Lets dig a little deeper then "water parameters"-City vs Well water

mybluem3

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Dec 3, 2007
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Prospect Heights,IL
well the subject of water parameters is an ongoing argument or should we say an on going experiment for all of us and there seems to be no end in sight. but i recently came across an interesting theory and was wandering what all us ray keepers use as a main source of water. untreated "well". or treated "city" water. i know most people dont pay as much attention to where the water is coming from. but when major loss or stressed out rays come in to play you have to only wonder what really is the source? i recently came across a situation where a ray was CB in well water and a year later was brought into "city" water and from the get go was not the same ray. washed out colors. went from a really light base to a dark base, having trouble getting him to eat, not very active. and the same is true in a case of a pair of rays going up north from being rased on well to city water. both of which completely lost color. in both cases ALL other parameteres checked out. the only missing link is the "well" and "city" water.has anyone else experienced this? is it simply a case of not acclimating well? or does it have something to do with being used to certain hardness/gh/kh/salinity/alkalinity that has to do with there overall well being. to some this may sound like a bunch of mumbo jumbo but if some of you experienced keepers put some insight into rays you have either bought sold or traded. as well as rays that were imported. has anyone else ran into this issue? thanks in advance!
 

vamptrev

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Apr 23, 2007
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I think the biggest factors would be ph difference, mineral content, and tds levels between the different water sources.

I have moved alot of pups from well water from a buddies house over to my house with city water and never had any problems. I dont think i even acclimated them, i just dumped them in... We never compared water params, just moved healthy rays from him to me.


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mybluem3

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Dec 3, 2007
427
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Prospect Heights,IL
thats good to know. im certain these rays were all happy and healthy eating and active when they were moved. thanks for the insight!

I think the biggest factors would be ph difference, mineral content, and tds levels between the different water sources.

I have moved alot of pups from well water from a buddies house over to my house with city water and never had any problems. I dont think i even acclimated them, i just dumped them in... We never compared water params, just moved healthy rays from him to me.



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scott s

Redtail Catfish
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Sep 11, 2010
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I am by no means an expert, but I would think if water parameters were a serious problem (and we're talking "good" water here) then we would see a lot more major issues with bringing wild caught specimens into captivity.
When it comes to water parameters on this site, I believe we have major swings from one side to the other. As long as the rays are acclimated properly and water is clean then it seems most people do not have any major issues.

So many factors can come into play when shipping rays into a new environment: bagging and shipping methods, transportation time, acclamation, established vs. very new systems, tank mates, filtration, RO water, ect...
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B_IN_SD

Fire Eel
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Jul 12, 2006
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Sturgis S.D.
My "city" water is from several wells and ponds.
 

tiger15

Goliath Tigerfish
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Oct 1, 2012
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City water means public water, the source of which can vary from well water, surface water from river and reservoirs, or any combination from supply networking. You can google your municipality to find out the source, treatment method, and parameters as the information is public. There is no generalization of city water parameters as it depends on the source. If the source is primarily from well field, the water tends to be on the hard side, and the deeper the wells, the harder the water. If water is primarily from surface source, it tends to be softer. Well water is low in bacterial count, so it only requires light chlorination and chloramine is almost never used. Surface water has higher bacterial count and requires heavier chlorination or chloramine treatement. For fish keeping, it's luckier to have well water because it is more stable and less chlorinated. Caution should be give to surface water source because the parameters and chlorination can fluctuate with seasons and storm events.
 

Dieselhybrid

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Mar 31, 2010
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Wells are generally more stable. Unless you're unfortunate like my aunt. Cautionary tale I like share.

An energy company started "fracking" (hydraulic fracturing) drilling for natural gas around 10 miles from her house. They permanently contaminated her well (along with several other neighbors) with everything from natural gas itself to benzene, toluene, and dozens of chemicals they use in the extraction process. Most of her pets died. Horses lost their hair, family got sick. Energy company denied responsibility at first. They now deliver somewhere around 1000 gallons of water weekly as part of the settlement.

If you live near fracking beware. Your water is in danger.

Other than that risk wells seem much more stable than municipal supplies with varying amounts of chlorine and chloramine being added periodically.
 

DB junkie

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Jan 27, 2007
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I know of an importer that used straight RO to minimize losses when transitioning from the wild to his water and lost a lot less then he did using tap. Was just too big of a difference going to tap.

I've watched lots of Marble patterns fade going from soft to hard water, yet doesn't seem like it affects the other species of rays I keep??

I'd like to know if degassing/aging well water changes parameters (conductivity/TDS) as much as aging tap water......
 

mybluem3

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Dec 3, 2007
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Prospect Heights,IL
I think we are all on the right track. I have my own well.hard as can be water super high tds and very alkaline. I've never tried aging it. I have used r/o to cut the water before and it seems to help. As of lately I completely strayed away from large water changes and am strictly on an 80 or so gpd drip. Seems to be working great.i finally ordered a gh/kh test kit so I'm gunna see what info that brings out about my water. I know of another ray keeper that runs solely and r/o drip with zero issues and actually has a Prego female due here anytime. Seems this is all going full Circle to stability. And the ability of the ray keeper to keep the params within a range that the rays are used to. Al with ur rays going light/dark do u know if they were coming from a home with hard well water? And all cases that I speak of are marbles....


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Mr. Allgood

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Feb 16, 2012
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How long are you aging your tap water? My tds only drops 30-40ppm after aging my tap water for a few days
 
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