alternative water sources

[kuter]

I am planning on a 30gal tank for my goldies and will be doing a fishless cycle on it. I have well water in my home so chlorine is not an issue for me. However I also have a small stream on the back side of my property that has tiny fish called "darts" in it along with salamanders and crawdads. I was wondering if using water from that stream would help the cycle go quicker. Has anyone ever tried this? I am assuming this stream has the beneficial bacteria there as there is a healthy population of freshwater aquatics living in it. I would of course take a sample of the water to my LFS for testing before beginning.
I would love to hear any thoughts, suggestions, or experiences with this.
Kuter & Krew

 

[dixaisy930]

I personally haven't done it, or heard of anyone do it, but I would think it would generally be a bad idea. Eventhough the current wildlife is doing fine, probably doesn't guarentee that you're domestic goldfish will do as well. Along with the possible beneficial bacteria, there's probably a bunch of other little critters you don't want in there (like a parasite called Giardia that could give you a horrible case of diareahha )

If you want to have the cycle go a little quicker, I think I've heard of people using a product called "Cycle". I believe it helps kick start thhe growth of beneficial bacteria. I hope you still will treat your water eventhough it's well water...always better to be on the safe side, plus some of the products will help promote the fish's slime coat. Hope this is helpful...

 

[FanOFish]

Kuter, by goldies do you mean goldfish? If so, I'm pretty sure they will be fine in your tank right now. They are not at all picky fish and will help your tank cycle quickly in their own special way

 

[kuter]

Thanks Dxaisy. I do treat all my water with Stress-Coat even though I don't have a chlorine issue. I also test for Ph, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate and hardness prior to adding anything to the water. My test results are very constant. Straight from the tap I am getting the following results:
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Hardness 120
Alkalinity 80
Ph 7.0

According to the instructions on the test stuff I have, the Alkalinity could be a little better but I havent made any effort change that at this time. Do you think I should?
My other concern is that I dont have a way to test for heavy metals. Is this something I should look into?
Good grief at all the questions I have!! This is a tremendous learning curve for me. This fish were not a planned purchase, I inherited them. I could have and maybe should have taken them back to Petsmart where they were purchased but that's almost paramount to taking a dog back to the pound.
I will keep on trying to save these lil guys and give them all I can. I know many people would have let them die, etc. but they are a life form and didnt ask to be here.
Thanks again to everyone for all the help.
Kuter & Krew

 

[dixaisy930]

Glad to hear you are such a caring, responsible fish "parent" lol.

The water will test like that for the ammonia and nitrite straight out of the tap, since the fish food/poop cycling water is what starts the cycle for new tanks. But you may have already known that... )

As for the akalinity...I personally have never been concerned with it (along with pH) since they both seem to be real sensitive, chemistry wise. I've never had a problem with either being slightly off than recommended. But others may have different experiences. I just don't like the idea of adding more chemicals to the water to correct these things...but that's just me.

As for the heavy metals...I don't think they are usually found in tap water...but I'm not sure. I never even thought about those being a problem since I always treated my water. I would think you would have these kind of problems if you introduced some kind of metal into your tank.

Hope this rambling helps in some way...