Newbie Seeking Advice on Water

Hello everyone,

I received an aquarium kit and am researching how to set it up. This is a
long-time wish finally coming to fruition, but I have no experience with
aquariums (or is it aquaria?). It is a simple 10 gallon rectangular glass
tank. I hope to be able to set up a nice freshwater environment for
tropical fish. I have read several FAQs and have borrowed several books
from my local library. However, I have not found an answer to this
question.

My house is supplied with water from a very old well. I have the water
going through a filter system and a softener, however, the raw water is very
bad (iron bacteria, causing rust stains on everything, odor/taste bad) and
these do not get rid of it all. They help for our (human) purposes, but we
still buy filtered water from our local grocery store for drinking and
cooking. The purchased water is municipal tap water (Detroit, MI) that is
filtered through a system at the store (Culligan system, several different
filters including activated charcoal, reverse osmosis, and ultraviolet
light).

Which water would be best for me to use in the aquarium? I am concerned
about the well water having bad things in it, particularly the iron
bacteria, but also concerned about the store water being too clean.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you.

On Dec 29, 2:22*am, "Neil Webster" wrote:
Hello everyone,

I received an aquarium kit and am researching how to set it up. *This is a
long-time wish finally coming to fruition, but I have no experience with
aquariums (or is it aquaria?). *It is a simple 10 gallon rectangular glass
tank. *I hope to be able to set up a nice freshwater environment for
tropical fish. *I have read several FAQs and have borrowed several books
from my local library. *However, I have not found an answer to this
question.

My house is supplied with water from a very old well. *I have the water
going through a filter system and a softener, however, the raw water is very
bad (iron bacteria, causing rust stains on everything, odor/taste bad) and
these do not get rid of it all. *They help for our (human) purposes, but we
still buy filtered water from our local grocery store for drinking and
cooking. *The purchased water is municipal tap water (Detroit, MI) that is
filtered through a system at the store (Culligan system, several different
filters including activated charcoal, reverse osmosis, and ultraviolet
light).

Which water would be best for me to use in the aquarium? *I am concerned
about the well water having bad things in it, particularly the iron
bacteria, but also concerned about the store water being too clean.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Well water in a lot of places beside haivng undesired iron bacteria
etc is also low in dissolved oxygen.........I would opt for bottled
water that is sold in stores in 5 gal; jugs etc. I wuld make sure its
RO (Reverse Osmosis) water. A lot of places sells RODI water and that
is fine for a tank but it normally requires some pretty heavy
supplementing to use in freshwater tanks as its essentially water with
99.9999999% of everything thats in it stripped out. It may also be
necessary to buffer or supplement the RO or bottled water. You need to
get a PH, nitrite, ammonia and KH or water hardness test kit, and the
PH and hardness test kit will determine what additivies (supplements)
you may have to add...........

So set up your aquarium, and let it cycle without any fish intially
and take some water readings and make any adjustments to get yuor
water parameters where they need to be for the type of fish you
intend to keep. Once cycled add a fish or two at a time and do not
overload it. Its also b est to setup a tank and let it run for a few
days or week or so to cycle and to operational check the filters , get
the heater adjusted and in general give it a trial run to see its all
working as it should be, before adding live critters....I would stay
away from goldfish etc as they will soon outgrow a tank of the size
you have. Live bearer fish are quite hardy and easy to keep, however
withtheir spawing its easy to get inundated with a lot of undesired
fish..........Use caution in picking out yuor fish at the store so yu
get fish that get along together and do well in a community type tank,
unless your looking for a specific breed.....Pay close attention to
the fish so you do not get sickly or emanicated fish. Ask the store to
toss in a bit of food so you can see them actually eatingm, and stay
away from those that refuse food..........Have fun and good luck

On Dec 29, 2:22 am, "Neil Webster" wrote:
Hello everyone,

I received an aquarium kit and am researching how to set it up. This is a
long-time wish finally coming to fruition, but I have no experience with
aquariums (or is it aquaria?). It is a simple 10 gallon rectangular glass
tank. I hope to be able to set up a nice freshwater environment for
tropical fish. I have read several FAQs and have borrowed several books
from my local library. However, I have not found an answer to this
question.

My house is supplied with water from a very old well. I have the water
going through a filter system and a softener, however, the raw water is
very
bad (iron bacteria, causing rust stains on everything, odor/taste bad) and
these do not get rid of it all. They help for our (human) purposes, but we
still buy filtered water from our local grocery store for drinking and
cooking. The purchased water is municipal tap water (Detroit, MI) that is
filtered through a system at the store (Culligan system, several different
filters including activated charcoal, reverse osmosis, and ultraviolet
light).

Which water would be best for me to use in the aquarium? I am concerned
about the well water having bad things in it, particularly the iron
bacteria, but also concerned about the store water being too clean.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Well water in a lot of places beside haivng undesired iron bacteria
etc is also low in dissolved oxygen.........I would opt for bottled
water that is sold in stores in 5 gal; jugs etc. I wuld make sure its
RO (Reverse Osmosis) water. A lot of places sells RODI water and that
is fine for a tank but it normally requires some pretty heavy
supplementing to use in freshwater tanks as its essentially water with
99.9999999% of everything thats in it stripped out. It may also be
necessary to buffer or supplement the RO or bottled water. You need to
get a PH, nitrite, ammonia and KH or water hardness test kit, and the
PH and hardness test kit will determine what additivies (supplements)
you may have to add...........

So set up your aquarium, and let it cycle without any fish intially
and take some water readings and make any adjustments to get yuor
water parameters where they need to be for the type of fish you
intend to keep. Once cycled add a fish or two at a time and do not
overload it. Its also b est to setup a tank and let it run for a few
days or week or so to cycle and to operational check the filters , get
the heater adjusted and in general give it a trial run to see its all
working as it should be, before adding live critters....I would stay
away from goldfish etc as they will soon outgrow a tank of the size
you have. Live bearer fish are quite hardy and easy to keep, however
withtheir spawing its easy to get inundated with a lot of undesired
fish..........Use caution in picking out yuor fish at the store so yu
get fish that get along together and do well in a community type tank,
unless your looking for a specific breed.....Pay close attention to
the fish so you do not get sickly or emanicated fish. Ask the store to
toss in a bit of food so you can see them actually eatingm, and stay
away from those that refuse food..........Have fun and good luck


Thanks for the advice. I am still in the planning stages, still need to buy
several items, including stand, heater, gravel, decor, etc. I plan on
setting up the aquarium and getting the nitrogen cycle going without fish
(or adding one fish at a time as some have recommended). I also am still
looking into what type of fish to place (leaning toward tetras but that may
change). I will be going to local PetSmart this week to get some of the
necessary items like stand and water test kits. I just don't want to start
with one type of water and find it too difficult to get just right (RO water
and adjusting KH and pH) or another type that may be harmful to the fish
(well water with right hardness and pH but harmful iron bacteria). Thanks.