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[FFGuest6357]

A title

 

[Colin_T]

Welcome back

What is the pH, GH & KH of the bore water and the natural spring water?

You should get the bore and spring water tested for everything by a professional water testing company to find out if there is something gross in the bore water (having to run it through a UV unit is not normal). If it contains something gross, don't wanna go there

When you know what the pH, GH & KH are, then decide on whether you want soft or hard water fishes and make the water to suit.

A reverse osmosis (r/o) unit will give you very soft water with virtually no minerals. If the bore or spring has hard water (lots of minerals), you can keep anything. If you want soft water fishes, use the r/o. If you want fish from medium hardness water, you could mix some r/o with some bore or spring (assuming they have hard water). And you could go African Rift Lake cichlids if you have hard water.

 

[Sir Guppy]

My dear sir, you din’t seem to have acess to any sources of water. You will need water to start and maintain an aquarium…

 

[GaryE]

Right away, I would run from softened water. It has too much sodium.

I think the goal is to provide the fish with a great environment. So your remaining choices depend on what fish you choose. Some like hardwater, which makes the well a possibility. Coastal fish from points south in North America would thrive. East Africans won't work in a 20.

If you like tetras, and interior Amazonian fish, then you need to know more about that spring. A friend of mine in southern Quebec, out in the woods would stop by a natural spring about 5 minutes from his house, and get pure almost no hardness water he would mix with his medium tap and use to breed very difficult stuff. But water is never the same, and what comes out of the ground has to be analyzed. In eastern Ontario, neighbours on wells can pull from different aquifers. Some get liquid rock water, and some get beautiful soft water.

It boils down to the old "a fish is not a fish" argument, as every fish species is different, and requires a slightly different aquarium.

And hello from New Brunswick.

 

[Fishmanic]

Of course we remember you...you're our custom tank stand specialist!
Be sure you vote in our Tank of the Year contest...12 awesome tanks from the TOTM winners of last 12 months are entered in the contest. Prizes will be awarded to top 3 finishers.
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[emeraldking]

Well, welcome back!

 

[noahm]

I wouldn't hesitate to use the spring water barring anything funny about the immediate area or potential for agricultural runoff. But I'm much more of a let-nature-in person. I am currently running creek water in mine.

 

[The603]

Welcome back.

 

[noahm]

...

I want an aquarium that is alive. I want to get there through some previous experience, calculated risks, experimentation and failure. That’s a recipe for success.

Check my 20G dirted build in planted tank journals if you have the time. I am in a similar boat with 8 yo kid who wanted "a fish", had lots of prior experience, but have been out of the hobby for over a decade and know enough ecology to incorporate as much nature in the process without (hopefully) getting to the level of gross negligence in including it. I'm only a week in on this build, but so far enjoying all of the extra life going on. The only thing I really splurged on was lighting. The long term plan is when we move to go something like 75G with 40G sump/refugium.

Granted, this philosophy is not for everyone nor achievable depending on circumstances and local resources. You have to be willing to have a little less control, possible pests, and not always the fish and plants you want but rather what winds up working. You can still have a very nice, clean and managed ecosystem though.