Dechlorinator Needed For Use With Bottled Water?

[sufcdan]

I have a 15litr baby biorb and will be carrying out my first water change (after adding fish last weekend)this weekend.

How much water should i change? I think my pipes are dodgy so would like to use bottled water to replace the old water. eg like a bottle of evian! My question is would i need to add dechlorinator to evian or any other stuff?

Thanks

 

[kewskills]

ER maybe i should read the question correctly before writing complete and utter dribble

 

[waterdrop]

Good thing you asked! Surprisingly, bottled water is not recommended for tropical fish keeping! Turns out that fish have very complicated systems for balancing water pressures inside themselves (and other odd biological stuff!) and very much need the right balance of minerals in the water ---- which rules out both distilled water (no minerals) and mineral water (too many minerals)... anyway, turns out that tap water is usually much closer to the type of balance that they need.

In what way is your tap water off? In some extreme cases, RO water (Reverse Osmosis) water can be combined with tap water is some ratio to fix up source water problems, but in most cases, water change technique can just be changed to suit the situation. So best thing will be to get accurate tests and post the results up here for further analysis!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[ALW]

^^^ best thing to do, i have to agree with waterdrop!

 

[sufcdan]

will do

also, i have my heater set at 26% but the thermo is showing 29/30%

i dont know how to get the heat down effectively, cos it still stays high even when i turn the heater down

Will these kind of temperatures harm my fish? (A baby Dwarf Puffer)

 

[rabbut]

I'd belive the thermometer over the heater thermostat. Temperatures of 29-30 is OK, but could be better. Is the tank in direct sunlight? Is the temperature remaining stable? What heater do you have? Also, did you cycle the tank before adding your puffer, and if so how?

All the best
Rabbut

 

[waterdrop]

Yup, agreed, always use your thermometer to judge the temperature (or even have two thermometers!) as the dial on a heater means nothing - they shouldn't even put numbers on those dials, except it gets you started in the right ballpark.

Good catch rabbut, we may have a dead puffer on our hands if sufcdan doesn't know about the nitrogen cycle yet! Let us know your status on that sufcdan - how many weeks did your cycle take and what test kit did you use for your readings during that?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[sufcdan]

hi guys, my cycle took about 5/6weeks using pure ammonia. Ammonia & nitrite readings were both 0ppm overnight before adding my puffer.

It is stable at 28/29 just wondered if that is too high. Heater is the reef one which came with the biorb

The puffer seems to be doing great, swimming around happily and eating, he/she is only a tiny baby, only about 1/2cm in length. He's cool tho

I used the API Liquid test kit

 

[rabbut]

Everything sounds fine to me I'm sure you know, but keep doing daily tests this week, and cut back to weekly after that

Is the Biorb intended as the long-term home of this fish?

All the best
Rabbut

 

[sufcdan]

Everything sounds fine to me I'm sure you know, but keep doing daily tests this week, and cut back to weekly after that

Is the Biorb intended as the long-term home of this fish?

All the best
Rabbut

Debatable at the moment, I know its not ideal but its better than the tank he was in at the LFS. Crowded wise!

I have it on my desk at work so a big tank wouldnt be a good idea at work to be honest, yep i will keep testing the water, how much water do i need to change for my first water change after cycling (i did the big 1 before adding my fish) and how often do i need to do the water changes?

Thanks

 

[bare bottom]

What thermometer have you got? I had a digital which overread at 29 with the heater off. bought a nice simple glass one and the reading was 21-22 so my heater was fine.

 

[waterdrop]

What is it you thought was dodgy about your pipes?