Water For Bettas

[gale]

I have gotten so many different answers about this I'm completely confused about what to use. First of all I'm in the US, in the midwest, in a very rural area. We have well water which is very hard. The ph is high, like 8 or 8.2. We have an above ground pool and I have had trouble getting the ph down but in a pool it's easy-just add chemicals. 
 
We also have a water softener which uses sodium chloride. We have no RO attachment. We do have unsoftened water available as well. (outside taps in the spring/summer/fall, inside bypass for winter). 
 
In our last attempt I used bottled water which I believe is filtered city water (no idea what city). I added dechlor to it, which I would do for any water I use. Both fish died within 3 days. Small filtered tank (now rectified-we bought two 5 gallon tanks), not cycled (I have had bettas in uncycled tanks before with no problems), petsmart fish. 
 
So my choices:
hard well water (high ph)
soft water (probably lower ph but soft water maybe not good?)
a combination of the two

 

[cowgirluntamed]

I have well water as well. pH of 8.2. my betta does fine in this water. What kind of filter do you have? Mine is a mini canister(lots of sponges) designed for a 30 gallon but flow isn't too bad. Of course I also got my betta online. When I added him though I used Dr. Tim's One and Only nitrifying bacteria. You may get some tetra safe start, it was made by the same guy.

Also, how often are you doing water changes? Uncycled tanks without plants, with even just a small fish, should have a water change once a day until cycled. Do you have a test kit to check for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates?

 

[gale]

The tank is a fluval spec 5 gallon so the filter is the one that comes with it. I have a bottle of tetra safe start plus as well as Dr Tim's ammonium chloride to do a fishless cycle. There's no water or fish in the tank yet, so no water changes. My plan is 20 to 25 percent each week. We are doing two separate tanks and both are the same kind.

I don't know where we'll get our fish yet. Online is a bit over our budget with shipping. We'll probably go with an aquarium shop but the nearest one is about an hour away.
I have a test kit coming next week, as well as heaters.
Apparently I can't edit my post on mobile. Hopefully this adds itself to the other one. Anyway, the first tanks, which were too small, had a tetra something or other small filter that hooked up to a (very loud) pump. It's frustrating because my sister has a betta in a small bowl on her desk at work and it's thriving. Maybe we got fish that were sick already but we're trying to do better this time anyway.

 

[gale]

by the way I'm in the US. I can't seem to add that to my profile-I keep getting an error saying I didn't fill out the form properly but I am sure I did. 
 
eta: figured it out. There was a field that was partially auto filled that apparently had to be deleted before submitting. 

 

[cowgirluntamed]

It's good that you're going to do a fishless cycle. Did you read the part of the forum on how to do that? If not I recommend it. Also, don't be fooled by a fish seeming to live well in just a bowl. Unless it's getting daily 100% water changes to deal with ammonia and it's a warm room(my betta tank is set for 80 degrees Fahrenheit). It might be living but not be necessarily thriving. They need warm water and good filtration, just like any other fish. They may be labyrinth fish that can breathe air so they can live for a time in bad conditions, but that doesn't mean they should be kept that way.

Anyway, I hope your fishless cycle is successful and you find a nice healthy betta. When you do get it, I recommend at least 25% water change each week. But you'll get the hang of it when you get your test kit. Good luck!