish or something?
 
most ive seen do half and half or buy an R.O system and use that. i myself have a PH of 8.2 and thats why i keep livebearers, because i dont feel like having to use anything other then tap water. most fish will be able to acclimate to a PH of 8.2 if you use the drip acclimation method (if they are farm raised like most are, if wild caught it will be much harder if possible). however if you do go the full tap route i would advise against tetras or anything fish that like very soft and a very low PH (6.0-6.5) since they will not do very well in a ph of 8.2 anything else that is in the middle or higher will be fine.
 
I dont know what an R.O system is. I am probably going to bring in the tetra and platy. I think i will be ok with the 7 glofish. And i really dont want to get rid of the pleco. Hopefully i can get a 20 gallon soon and put him in it.
 
reverse osmosis system, its a bit pricey and wastes alot of water ( like 10 liters of tap for 1 liter of RO water) its pretty much distilled water in a sense. and i dont remember if you told my type of pleco that is, if its a common it will be much to big for even a 20 gallon (they get anywhere from 1 to 2 feet in length) if thats the case take it back, and get yourself a birstlenose pleco, they only get to about 6 inches
 
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