Using Bottled Water.....

[Scott MacAdam]

I am currently living in university residence. The water here is pumped full of chlorines I'm sure, so I try to avoid using it.... Although, at the start if the year I did do a water change using this water.... I treated it with what was necessary and then some.... I lost a fish the next day.... So I decided that I would use a gallon jug I had in my room for the next change (10 gal tank, 10% change, 1gallon jug unused in the corner, simple math for me)... I opened it, added some treatment and some stress coat just to be sure.... the next day, same story.... another fish....

is using bottled water safe? I'm not sure what went wrong here... shouldn't the conditioner have made the tap water ok to use in the first place.... and if not, Why did the treated bottled water kill a fish as well!?

I'm lost, I never treat water at home because I'm on well from a mountain spring.... that water is amazing and perfect for the fish I keep.... although now being on city water..... this is bad.... help me out here! what is wrong...

Thanks again everyone.....

 

[three-fingers]

It wont be chlorine in the water that's killing the fish, chlorine gasses from the water very fast after adding to a fish tank.
And even if there is chloramine in the tap water, it is dealt with by your filter bacteria.

Is stress coat your water conditioner?
Are your tank stats OK before and after a water change?
What do you mean by the 'treatment' you used in addition to stress coat?
And what type of bottled water is it? Brand/stats on the side?

I personally think the fish will have died from reasons other than the water changes, probably just a coincidence that they died after water changes.
A 10% water change with completly different water isnt really enough to kill fish .

 

[jesseoneill]

Bottled water shouldn't be a problem. A lot of bottled water is simply RO water, which many people add to their tanks already. Like three-fingers said, it's not likely that a 10% water change using room-temperature bottled water was the cause of your fish's deaths. I would investigate other problems; do some water tests just to make sure there's nothing abnormal.

 

[penguin22]

I use bottled water in my water changes because my tap water is harder than I like. I use half tap half bottled everytime I do a change and it is perfectly safe. The water I use is just plain "still" water from asda, hope this helps

 

[rdd1952]

It wont be chlorine in the water that's killing the fish, chlorine gasses from the water very fast after adding to a fish tank.
And even if there is chloramine in the tap water, it is dealt with by your filter bacteria.

I personally think the fish will have died from reasons other than the water changes, probably just a coincidence that they died after water changes.
A 10% water change with completly different water isnt really enough to kill fish .

I agree with everything except the part about the chloramine being dealt with by the bacteria. There are no bacteria in the tank to process chloramine. That is the purpose of dechlorinator. If anything, the chloramine will deal with the bacteria and kill it off although there have been tests that show that chlorine and chloramine aren't harmful at all.

High chlorine in the water almost certainly wouldn't kill a fish overnight. Chlorine burns their gills and as stated will dissipate in 24 hours or less, depending on aeration. It's more of a hazard for your bacteria colony than your fish. Something besides chlorine is causing your problems. What are your readings for ammonia and nitrite? What is the pH?

The problem with bottled water is that it has no buffering capacity at all. If you have anything in the tank that would normally affect pH, they will have a larger effect with bottled water. Even though you would only be using a gallon a week, over time, you will eventually have most of the tank water changed out to bottled water.

 

[Scott MacAdam]

yeah I hear where you guys are coming from.... I will pick up some test kits and check the stats... all my other fish gear is at home right now....

the stuff I am using is "Tetra AquaSafe" which apparently: ""naturalizes chemicals harmful to fish", "Makes tap water safe for fish" and so on....

also for a stress coat, It is a product called just that.... "Stress Coat" with aloe vera (the one with the cartoon blue fish dressed as a doctor, "Doc Wellfish") by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Inc. which apparently, "replaces natural protective slime coat" and "Removes Chlorine"

as for the type of bottled water, I can't remember the name of the brand, but I checked before adding it for additives.....

 

[Bignose]

I agree with everything except the part about the chloramine being dealt with by the bacteria. There are no bacteria in the tank to process chloramine. That is the purpose of dechlorinator. If anything, the chloramine will deal with the bacteria and kill it off although there have been tests that show that chlorine and chloramine aren't harmful at all.

Both sides of this are right and wrong... It is a growing problem in water companies today that ammonia oxidizng bacteria are growing resistant to chloramines, and in fact can use chloramines as a food source. And then these nitrifying bacteria take up residence in the plant and cause all sorts of problems. At the very least, these nitrifying bacteria excrete organic material that allow other bacteria to grow. At the worst, since the nitrifying bacteria can use the chloramine as their energy soucre, there isn't chloramine to kill off the really nasty bacteria like E. coli. One recent study found 63% of U.S. chloramining utilities and 64% of Southern Australian utilities tested positive for nitrifying bacteria (from was Wolfe et al. "Occurrence of nitrification in chloranimated distribution systems" Journal (American Water Works Association), 1996 ).

And, since the starter bacteria are the ones found in your water in the first place, and if your water company has chloramine-resistant bacteria growing there, the bacteria in your tank probably is at least somewhat resistant to chloramines and may be able to use them as a food source. On the other hand, if the strain you have in your tank is not resistant to chlormaines, the chloramines could spell a pretty quick death for your bacteria.

I still always use dechlorinator, It is not expensive at all and I figure better safe than sorry.