Bottled water for betta

[caliroze]

I'm going to set up a 1-gal. tank for a male betta I haven't even purchased yet. The tap water in San Diego, CA is awful and I want to use bottled water. Does anyone have recommendations or opinions? I've seen conflicting info about bottled water being a waste (just use tap water and conditioner, but that doesn't remove heavy metals), and distilled versus spring water, filtered, non-filtered, etc. I can buy store brand bottled water, Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water or Crystal Geyser (my fave to drink myself).

I plan on changing the water once a week. Is removing 20% to 25% of the water and adding new to the tank recommended, or does it have to be an entire water change? I will have gravel, a fake material plant and ornament too.

Thanks!

[leifthebunny]

If you decide to use bottled water, investigate where the water comes from. There's no regulations on bottled water and some of it is worse than tap water. Others come out of municipal water supplies, so it's the same thing. You might want to consider using distilled water or checking if your LFS sells RO (Reverse Osmosis) water for freshwater tanks.

As a side note, I would recommend 5g or larger tank for a betta. They will be happier. Plus you will be able to put some tank mates in with him such as tetras and real plants.

[Firebelly girrl]

Im not sure if your pet stores have it, but my petsmart has BETTA WATER, thats in a little bottle like regular water, not sure how good it is, but an idea.

http://www.petco.com/product/12059/Betta-Water.aspx

[ndjs]

I'm pretty sure that product is useless. I think it's just somebody trying to make some money off of people who don't know much about their fish...

That said, I've never used it, but it's really expensive, and I've never used anything other than dechlorinated tap water and I've had bettas for years..

[Firebelly girrl]

Originally Posted by ndjs

I'm pretty sure that product is useless. I think it's just somebody trying to make some money off of people who don't know much about their fish...

That said, I've never used it, but it's really expensive, and I've never used anything other than dechlorinated tap water and I've had bettas for years..

but if your tap water is bad like caliroze said it could come in handy

[ndjs]

There are cheaper options, at stores.

But whatever keeps your betta alive. :)

[herefishy]

Are you sure that you are talking about bottled water(mineral water for example) or are you talking about reverse osmosis water that many lfs's now sell?

[mHeinitz57]

lol yeah, that betta water that petsmarts and petcos sell is basically just regular water that has been conditioned already. Basically, it's a ripoff. What part of San Diego are you from? I worked at both Petco and Petsmart in SD for a few years. The city water isn't great but with a water conditioner it should be ok for your betta. The water used in the stores is just the city water run through a Culligan filtration unit before it goes into the fish tank systems. If I remember correctly the pH generally ran about 8.3 and hardness and alkalinity were very high. However, its the same water run in the fish stores down there and the same water that I used in my fish tanks with a lot of success. If you really want to use bottled water, use Reverse Osmosis water. I've been hearing comments about people suggesting distilled water but thats actually a bad idea. There are a lot of good minerals in water that benefit the fish and distilled water is stripped of all the good stuff as well. It's almost too pure. RO or most spring waters are good but I think you should be fine with tap water and a good conditioner such as Amquel+ or Prime.

[caliroze]

Thanks for all your responses! I live in the North Park area of San Diego. I saw the Betta Water for sale at Petco and it's just a small bottle for something like $4.99. No way would I buy into that! Too expensive and certainly useless -- I'm sure the pet stores don't use it. I think I'll try the spring water.

[mHeinitz57]

spring water isn't really regulated to I would still use a conditioner even on spring water just to be safe.