Water for you betta

jkun17 · Oct 30, 2004

Where do you normally go to get water for your betta? I keep mine in a series of bowls and have been using tap water conditioner to break up chloramine and chlorine and I've been using ammo-lock to take care of the ammonia.

I'm not sure if that's good, but I wanted to know how you do it.

bkk_group · Oct 30, 2004

we age our water for at least three days before using. we also hold it in a big covered container. when filling up the basin, i do it bucket by bucket. each bucket of water (poured from our tub facet) gets a sprinkle of course sea salt along with 1/4 capful of "aqua plus" conditioner. in certain instances we will treat water with dried indian almond leaf as well.

jkun17 · Oct 30, 2004

I'm having some water troubles.

I used to use bottled water until that stopped being cost effective.

I've been trying these additives and they seem to be able to clear up everything... except for ammonia. The ammo-lock keeps it relatively under control, but is there anything I can do to get the ammonia out of my water?

GuppyDude · Oct 31, 2004

i get mine straight from the tap, as needed, i mix in salt and conditioner and within minutes it redy to go. i can c if u r on city water how this can be a problem considering the chems they treat water with. if ur on well water it should be fine thogh. my ph is rely high in my well water, like 8 point somthin, iv heard bettas prefer high ph -_-

purple_drazi · Oct 31, 2004

but is there anything I can do to get the ammonia out of my water?

from the way you're asking it seems that there's actually measurable ammonia in your tap water?
wow. I've never heard of that before.

f250fisherman · Oct 31, 2004

You get ammonia out of the water by changing the water frequently. I use a 33 gal trash can as an aging bin.

jkun17 · Oct 31, 2004

purple_drazi said:
but is there anything I can do to get the ammonia out of my water?

Click to expand...

from the way you're asking it seems that there's actually measurable ammonia in your tap water?
wow. I've never heard of that before.

Yeah, there is a measurable ammount of ammonia in my water. It's really rather disheartening considering how much I love fish and how hard it is to get water for them.

My tank I'm not worried about because the bacteria should be cleaning up the ammonia and so far they've kept it near or around zero (I'm getting a bio wheel after I'm done medicating for ich just to make sure my water gets extra clean).

But my betta bowls don't have the luxury of having enough space (and I don't have enough money or electrical outlets) to get a bio-wheel for all of them. My thought was to create a 5 gallon tank with maybe some plants in it for the soul purpose of creating de-ammoniated water. I'm not sure if that would work, but my hope is that if I install a bio-wheel in that one also, I might be able to harvest water from there instead of buying bottled water all the time (bottled water is too expensive to keep buying).

shrks1fan · Oct 31, 2004

Personally I'd be putting a call into your water company if your have readable ammonia coming out of your tap, remember this is the water you're suppose to be able to drink, but do you want to drink water with ammonia in it?

Linda

jkun17 · Oct 31, 2004

The Ammonia itself is mixed with Chlorine to create Chloramine. It's safe for me, but not good for my fish. When I break up the chloramine it gets broken into Chlorine and Ammonia. The Chlorine evaporates, but the Ammonia is still in the water. My problem is removing the Ammonia after I break up the Chloramine.

My question was, "Would creating a tank solely for the purpose of clearing up Ammonia be advisable?" It would be an empty tank that I would cycle and install a bio-wheel in.

purple_drazi · Nov 1, 2004

I don't know anything about ammonia in tap water myself (except that it sounds awful?) but I knew that faith from www.bettatalk is in l.a. so I went to her site thinking that ammonia in the water might be a california thing

she suggests:
Amquel (approx 7 oz.) My product of choice when it comes to making tap water safe for bettas. 1 teaspoon per 10 gallon will neutralize all harmful stuff, including Chlorine, Amonia and Chloramines and heavy metals. Must be used in conjunction with Novaqua (below).
Novaqua (approx 7 oz.) My product of choice when it comes to making tap water safe for bettas. 1 teaspoon per 10 gallon will neutralize all harmful stuff, including Chlorine, Amonia and Chloramines and heavy metals. Will also provide a protective slime coat for your betta. Must be used in conjunction with Amquel (above).

these products seem to take the ammonia out of tap water.
hope that helps.

tekknocolor · Nov 1, 2004

I use filtered water (PUR) and then put a teaspoon of ACE (Ammonia Chloramine Eliminator - link following post).

I do have a question along the same lines though. How effective is stuff like Ammo-Carb? Does it work as it says? Anyone have experience with it? I used something similar in my betta tank to see if it did anything noticeable, but didn't get much back from it since the tank was already an established tank. Description of item is as follows:

Ammo-Carb is a unique blend of activated carbon and ammonia-removing resin. The activated carbon removes toxic organic waste, colors, and foul odors. The ammonia-removing resin removes ammonia produced from decaying fish waste and uneaten fish food and the ammonia in chloramine. Phosphate free. For freshwater aquariums. Protect your fish--use Ammo-Carb. It's like a double filtration system in your aquarium. Use 1/2 cup of Ammo-Carb for each ten gallons of aquarium water--Ammo-Carb can be used in all filter cartridges. Replace Ammo-Carb every 30 days--or sooner if unusual odor or color is detected.

http

/www.petdiscounters.com/aquarium/che...nia/ju_ace.html

Sorrell · Nov 1, 2004

GuppyDude said:
i get mine straight from the tap, as needed, i mix in salt and conditioner and within minutes it redy to go. i can c if u r on city water how this can be a problem considering the chems they treat water with. if ur on well water it should be fine thogh. my ph is rely high in my well water, like 8 point somthin, iv heard bettas prefer high ph

Bettas actually prefer a low ph -_-

jacblades · Nov 1, 2004

http

/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=49724

jkun17 · Nov 1, 2004

Thanks for you help Jacblades. I figured out what was wrong. I recently started using Amquel instead of what I'd normally use. Apparently it's not compatable with Nessler Ammonia Tests. Guess what kind of Ammonia test I've got -- I'll let you have two guesses

Everything's alright now. Thanks for all your help, all of you.

Re: Jacblades

I like the link you've got about Petco in your sig. I bought some tetras from Petco a few days ago. The day after I put them in, them and my other fish had Ich. So far I've only lost one of the tetras but I'm still medicating my tank and raising the temp to kill off the ich.

I was there earlier today to look for more bowls my bettas (I cleared out another store of their bowls :lol:

). I saw the bettas they had and saw that some were in these little cups with maybe an inch and a half of water. I saved a pair and put them in nice bigger bowls for them to spread their fins.

I'm so pissed at Petco and never intend to buy anything there ever again.

jacblades · Nov 1, 2004

jkun17 said:
Thanks for you help Jacblades. I figured out what was wrong. I recently started using Amquel instead of what I'd normally use. Apparently it's not compatable with Nessler Ammonia Tests. Guess what kind of Ammonia test I've got -- I'll let you have two guesses

Everything's alright now. Thanks for all your help, all of you.

Re: Jacblades

I like the link you've got about Petco in your sig. I bought some tetras from Petco a few days ago. The day after I put them in, them and my other fish had Ich. So far I've only lost one of the tetras but I'm still medicating my tank and raising the temp to kill off the ich.

I was there earlier today to look for more bowls my bettas (I cleared out another store of their bowls ). I saw the bettas they had and saw that some were in these little cups with maybe an inch and a half of water. I saved a pair and put them in nice bigger bowls for them to spread their fins.

I'm so pissed at Petco and never intend to buy anything there ever again.

i went in there the other day (after someone had told me what i might find) and i found 4 dead leopard geckos, rotting in the cage.

they had been there for a looooooooooong time too-they were just about skelatons. and all of the ones still alive were struggling to stay that way

so yes of course i took pictures and sent them to peta.

i work at petsmart and we have to check on the animals constantly. i can tell you that there is absolutely no chance that could happen in our store.

oh i could go on and on...and i might as well since...

just kidding. we all know petco abuses their animals. no one needs me to tell them that.

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