question a bout well water

my dad's wife is a first grade teacher and has an aquarium in her
classroom (29 gal.) and has about 6 just tropical fish in it. the
main problem is that the school is in a town that still does not have
city water, all the water for the whole town comes out of a well. she
has had problems keeping new fish alive, i assume from the well
water?? i know it probably has a case of old tank syndrome, but i am
in the process of teaching her how to care for the tank better with
water changes and all. once she gets the hang of it, i am going to
try to convince her that cichlids are the way to go. so are there any
suggestions on how to make the well water more suitable for any fish,
and more specifically cichlids if she goes that route?

On Fri, 13 Feb 2004 12:23:34 -0500, steveh28
wrote:

my dad's wife is a first grade teacher and has an aquarium in her
classroom (29 gal.) and has about 6 just tropical fish in it. the
main problem is that the school is in a town that still does not have
city water, all the water for the whole town comes out of a well. she
has had problems keeping new fish alive, i assume from the well
water?? i know it probably has a case of old tank syndrome, but i am
in the process of teaching her how to care for the tank better with
water changes and all. once she gets the hang of it, i am going to
try to convince her that cichlids are the way to go. so are there any
suggestions on how to make the well water more suitable for any fish,
and more specifically cichlids if she goes that route?


by the way, i wasnt gonna suggest anything big, mabye shell dwellers
and other peacful small cichlids. a calvus or two perhaps?? not
sure. i will take suggestions on that too.

On Fri, 13 Feb 2004 12:45:22 -0500, steveh28 wrote:

On Fri, 13 Feb 2004 12:23:34 -0500, steveh28
wrote:

my dad's wife is a first grade teacher and has an aquarium in her
classroom (29 gal.) and has about 6 just tropical fish in it. the main
problem is that the school is in a town that still does not have city
water, all the water for the whole town comes out of a well. she has had
problems keeping new fish alive, i assume from the well water?? i know
it probably has a case of old tank syndrome, but i am in the process of
teaching her how to care for the tank better with water changes and all.
once she gets the hang of it, i am going to try to convince her that
cichlids are the way to go. so are there any suggestions on how to make
the well water more suitable for any fish, and more specifically cichlids
if she goes that route?


I live in the "suburbs" (that's a nice way of saying the city has
expanded to the county line) of Halifax, Nova Scotia and have a well. I
use my water straight from the tap. PH is 7.6 I've just setup a new tank
for some shell dwellers with crushed coral sand and the PH in that tank is
8.0 My other cichlids thrive in the well water with weekly 20% water
changes.
Rob

steveh28 wrote:
my dad's wife is a first grade teacher and has an aquarium in her
classroom (29 gal.) and has about 6 just tropical fish in it. the
main problem is that the school is in a town that still does not have
city water, all the water for the whole town comes out of a well. she
has had problems keeping new fish alive, i assume from the well
water?? i know it probably has a case of old tank syndrome, but i am
in the process of teaching her how to care for the tank better with
water changes and all. once she gets the hang of it, i am going to
try to convince her that cichlids are the way to go. so are there any
suggestions on how to make the well water more suitable for any fish,
and more specifically cichlids if she goes that route?

I think in order for anyone to make anything more than general
recommendations, we need to know more about the well water. Can you test
it for pH, GH, KH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? With those values, much
better advice can be given. Now for my general comment. Well water is not
necessarily bad, it can be used just fine for tanks, but it all depends on
those parameters.