Bottled spring water?

[wystearya]

So, someone suggested using bottle spring water (like the Deer Park brand) for keeping my Betta in instead of treated tap water. Apparently the Spring water does not need to be treated with anything, is this right? Is this good for the fish to use bottled water?

Since I only have the one Betta, I might give that a try rather than worrying over my tap water. Sometimes (not often) I can smell the chlorine in it. I myself use a Brita water filter pitcher for the water I drink because the tap water has an odd taste to it. Maybe this is why I had the cloudy water develop overnight..?

Thanks for any help!
~Wystearya

[Adastra]

Bottled water is expensive and it's inconsistent--you don't really know how much chlorine you're getting or not getting, and typically lacks the important minerals that help support the betta's well-being and buffer the pH of the water to keep it from swinging.

The best solution if you don't want to use your tap water would be to buy reverse osmosis (RO) water from the pet store. The first purchase is usually $10 for one of their special containers, and then around $1.50 to have the 5 gallon container refilled, so it will be cheaper than bottled and more consistent because all RO water is completely pure. It is so pure that you must add a re-mineralizing product to it such as Seachem's Equilibrium or Kent's RO Right. There is also the option of mixing the RO water with dechlorinated tap water to remineralize it, but you really have to be as consistent as possible with your mixture.

[wystearya]

Maybe I'll stick with tap... I thought that if you stayed with one brand that the Spring water would be consistent and chlorine free. Darn. :P

Thanks for the information!

[Alex09]

Bottled water IS chlorine free (for any decent brand that is). I dont know why everyone is so worked up against it. And spring water already has all the minerals in it as well. The only thing I would worry about is consistency. Perhaps not all the water is from the same source. As such, you may have fluctuations in pH and such.

[wystearya]

Originally Posted by Alex09

Bottled water IS chlorine free (for any decent brand that is). I dont know why everyone is so worked up against it. And spring water already has all the minerals in it as well. The only thing I would worry about is consistency. Perhaps not all the water is from the same source. As such, you may have fluctuations in pH and such.

Now pH (and other things) I can check for. I *though* Spring water should be OK mineral-wise and I thought it *should* be chlorine-free too. I would like to give it a try, I think it might be better than my own tap water. For just one fish in a 2.5 gallon tank, it shouldn't cost too much either.