# Spring or tap water?



## Polishdiva1 (Oct 22, 2012)

After having a betta die on me after I got it from the store and had it in tap water with conditioner, my friend suggested I use spring water like he has with his bettas for a year. So I tried that with my new betta plus conditioner and he is doing very well. Is it possible that the water harmed the first betta? It would sure be a lot easier to use tap water with this one, I just don't want to cause irreparable damage.


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## Chigwell Hammer (Oct 18, 2012)

Your first time doing it, Did you cycle the tank?


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## Rockandrollgirl09 (Oct 22, 2012)

I have used both for years. My first betta that I have ever owned I used tap water and conditioner and he lived for 4 years. Since then I have used Spring Water. In both the fish have thrived. So there could have been other factors going on such as internal parasites or other illnesses that could have caused his/her premature death.


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## Kitty Whiskers (Sep 28, 2009)

I mix half Spring water with half tap water, plus I add conditioner.


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## Pitluvs (Jun 22, 2011)

Chance are it had nothing to do with the water source, just poor conditions at the pet store or poor transport to the pet store. As someone who takes home A LOT of Bettas from the pet store (20+ this last year), sometimes they just don't make it when you take them home. I use tap water, it has so much chlorine in it. So much, that you can smell the water from across the run if you run the tap in the sink. We put in a splash of Stress Coat and toss in the tank and many fish here live comfortably in it. Sorry for your loss


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## shellieca (Jul 12, 2012)

As RockandRoll stated there are probably other factors that played a role in the death of your fish. I use tap water all the time with no problems, I only add Prime to it as the water conditioner. Have you tested your tap water to see what the ammonia, nitrites & nitrates are? Do you have filtered, heated tank? What size is it? How often do you do water changes & how big are they? Was he acclimated appropriately? How long did you have him before he died? And so on and so on. I'm not asking you answer the questions just pointing out there are numerous things that could have contributed to his demise. I think we've all been there at some point in time, it's a sad part of fish keeping.


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## Pitluvs (Jun 22, 2011)

I agree with Shellieca... so many things could have gone wrong other than water. My first two Bettas, Venom and Carnage both died within the week of bringing them home. Venom being a pet store Betta, Carnage being a $50 breeder Betta. I was devastated. But I went out and bought new stuff, took home another guy and tried again. I never changed the water source though.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Tap spring has low nutrients and varies.


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## Polishdiva1 (Oct 22, 2012)

If I use tap and let it sit out overnight to de-chlorinate should I let the conditioner sit overnight as well? Is there a minimum time period for conditioner?


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## shellieca (Jul 12, 2012)

Polishdiva1 said:


> If I use tap and let it sit out overnight to de-chlorinate should I let the conditioner sit overnight as well? Is there a minimum time period for conditioner?


Are you putting it into a filtered or unfiltered tank? If I'm not mistaken sitting out overnight doesn't dechlorinate it. When I had unfiltered containers I would sit the water out for a minimum of 12 hrs & add the water conditioner right before I changed the water. Now I have 2 10g tanks & a 46g & I don't sit water out at all. I use my tap water & add Prime, I run a bucket full of water right before I suction the old water out of the 10g tanks. I've never had an issue.


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## Polishdiva1 (Oct 22, 2012)

It is unfiltered, and I have TopFin conditioner


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## Polishdiva1 (Oct 22, 2012)

It is unfiltered, and I have TopFin conditioner.


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