Water Questions

[Fish Kate]

Hi, I am brand new to this site and brand new to keeping fish. I have been doing some reading and am still clueless about some basic things.

Four days ago I set up a 10 gal aquarium for my daughter. I filled it with bottled "drinking water" because of advice I found on another internet site. That site stated that "drinking water" contains no chlorine, but just to be safe I also purchased a liquid product called "Start Right" that is supposed to, "Remove chlorine and chloramine, neutralize harmful metals and add beneficial electrolytes." Does anyone know what is in this product? Is this a fancy substitute for salt? Will it increase my amonia levels? I am concerned because I also added about 2 tsp of aquarium salt when I set up, and I don't know whether I should continue using these products when I do a partial water change (I have changed 1/3 of the water every two days). I have a mystery snail and four very small fish in the tank: two guppies, and (I THINK -- the sales girl who sold them to us did not know, and the fish were not well marked) a zebra danio and an albino rasbora, along with one unidentified plant.

Can you please help answer some questions for me? I have read about the cycling process but am not even sure whether I'm starting with the right kind of water!

1) Should I continue to use "drinking water," or can I use tap water (Chicago city water) treated with the "Start Right" when I do water changes? If I do use tap water, do I need to let it sit in a bucket or someplace for a day or two? I'm reading so much conflicting advice that my head is swimming as much as our fish (who seem very happy and are amazing to watch, by the way -- tiny and not flashy but unbelieveably beautiful and complicated socially. I already feel bad that they don't have the appropriate company -- we should have stuck to a single species but hopefully can add some pals for them after a month or so.)

2) Should I use both the salt on an ongoing basis, occasionally, or not at all? Should I be adding enough to replace what I remove when I change the water?

3) I clipped a small piece of lettuce to the aquarium and the snail really loved it, but I took it out because I thought it might be too much too soon for the water. When would it be safe to introduce it?

4) Is it okay for my son to put his hands in the water? He's five and doesn't have the cleanest hands most of the time. (He doesn't try to chase the fish or anything, but likes to put his finger in the moving water by the filter.)

5) What is the easiest and most fool-proof product for measuring the ph of my tank?

:bowing: Thank you in advance for any advice you can give me. :bowing:

FYI, I think I have ended up more excited about the fish than my daughter, who begged and begged for them! I grew up by a small lake in Indiana and spent long hours of my childhood sitting in the shade by the water, watching bluegills and sunfish and catfish (and swimming with them, too --) but since my kids are city kids, I figured this was the next best thing.

 

[Holly9937]

Welcome!!! First of all, keep reading the cycling stickys, they can be confusing, but it will help you understand what is going on....

Tap water would be just fine, even better than bottled, b/c sometimes the bottled stuff doesn't have essential minerals etc. that are good for the fish. And the start right (or any water conditioner that removes chlorine) is essential to use with every water change. Chlorine will kill the fish!!

Don't bother with the salt, water changes are all you need to worry about right now, you will find that first your amonia will rise, then the nitrite, *(both of which are toxic to fish, you want them at/very close to 0), then you will have nitrates, and the first 2 will go to 0 (should always be 0 once the tank is cycled, and you will have nitrate readings). You may need to do water changes daily to keep the fish happy and healthy (and alive !).

Get liquid test kits ASAP for ph, amonia, nitrite, and nitrate. A good website is www.bigalsonline.com, they have a master test kit that is very cheap (will be much more bought individually from a store).

A little bit of lettuce will be great for all the fish, just don't leave it in there for more than a couple of hours at this point.

He won't "catch" anything from the tank (except for rare cases, don't ask me what they are though!), but if he has anything on his hands (lotion, soap, etc.) it could affect the fish.

Keep posting and Search the forums too, there is lots of great info. on here

 

[dirtydawg10]

I'm new also but I am pretty sure the bottled drinking water is over the top. I would suggest testing your tap water before you spend a ton of money buying water by the gallon. Hopefully your tap water will test out fine.

Isn't it funny how we get started with our hobies. I started my tank because my Son received a gift certificate to our LFS for his fourth birthday and now I'm hooked. Good luck...

 

[Blueiz]

There is really no need to add salt on a regular basis, I use it because I have extremely hard water and get mineral deposits all over my aquarium if I don't (someone is going to dispute what I just said, but it works for me). Water conditioners should not alter your ph, salt will soften your water so it could impact your ph, however you didn't add enough to do either. It is ok for your son to put his hands in occasionalyl but I would discourage him from doing this. Really any of the available test kits are pretty good for testing ph b/c it is not a complicated test. The test strips work good, but if you want a really pinpoint test use the liquid kind. Do your regular 20-30 percent water changes once a week. Don't add any more fish for now b/c you are at your limit already and your tank has not cycled yet. Add your water conditioner everytime you change the water for the amt you change. As far as city water goes, so long as you use a conditioner that removes chlorine and chloramine you should be fine, at least thats what other ppl say, I live in the country and have well water. As far as feeding your fish goes, only feed them the amt they can consume fully within five minutes, about the lettuce, you can leave that longer but if you see the snail hasnt eating it in a few hours or by the next day, take it out. You need to also get ammonia and nitirite test kits. As your tank cycles you will have to monitor this closely and try to counteract there effects as they occur. And just so you know for the future, only add a couple fish at a timeove a period of 6 or 8 wekks. Do an internet search for the nitrogen cycle and you will see why I say this. Good luck!! I am sure you will get more posts on this.

 

[Holly9937]

Until you get the test kits where you can be sure I strongly recommend doing at least 25% DAILY water changes. Amonia and nitrite levels can rise very quickly, literally overnight, and both are toxic to fish

 

[Larissa]

congratulations on your new tank. Fishkeeping is a lot of fun and doesn't necessarily have to be difficult but there is so much conflicting advice out there. Leave your pH alone for now it's okay, don't add the salt either unless you have sick fish. You'll also need to change your water (30-50%) probably everyday until the tank is cycled. Just use your water conditioner for now, no other chemicals. Start with that. Good luck.

 

[phanmc]

1. You do not need to use bottled water. You can use tap water after you've treated it with a dechlorinator, which is what Start Right is (though I've never used that brand before). You can treat tap water in a bucket before hand or you can add the dechlorinator to the tank and then add tap water directly to the tank, the dechlorinator will bond with the chemicals in the tap water immediately.

2. If you're dealing with guppies, danios, and rasboras then you don't need to use salt at all unless you're treating them for health issues.

3. About feeding in general, feed them very lightly for the first few weeks. once a day or once every other day would be fine. At this early stage its very important to keep the tank as pollutant free as possible. The lettuce can be left in the tank for several hours but you shouldn't leave it in for more than 24 hrs.

4. Unless your son just came back from playing in the mud or spraying himself with toxic chemicals, it should be ok

5. Aquarium pharmaceuticals has a nice test kit that contains tests for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and PH. I highly suggest you get a test for all of those chemicals.

Now here's the part that may make your head spin even more. You will need to watch the ammonia levels closely for the first couple of weeks and do 25-50% water changes when it gets high (the test kits should give you an idea). After the first week, you should also test for nitrites and change the water when it gets high. You may have to do this for up to a month before your tank become established with enough bacteria where it can sustain itself. I would test for ammonia and nitrites twice a week. After you notice that the ammonia and nitrites are gone, then your tank is settled and you can change the water less frequently.

 

[jaylin]

(someone is going to dispute what I just said, but it works for me).

I'd have to disagree with you on this one too.

The only time salt is really helpful in a tank is for treatment of parasites. A lot of people use it as a cure-all, but I don't see any scientific bases for that. I add "salts" when I have mollies or some of the other livebearers, but that's a little different because it's not just NaCl.

As an added note, most freshwater fish are contantly taking on water, that's in opposition to marine fish that regulate through osmotic pressure. Since they do take on water, they all have some sort of mechanism to get rid of that water. Adding salt, well, it's more the varied levels of salt, messes with their system. They can adapt to tolerate what ever the level is, but if it's contantly changing, it only makes it harder to do so. So it's my opinion that adding salt as a general rule isn't a good thing because it's hard to maintian a steady level of salinity.

Just my thoughts ...

 

[Fish Kate]

Thank you so much everyone for your advice! I am testing the water regularly now and changing it more often (with treated tap water). My levels of everything seem to be good, nothing way up there, and the fish seem to be doing great.

Also picked up some good books on the subject and am boning up on my fish skills. This is a wonderful and helpful group!! Thanks again.