Lana Bollers Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 Please note that the tests provided were taken before our softener, therefore there is no added salt in this water, the test show it as it is in a raw state. Sample ID: 1/2 2/2 pH : 7.19 7.01 Conductivity (mS/cm): 3.26 3.28 Total Hardness (as mg/L CaCO3): 1608 1612 Ca as CaCO3 (mg/L): 1058 1071 (as mg/L Ca2+ : 423 428) Mg as CaCO3 (mg/L): 550 541 (as mg/L Mg2+: 134 131) P Alkalinity (as mg/L CaCO3): 0.00 0.00 T Alkalinity (as mg/L CaCO3): 399 411 Chloride (as mg/L Cl-): 33.6 22.6 Sulphate (as mg/L SO42-): 1484 1751 Ferric Iron (as mg/L Fe3+): 7.8 10.5 When I did the nitrate and nitrite tests on my well water it was negative (0) when I completed the combination kit, amm/nit it showed 0.25ppm. I have not completed a salitity test, not sure where to get one done, I will ask at work if one can be done. (I work for a chemical plant) they are the ones that did this testing for me. Lana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobies et al Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 (edited) I use Salt Level Test Kit put out by Pond Care to test salinity. I don't know if the iron results would show free iron (toxic), chelated iron (non-toxic I believe), or total. I use Iron test kit from Hagen for that to be a simple guide for chelated iron for the plants. Edited July 20, 2008 by gobies et al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackMumba Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 Hi Lana, IT appears your PH level is much lower in Redwater then it is here in Millet... But here is our experience with well water for all sorts of cichlids, works out just fine. We have a huge sucess with it. Now that might be a different story if we were breeding Discus... If I am breeding a species of fish that requires PH much lower then I just use R/O, I do this for my shrimp breeding and my betta breeding program. I use the water from my well, to the R/O unit then mix 90 percent R/O and 10 Percent well water.. we have very Soft water with high sodium, but not much else in minerals. So I also add minerals and fertilzers to equal it all out, I add salt as well... depending on the tank size etc... Anyways I think your well water would do just fine, make sure you acclimize your fish to your water slowly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lana Bollers Posted July 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 Hi Lana,IT appears your PH level is much lower in Redwater then it is here in Millet... But here is our experience with well water for all sorts of cichlids, works out just fine. We have a huge sucess with it. Now that might be a different story if we were breeding Discus... If I am breeding a species of fish that requires PH much lower then I just use R/O, I do this for my shrimp breeding and my betta breeding program. I use the water from my well, to the R/O unit then mix 90 percent R/O and 10 Percent well water.. we have very Soft water with high sodium, but not much else in minerals. So I also add minerals and fertilzers to equal it all out, I add salt as well... depending on the tank size etc... Anyways I think your well water would do just fine, make sure you acclimize your fish to your water slowly! Do you take the water from your tap? or do you take it from the well, and let it sit for a bit? Lana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lana Bollers Posted July 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 I use Salt Level Test Kit put out by Pond Care to test salinity.I don't know if the iron results would show free iron (toxic), chelated iron (non-toxic I believe), or total. I use Iron test kit from Hagen for that to be a simple guide for chelated iron for the plants. I will look into the test kits. Lana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 Please note that the tests provided were taken before our softener, therefore there is no added salt in this water, the test show it as it is in a raw state.Sample ID: 1/2 2/2 pH : 7.19 7.01 Conductivity (mS/cm): 3.26 3.28 Total Hardness (as mg/L CaCO3): 1608 1612 Ca as CaCO3 (mg/L): 1058 1071 (as mg/L Ca2+ : 423 428) Mg as CaCO3 (mg/L): 550 541 (as mg/L Mg2+: 134 131) P Alkalinity (as mg/L CaCO3): 0.00 0.00 T Alkalinity (as mg/L CaCO3): 399 411 Chloride (as mg/L Cl-): 33.6 22.6 Sulphate (as mg/L SO42-): 1484 1751 Ferric Iron (as mg/L Fe3+): 7.8 10.5 When I did the nitrate and nitrite tests on my well water it was negative (0) when I completed the combination kit, amm/nit it showed 0.25ppm. I have not completed a salitity test, not sure where to get one done, I will ask at work if one can be done. (I work for a chemical plant) they are the ones that did this testing for me. Lana Hi Lana, You really need to test the water after the water softener was installed since the PH and hardness would have changed completely. You do have very high levels of sulphate. Does the water smell bad? I'm thinking that the sulphate will create some problems with algae growth.... I could be wrong though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lana Bollers Posted July 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 Okay I just completed the ammonia test on my tap water.... needless to say it has a ton of ammonia in it, I just did the test and it right away went to 1ppm, the test finished at about a 2ppm. I don't think this water is suitable for the aquarium... Lana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byte Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 (edited) I have very high sulfates in my well water (so high it is not suitable for human consumption), but the fish do fine in it. Most of my tanks are planted and even my 5 WPG tank doesn't have algae issues. In my area, the water tests are done for free. I just fill a couple of containers and they send them away to the university for testing. Ask at the town or county office about water well testing. Edited July 22, 2008 by byte Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lana Bollers Posted July 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 I have very high sulfates in my well water (so high it is not suitable for human consumption), but the fish do fine in it. Most of my tanks are planted and even my 5 WPG tank doesn't have algae issues. In my area, the water tests are done for free. I just fill a couple of containers and they send them away to the university for testing. Ask at the town or county office about water well testing. Last time I had it tested I just brought it to work and they did it for me in the lab. Lana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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