buying water for water changes

[tamara323]

i'm on well water and from my LFS's point of view, that's why i've lost 3 of my bettas, because of the pH being 6.6.
if i start this week adding bought water when i do a 10% water change, is there anything that isn't in bottled water (like something that has been removed because people don't need it in their drinking water) that fish need? or would bottled water be okay?

Thanks

(oh and if you don't think the pH was the cause for the death pf my bettas, here's a little more info...they were in (at seperate times of course) a 10 gallon tank, with an AC mini for filtration, heated to 23*C, i cycled the tanks by doing a fishless cycle back when i first bought the tank in february and then i got a betta to put in it. it died after 2 months, but there were no signs of bad health, i just woke up one morning to a dead betta. the same thing happened with 2 others, never once had they stopped eating.)

 

[Faramir]

Screw your LFS' advice up and throw it in the bin - they're spinning you a line if you ask me. A pH of 6.6 is absolutely fine for anabantoids generally. Betta sp. are no different on that front. If the LFS water is more alkaline, just take care to mix the waters gradually as you introduce any fish. You should be doing this anyway.

There's always a chance that the quality of the fish at the LFS is about the same as the quality of the advice, so you might want to consider getting replacement fighters* from elsewhere.

Betta splendens is not a particularly long lived species, so always ensure you are buying young (i.e. not quite full size) specimens. 23C sounds a little low; fighters are at their best towards the higher range, IIRC. I notice that this site says 62-75F; other sites recommend higher than this.

Your filtration sounds fine; I trust you have actually checked that ammonia and nitrite are zero?

*fighter, or Siamese Fighting Fish, is what we call Betta splendens over here. It interrupts my flow to translate back into US usage....

 

[OrionGirl]

I don't think it was your pH...Unless your pH is fluctuating wildly. A fish that has been in the tank for 2 months is acclimated to the lower pH--and your pH isn't that low, as long as it's stable there. If the fish had died within 72 hours of going into your tank, then it might have been pH shock, but not after 2 months.

As for using purchased water, you'll need to make sure you get actual drinking water, not distilled. Otherwise it's fine for most fish. I use it for my office tank--have kept at different times bettas, dwarf puffers, white cloud minnows, gourami, kuhli's and briefly a red tailed shark in this water with no problems.

 

[wetmanNY]

Tamara, you're getting at least five excellent points there from Faramir and OrionGirl.

My suggestions are minor:

1. I'd ordinarily let wellwater stand 24 hours to stabilize CO2 and oxygen-- but a betta's not so dependent on O2 in the water.

2. I'd get a KH test to test the carbonate hardness, and if it's soft I'd put some crushed coral "marine" sand in the filter media.

3. I'd give the betta some floating plants, for a sense of security.

As I said, they're minor...

It could really be the quality of the bettas, as Faramir said.

 

[Rocketman]

I couldnt read all of the advice, but I will reinforce whoevers belief that Bettas are not very long-lasting fish. I'd say two months is splendid.

 

[tamara323]

first of all, thanks for the great advice everyone

i've already got some floating plants in the tank, but they aren't real, they aren't plastic either, they are that silk-plant type stuff...anyhow, i'm assuming that would still make the betta feel secure.

also the betta's weren't from the same store, but unfortunately come from the same supplier, so it could very well have been a bad stock.

i've tested the water for nitrates and ammonia, and if there are any in the water it's not enough to be detected by the test, so it would have to be extremely low.

i'll try going out of town to a different LFS and check their stock of bettas, maybe i'll have more luck then. and i'll raise the temperature a bit too, i've heard many people keeping bettas without a heater at all (which i know shouldn't be the case) so i assumed the heater was more or less to keep the temperature stable, not to really heat it very much. but know i know it should be a little high, so that it will be

thanks again