# Which is Best -- Tap or "Purified" Water?



## ClinicaTerra

Does anyone know what the best top-off/water change water would be for goldfish, unchlorinated tap or bottled, R/O/purified?

I was using tap treated with Prime, of course, for months during the start up phase of my tank, but thought perhaps my diatom infestation was coming from my tap source. I had since switched to bottled R/O and "Purified" water which I buy at the store and then subsequently fill up when the jugs run out, but I'm wondering what would be best for my fish...the tap water or the Purified and/or R/O water?

Are the fish missing some vital elements or nutrients by not topping off or changing with tap water? Is the Purified water "too pure"?


----------



## susankat

Yes purified water is to pure. You need to mix with tap water. Maybe try doing it 1/2 and 1/2


----------



## NeonShark666

Tap water can have anything in it. If you are down stream from a large city or Agricultural areas you can have Nitrates or Ammonia in it. Here where I live tape water comes from the Cascade Mountains where it can still be contaminated ffrom Elk or Bear poo. Purified water should have no Nirates, Ammonia or Phosphares in it but will still have some dissolved minerals. Often they add Sodium or Calcium salts to it to improve tast.


----------



## jrman83

If it is mineralized RO water it should be ok. Tap has magnesium and calcium in it, which your fish (and you) need. If it is completely stripped you need the 50/50.


----------



## jeff5347

I was actually wondering the same thing. Since i started this tank all i had filled it with was water from the store which was stated as drinking water but states it was processed by "micro filtration, Ultraviolet treatment, R/O and/or Distillation, ozonation". Since my last PWC i have used the tap water but added Jungle Start right. States i capful to 10 gallons. Havent seen or had any problems since that water change. I will be doing another 30% tonight as well. My town from what i have heard gets its water from 7 ponds/lakes. We dont really get any run off from a big city and im assuming bears and raccoons and other animals are cleaning themselves and pooping in there also. this was our last water report. If i am being to anal i apologize

Arsenic (ppb) -2009, _amount detected 13ppb_

Combined Radium (pCi/L) -2009, _amount detected 3.1 picocuries per liter_

Nitrate (ppm) -2009, amount _detected 2.6ppb_

Total Coliform Bacteria-2010, _5 positive samples _( i guess the state only lets them have 1 pos sample per year)

Uranium (ppb) -2009, amount _detected 14ppb_

Copper (ppm) -2010 amount _detected 0.3ppm _

Lead (ppb) -2010 amount _detected 2ppb_

So Kinda wondering as well,tap or store water, so the census is use tap but clean it?


----------



## Gizmo

I do my PWC's with tap water treated with API Tap Water Conditioner, and there are only two things out of the ordinary - one, the water has an elevated (4ppm) level of phosphates and two, my city switches from snow runoff in the winter and spring to well water in the summer and fall, at which time the hardness goes up.

I would say with goldies they can handle most anything your tap water has in it, aside from chlorine and ammonia.


----------



## beaslbob

I recommned tap water.

At least with my planted tank with no water changes.


my .02


----------



## ClinicaTerra

Thanks Everyone,

The water we get from the store is R/O water, from a machine they have to refill our jugs -- but sometimes we buy the jugs of "Purified" water on the shelf and fill the tank with that. When those are empty, we fill with the R/O water that's in the store's machine...

So, I'm not sure what the fish are getting -- but I need to know if I should be using tap or this bottled stuff. Either way, I treat the tank with Prime before any of this new water goes in...*c/p*


----------



## beaslbob

ClinicaTerra said:


> Thanks Everyone,
> 
> The water we get from the store is R/O water, from a machine they have to refill our jugs -- but sometimes we buy the jugs of "Purified" water on the shelf and fill the tank with that. When those are empty, we fill with the R/O water that's in the store's machine...
> 
> So, I'm not sure what the fish are getting -- but I need to know if I should be using tap or this bottled stuff. Either way, I treat the tank with Prime before any of this new water goes in...*c/p*


Prime is not necessary with small top offs and definately not necessary with ro/di water.

Prime is to dechloranate and lock ammonia. Neither of which should be present in the processed water.

Plus Prime and other dechlors/ammonia locks also lock up oxygen so actually can suffocate the fish when overdosed.


my .02


----------



## ClinicaTerra

beaslbob said:


> Prime is not necessary with small top offs and definately not necessary with ro/di water.
> 
> Prime is to dechloranate and lock ammonia. Neither of which should be present in the processed water.
> 
> Plus Prime and other dechlors/ammonia locks also lock up oxygen so actually can suffocate the fish when overdosed.
> 
> 
> my .02


Be assured I definitely do not overdose with Prime -- I have heard horror stories about people that have had tanks crash because of putting way too much of this stuff in there. I use ONE capful for a 60 gallon. That's all.

Further, I realize Prime isn't necessary for the bottled, or pure, water; it was suggested to me to add it anyway because it can simply "stabilize" even particles of the bottled water that may not be completely "pure" or something along those lines...and that it simply couldn't hurt to add it. I understand the necessity of adding it before putting in TAP water, of course.


----------



## jrman83

Doesn't really matter about Prime...that definitely is not your problem. Small top-off or not, if I was using tap water, I'd use a dechlor. Its the smartest route.

I'd still only use a 50/50 mixture for tap/RO.


----------



## beaslbob

ClinicaTerra said:


> Be assured I definitely do not overdose with Prime -- I have heard horror stories about people that have had tanks crash because of putting way too much of this stuff in there. I use ONE capful for a 60 gallon. That's all.
> 
> Further, I realize Prime isn't necessary for the bottled, or pure, water; it was suggested to me to add it anyway because it can simply "stabilize" even particles of the bottled water that may not be completely "pure" or something along those lines...and that it simply couldn't hurt to add it. I understand the necessity of adding it before putting in TAP water, of course.


Be sure to treat only the new water you are adding. Not the entire tank.


----------



## susankat

Here is a good read on water chemistry and it would help you to decide for yourself as to which way to go.

A practical approach to freshwater aquarium water chemistry


----------



## ClinicaTerra

jrman83 said:


> Doesn't really matter about Prime...that definitely is not your problem. Small top-off or not, if I was using tap water, I'd use a dechlor. Its the smartest route.
> 
> I'd still only use a 50/50 mixture for tap/RO.


I realize Prime isn't my problem; we're trying to figure out what the best kind of water is for top off and changes...


----------



## ClinicaTerra

beaslbob said:


> Be sure to treat only the new water you are adding. Not the entire tank.


I actually do treat the tank when I add Prime -- I was told that this should be done so that the water already in the tank can have some moments to "react" and stabilize with the Prime before the fresh water is coming in...

ONLY the water coming in should be treated with dechlorinator?


----------



## susankat

I always use a python on all my tanks and when doing so I treat the entire tank and the water going in is straight from the tap. I have never had a problem doing it that way.


----------



## jrman83

ClinicaTerra said:


> I realize Prime isn't my problem; we're trying to figure out what the best kind of water is for top off and changes...


....and, that is why I said I would only use 50/50 RO/tap, if you wanted to use any RO water. It also doesnt hurt to treat the whole tank when you use Prime. It's not the same as some products.


----------



## ClinicaTerra

susankat said:


> I always use a python on all my tanks and when doing so I treat the entire tank and the water going in is straight from the tap. I have never had a problem doing it that way.


I was under the impression treating an entire tank wouldn't be of any harm either when adding dechlorinators...


----------



## ClinicaTerra

jrman83 said:


> ....and, that is why I said I would only use 50/50 RO/tap, if you wanted to use any RO water.


Okay, I got that. I was merely explaining that I realized the dechlorinator wasn't my problem. 



> It also doesnt hurt to treat the whole tank when you use Prime. It's not the same as some products.


That's what I always thought -- Prime is heavily concentrated, hence the horrific smell, but I was told you could add it directly to the tank as directed before the new water goes in.


----------



## susankat

You can, most everyone I know personally does it that way.


----------



## ClinicaTerra

susankat said:


> You can, most everyone I know personally does it that way.


Thanks Susan.

So, putting the capful into the aquarium itself before the new water goes in is okay, yes?


----------



## ClinicaTerra

So, did we get any concensus here in terms of what would be better -- tap or purified jugged water?

Are my fish "missing" something by not getting the (dechlorinated) tap water?

I probably should have mentioned that we have a water softening system hooked up to our tap lines, which utilizes salt tablets...is this okay to be adding to the tank?


----------



## susankat

Read that link I posted earlier, it explains it all, and some good info on using a water softner.


----------



## ClinicaTerra

I looked at the link; most of it seems confusing to me...

I'm not really understanding if the softened water is okay for my goldies, or not okay; if I use the tap source, should I be drawing it from the kitchen sink as suggested as this isn't normally treated by a softening system?

Maybe I should just continue to use the bottled/purified or R/O...


----------



## susankat

water through the softener isn't the best to use. Most places that have water softeners will have either a tap that don't go through it or there should be a valve in which you can switch it to just regular tap.


----------



## jrman83

My softner had a by-pass valve on the unit. Softners will usually add sodium to your water. Not good for your fish.


----------



## ClinicaTerra

But isn't some salt good in the column -- even for freshwater?

Or is that just in reference to the aquarium salt, specific for tanks?


----------



## susankat

It's salts that are specific for tanks, even then it isn't needed as there are fish that don't need it at all and the ones that do need it it should be a specific salt.


----------



## ClinicaTerra

susankat said:


> It's salts that are specific for tanks, even then it isn't needed as there are fish that don't need it at all and the ones that do need it it should be a specific salt.


Okay, but I was always a little hazy on the whole salt-for-freshwater-tanks thing -- I have a container of the API aquarium salt which I have used in the past just for treating what appeared to be ick or when the fish just didn't seem to be behaving right...sort of like a tonic. Are you saying this should NEVER be used in a freshwater, coldwater goldfish tank?

The salt tablets that go into our water softening machine in the house are definitely not the kind of salts that can be applied to fish tank water?


----------



## susankat

No I am not saying not to use aquarium salt, its good for treating ich. I can tell you one thing though, plain uniodized table salt will work just as well. Specialized salts are like rift lake salt, cichlid salt which is different from aquarium salt.


----------



## ClinicaTerra

Well, I'm dealing with an issue that's a bit more pressing than the salty water right now -- we unfortunately lost one of our goldies today, the Calico Fantail named "Keiko"...

Found him dead and attached to one of the filter intakes...apparently, the swim bladder disease simply morphed out of control...

When we picked him out of the tank with the net, I noticed a large "swelling" formation beneath his scales towards the rear of his body -- as if some kind of "explosion" happened in the bladder or something; it almost appeared as though there was a pebble or piece of gravel inside his body, it was so large and deformed...

Could this possibly be from the swim bladder problem he was having?

With all of our ongoing diatom, water quality and general negative problems we have been suffering with in this tank, this is the FIRST fish we have lost since the tank has been running -- over one year now. The other three fancytails seem fine...


----------



## susankat

Yes it could. I had a friend that did a necropsy on one of her goldies and there was a big pocket of air in there.


----------



## frogwings

I am going to jump in here and say I use spring water - no tap. However, I have a 10 gallon tank and it isn't that expensive for me to do. I have never treated the water in my tank and I think all is going well. (fingers crossed). We have well water which is very high in iron (enough to turn the water a rusty color despite an in-line filter). Rather than take any chances, I opted for the spring water. Even if you use the spring water to do water changes, it should not have to be treated with chemicals. I don't know if this is any help, but I thought I would mention it. Good luck.


----------



## ClinicaTerra

susankat said:


> Yes it could. I had a friend that did a necropsy on one of her goldies and there was a big pocket of air in there.


No "sorry for your loss"......?  

So, it's possible the bladder is what we were seeing all swollen on him? Is it remotely possible he swallowed a piece of gravel, and that's what we were seeing?


----------



## ClinicaTerra

frogwings said:


> I am going to jump in here and say I use spring water - no tap. However, I have a 10 gallon tank and it isn't that expensive for me to do. I have never treated the water in my tank and I think all is going well. (fingers crossed). We have well water which is very high in iron (enough to turn the water a rusty color despite an in-line filter). Rather than take any chances, I opted for the spring water. Even if you use the spring water to do water changes, it should not have to be treated with chemicals. I don't know if this is any help, but I thought I would mention it. Good luck.


Thanks, Frog...

I know the bottled/spring/RO/purified kinds of water shouldn't need to be treated with stuff like Prime, etc. before going in, but I was advised that it couldn't really hurt to stabilize it even further before entering the tank -- I don't overdose with Prime at all anyway, using just one capful (small) for my 60 gallon for each treatment...


----------

