How long can a Betta live in unconditioned water?

[TheCheese909]

I'm curious too.. maybe just so they don't have to buy conditioner?

I used to use a big mixing bowl specifically for my fish, fill it up in the bath tub then take it and dump it in my 2.5, 3, 4 and 5 gallon tanks. I've recently bought a bucket that I now use for when i vacuum tanks and to fill them back up. Much easier on my back but it kills my hands (a touch of arthritis at 21, awesome huh? ) I'll dump in the water conditioner and wait a few hours (or over night, depending) then readd fish.

[crowntaillove]

Originally Posted by LebronTheBetta

I'm 11 and I use water conditioner... lol. It doesn't hurt to research when you're young.. I know that you're an adult now so no offense. I have no intention to start an argument and that's just what I thought in mind for first.

I had dial up internet that took ages to research anything when I was 10. xD

(Not trying to be rude by any means.)

[LebronTheBetta]

Originally Posted by crowntaillove

I had dial up internet that took ages to research anything when I was 10. xD

(Not trying to be rude by any means.)

I'm not offended, don't worry. So your internet was slow?

Aging the water has no point. LOL

[deso]

When I lived in Hawaii as a kid, I kept my bettas in untreated tap water. Some lived to be 3 years old. Of course, the water quality was brilliant there, so I wouldn't recommend anyone trying that anywhere else in the world.

And Lebron, I didn't even have internet of any sort at your age. My parents were never big on technology. I had to go to the bookstore and buy the only two books on bettas that I could find ;) Dial-up internet is ridiculously slow. We're talking 5+ minutes of loading time per webpage, especially if it's image-heavy or Flash.

[aokashi]

Originally Posted by Lisa1010

So after 24-48 hours of aging well water, does it still need to be conditioned?

Lisa

if your water only has chlorine, 24-48 hours
before it is safe
if chloramine is added... about 2 weeks

[Hallyx]

Aging water is an old technique from the days before effective water conditioner/dechlorinator was available. Many municipal water districts are now using chloramine which is just as deadly and does not evaporate as chlorine does.

Modern condiitoner, besides dealing with chlorine (Olympia has the full complicated story, if anyone's interested) also converts ammonia to harmless ammonium and removes (encapsulates?) heavy metals.

They work on contact, so there's no reason to wait once you have added conditioner.

With well-water, unless you have a current test outlining everything in your water, it's best to use conditioner.

[Olympia]

Sorry to pop the bubble but nothing is removed heavy metal wise. Binded for up to 48 hours maybe, as far as I know.
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[meiperfectneina19]

I usually ended up aging the water for a week or more... My mom always keeps water bottles around the house because many times there is no water coming out of the tap... so we had to fill up drums and bottles when there was to have later on.

[LebronTheBetta]

Originally Posted by deso

And Lebron, I didn't even have internet of any sort at your age. My parents were never big on technology. I had to go to the bookstore and buy the only two books on bettas that I could find ;) Dial-up internet is ridiculously slow. We're talking 5+ minutes of loading time per webpage, especially if it's image-heavy or Flash.

Oh... Then sorry if I sounded rude if I was. But still, researching is a bit fun if I do say so myself! xD Oh god, I get impatient if it was only 1 minute of waiting.. lol.

[TheCheese909]

Dial-up was horrible, some people still use it too which totally amazes me. It goes through phone lines so if you have a home phone you can't use it while on the internet.

I would like to read Olympia's story about the water. Is it a sticky on here somewhere?