using tap water

S

scavenger

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Aug 17, 2005
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I'm a pretty inexperienced newbie and had my fish for only a couple of months. From many of the posts ive read, it seems that most aquarists add chemicals to their water (dechlorinators, stuff to raise/lower ph etc.) so I'm under the impression that many fish seem to be fragile when it comes to water quality and can't handle what comes straight out of the faucet.

When it came to my fish in my little 4 gallon tank (white clouds minnows, zebra danios, & neon tetras), I've just used regular tap water with nothing added, when I change my water. For the months that I've had them, they seem to be doing ok no problems.

I know this question seems incredibly stupid (i am only a beginner), but are ALL fish so sensitive to water quality that they can't handle water straight from the tap, chlorine, minerals and all? Or can some fish, say minnows, be hardy and tolerant enough as to just handle whatever comes out of the tap, without having to modify it in any way at all.

If the answer is no, all fish no matter what will die in tap water, maybe I too should stop drinking the stuff :soda:
 
I have never encountered a fish that could live in 100% fresh from the tap water that has been processed by any municipal water treatment facility. Well water is a different story. Most cities add chlorine, chloramine and other stuff to the water.

When I got my first fish when I was about 5 or 6 and found out fish could not live in the water I drank, it scared me. All I know about chlorine was, "It is the stuff in the bleach bottle that has bones on it and Daddy said, 'Don't drink anything with bones on it because you will die."

I still don't like the idea. That is why I have a water purification system in my home. :)
 
A lot of fish can live with chlorine but it definalty isnt good for them. I think 5 bucks every 6 months for dechlorinator is a very small investment. Some fish, discus and marine fish, would definatly not live with chlorine. If you remove the chlorine, your fish will be happier and live longer.

Were not fish, we only drink the stuff, we dont live in it and breath it, so we have very different requirements.
 
Most peoples tap water is ok for fish. But almost all add chlorine and sometimes chlormine to make it safe for humans. This is toxic to fish and the reason why you must use de chlor. The pH stuff is not good. They will raise/lower you ph for 5 minutes and switch it back to where it was before. This change is really bad for fish. You need a test kit, to see if its safe or not.
 
Kasakato said:
The pH stuff is not good. They will raise/lower you ph for 5 minutes and switch it back to where it was before.
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That is true in some but not all cases. I alter the pH on my tetra tank and it remains stable. It gets off into water chemistry. All in all, I do recommend that most simply leave the pH alone.
 
I personally think that chlorine is toxic to humans. I use a filter on my tap for drinking and cooking. As for fish, my husband changed the water in my fish tank once and forgot to add dechlorinator. It took all of five minutes for all fish to die. Only one survived, a common pleco. If your fish have survived this long in chlorinated water, I'd say you're pretty darn lucky and your fish may have suffered damage that you can't see. As for anything else in your water, most fish can handle a wide range of water parameters if you're doing water changes frequently.
 
As stated chlormine is bad for the fish. Within the last year they started to use it in our local water and they started out so strong it was killing peoples reptiles and birds (oops). They re-adjusted the levels and now it is only supose to be dangerous for the fish. De-chlorination chemiocals is a cheap insurance policy for healthy fish IMO.
 
Larissa said:
I personally think that chlorine is toxic to humans. I use a filter on my tap for drinking and cooking. As for fish, my husband changed the water in my fish tank once and forgot to add dechlorinator. It took all of five minutes for all fish to die. Only one survived, a common pleco. If your fish have survived this long in chlorinated water, I'd say you're pretty darn lucky and your fish may have suffered damage that you can't see. As for anything else in your water, most fish can handle a wide range of water parameters if you're doing water changes frequently.
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It is toxic to humans. High levels of chlorine are dangerous. Just recently there were a couple of news articles about people suffering ill effects from over-chlorinated swimming pools (accidental chlorine overdosing).

Personally, I can't tolerate swimming pools very well anymore (used to swim almost every day from childhood until my late teens)...instant red skin, and I develop hives after a number of days of exposure. Not to mention there may be a correlation between chlorine and competitive swimmers developing asthma.

And since my tap water has chloramine, I prefer to drink the bottled stuff. :)

In terms of fish and chlorine, I can imagine, that if your water is only treated with chlorine, that some may gas off as it's poured into the tank (especially if it's aerating well, as with a Python.)
 
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