Well water

[ricci]

I am using well water for my initial set up. It has been o.k. for freshwater fish over the years, but I'm wondering what kind of testing I should do on it for my saltwater tank.It does leave a rusty looking deposit on bathroom fixtures after awhile.Thanks.

 

[thepomonacow]

Hi,
You should test for as many things as possible. The 4 that are "required" so to speak are PH, ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite. You can also test for calcuim, strontium, alkalinity, phosphates, and silicates. Most fish stores will test your water (***** does for free). They should have all those tests. Hope this helped.

 

[superman]

You could also get a faucet water purifier or filter. Some of them may be expensive, but so are your fish. It would be better to get the filter than have your fish die.

 

[jakepilot]

well water is hard water, be carfull a good friend of mine uses well water but he runs it through an RO unit...its not all togeather but it does have stuff like iron, and other hard metals, beware

 

[just_got_tanked]

if you ask me I think that you sould just use RO. If you start trying to use well water or even tap you are setting yourself up for troubles in the long run. Using RO water you dont have to use as many additives or sometimes none at all. Using the tap or well water you will have to treat your water everytime you do a water change. You also have more of a chance to make a huge mistake. RO water is only $.25 to $.50 and it is worth the money.

 

[ricci]

Thanks! I appreciate the help.

 

[chrismilano]

At the very least, use bottled water for your initial fill and if you must, use the well water for topping off. Problem is, well water contains several heavy metals such as iron.

 

[cardinals]

Hey SUPERMAN Its "Dog EAT Dog " not Doggy Dog <img src="graemlins//silly.gif" border="0" alt="[silly]" />

 

[krusk]

if you want to use well water
which I know few ppl are using them without any problems.
Test for PHs, Coppers, silicates.

 

[kaiserpup]

Just for info:
I use well water, I know it has some kind of filter on it,but I'm not sure what kind. (I just moved here.) It has low PH, but that's all I was able to get tested. I filled my tank with it, added some pro tech coat. After letting it run with live sand and live rock, I added a crab and a blue damsel. So far I haven't had any problems with them or the snails that crawled out of my live rock.

 

[skooby]

I too have been using my well water, and it hasnt let me down. I have a water softener on it and a particle filter too. My tank parameters have not changed sinse I set it up 6 months ago and cycled. I was wondering the same thing but I think it will be ok. I have a lot of evap. so I was thinking about going with DI just for that. Hope it helps.