RO water for betta?

[SquirrelOsO]

Ive been using RO water for my betta, but now i stumbled across a site that says not to use RO
is this true? will it shorten my betta's life?
i cant use my tap water because it is loaded with bacteria

[jpappy789]

Pure RO water is unhealthy because it contains zero minerals that fish need. It also is prone to deadly pH swings because it does not have any buffering capacity (KH).

Is your tap unsafe to drink?

If so, I would suggest looking into the RO-right products to add to the RO water.

[DoN_WoN]

Ive been using RO water for my betta, but now i stumbled across a site that says not to use RO
is this true? will it shorten my betta's life?
i cant use my tap water because it is loaded with bacteria
my tapwater is like really bad like urs seems to be, RO water is not good to use, it has no minerals or anything that fish need, i use publix brand springwater, 85c a gallon,

how big is ur tank? i'd slowly change him over to that, its better for them. dont just dump him in, do slow water changes with it till its 100% springwater

[SquirrelOsO]

we drink bottled spring water, so that is safe to use? the kind that doesnt say flouride correct?

[DoN_WoN]

we drink bottled spring water, so that is safe to use? the kind that doesnt say flouride correct?
im not sure about the flouride or what ever that is, but use Publix brand SPRINGWATER, it has a light blue cap, it has to say springwater on it, thats perfect for the betta

[SquirrelOsO]

im not sure about the flouride or what ever that is, but use Publix brand SPRINGWATER, it has a light blue cap, it has to say springwater on it, thats perfect for the betta

thanks, they dont sell that brand here.
im guessing any brand spring water will do?

[DoN_WoN]

thanks, they dont sell that brand here.
im guessing any brand spring water will do?
yes any brand should be fine, just slowly ween him on it, do 10-15% water changes with the new springwater till its all springwater, ALWAYS USE THE SAME BRAND SPRINGWATER, don't change brands unless you slowly ween him to the new brand, different brands have different ph levels

[Star_Rider]

Off topic a bit

I love the bottled spring water.. we have an outfit just down the road from our house that uses the same water as I do (tap) only run it thru a large gravity carbon filter

;)


back on topic.. just about any bottled water will work

[SquirrelOsO]

thanks so much
i will get him used to it slowly :)

[Cluunox]

For bacteria wouldn't it be cheaper in the long run to buy a uv sterilizer and run your water through that?

[jpappy789]

Maybe, I don't know much about UV sterilizers.

Even with bottled water I think most still have zero KH, but I would double check. You may still have to add to the water to make it usable.

[BettaFishMommy]

ok, i'm a lil confused. bacteria in your tap water that makes the tap water unsafe to drink? wouldn't that be something your municipality would look into and correct, to make it potable and safe?

[jpappy789]

if it's well water it's usually private (I think, not sure) so nothing the city has to deal with unless they want to...I do think that it would be a good idea to invest in something that would make that water safe to drink though. :huh:

[AtlantisTreasur]

okay, so i use water with nothing in it, but i buy at petsmart a water conditioner called bowl buddies. it conditions the water so that it has all of the necessary minerals in it and it is really good for the bettas. sme of the water conditioners can make hte tank cloudy, so you may want to experiment with different ones, but i found that the bowl buddies brand is really great

[BettaFishMommy]

Atlantis, by 'use water with nothing in it' do you mean you are using RO water or tap water? if RO, i would think that the bowl buddies would not replace the necessary minerals and trace elements. the jungle labs website product description says nothing about it replacing minerals, just that it removes heavy metals. http://www.junglelabs.com/pages/details.asp?item=gk950