BJP

Some well water is chlorinated with little units that sit on top of wells and drop pellets in based on usage. Most people would know about that though since they would have to be refilling them.

There can be a great number of things coming in potentially with your well water from high levels of arsenic which is becoming a greater problem all the time to who knows what else. I just had 3 out of 4 wells I drilled for a government contract flunk the first time around because of a chemical they think was introduced from a primer used to with a glue to connect the casing that they approved. you just can't know without testing. It's as simple as that.

The big controversey now is what tests are going to be mandated by the government and at what intervals. Even if they aren't mandated anytime soon, a one time check at the least should be considered if you place any value on the safety of your family consuming the water. I would start with your local health department. They'll have an idea what the most prevelnt problems in your area are and they can point you to labs to have samples tested.

A search on the internet might also provide some sources for having water tested. I'd also get a second opinion before purchasing any equipment. There are some idiots out there in the water filtration field only testing a few cosmetic parameters, pronouncing the water safe based solely on those and selling filters they may not even understand how to arrange properly.

An example from this morning. A family with a bored well had us dig a drilled well since all they were getting was a little reddish muddy water at a time from the bored well. It appears some company sold them a series of filters to fix the problem with the old well which didn't work. From what I could tell just by a glance they obviously had high iron levels and this idiot crew installed a water softner as the first stop in treatment. One of the first things they should have reralized is the exchange rezin in the water softner doesn't care wether it's removing iron, calcium or what so long as the charge is correct. By removing the iron the membrane fouled itself rapidly making it incapable of recharging itself. I didn't even bother to ask what they were trying to fix with the other two units. We'll just bypass all three when we hook up the new pump and wait for test results to determine what's really needed and what order it should be tackled in if anythings needed at all with the new water source.

I've seen dozens of other examples from guys testing water that was fresh from the well and hadn't had the chlorine pumped out yet which also gets a high PH reading from the pellets, to people installing filters prior to the pressure tank, having them clog, then when water is used in the house, the pressure switch cuts the pump on but the pump can't get the water to the switch to ever stop. That one usually results in either the pump burning up or the pipe breaking somewhere in between.

__________________

Robbw

WE don't have any Chlorine tabs or other chemical treatment. I have a well 150 feet down on a very rocky hill that I live on.

Test readings are GH somewhere around 140 ppm/mg/l. Carbonate Hardness 60 ppm/mg/l. pH 6.5. Nitrites .05 ppm/mg/L. Nitrates 0-20 ppm /mg/L.

I have done three 5 gallon water changes in the last 4 days in my 29 gallon tank. I've used a capful of cycle in 2 out of the 3 changes. I also notice more algae than I care to have on the glass. (Opposite wall from one window. 10 hours of light on a timer.)

My theory is that I may be overfeeding my 3 goldfish (like their daddy...hehe). Tonight I fed them lightly and will continue.

Other than that, I haven't put salt, stresszyme, quick cure, first aid, or anything else in there. That's the 411.

Robbw

As for the algae, I spoke with a lfs yesterday. They said my 10 hours with the light on was way too much. They said I should only turn on the light when I want to view the fish. Note that I have no natural plants.

In discussing my water parameters with the lfs, they wanted me to buy water softener, ph up, and a water treatment for heavy metals. I said I thought that was just too much stuff, considering my three little goldfish seem to be doing fine right now.

He also said my recent spike in Nitrites could be a mini cycle from all the screwing around I did in the last month (see Woes of a Noob...my own story). He suggested that I shouldn't do anything, even water changes, for a month...in order to let the tank properly cycle.

I looked around at his tanks and wasn't exactly overwhelmed by what I saw. Interestingly, our local Petsmart seems to have the best maintained stock, over Walmart, Petco, and our lfs. The fish look healthy, the tanks are clean, and there is a good selection.

BJP

I would generally try to limit the tank to about 6 hours of extra lighting above room lighting myself if I didn't have plants but then again I love plants and think anyone with compatible fish should try a few. There are plenty of hardy options that can survive without extra fiddling and if they grow, even slowly, they add to the tanks overall water quality and viewing pleasure. I doubt I'll ever set a freshwater tank 20 gallons or larger up again without live plants. For that matter if I ever find a desire for a small permanent display I'd want small plants in that also.

Give a few a try.

Sounds like your typical retail expurt. Goldfish don't need the bells and whistles to be happy. Just clean water, good diet and a healthy amount of space per goldfish. Mom has a pond full of goldfish in super soft acid water going on more than 10 years now. I've got a pond full in slightly alkaline water moderately hard going on 5 years now. I've had plenty of friends with liquid rock coming out of the tap keep goldfish also.

That's placing the baby at risk of drowning to save the bath water. If fish are present you need to keep the environment as healthy for them as possible. The tank will cycle either way and usually without much real time difference. For that matter doing nothing sets you up for a big spike when you finally do start doing something. You'll suddenly be disturbing bacteria that have developped in locations that aren't going to be permanent homes for them. disturb them all the way through the development and you encourage them to only develop in the appropriate places to start with. Any ammonia or any nitrite reading means there's more food availible than bacteria to process it so the bacteria populations will increase. Even daily 50% water changes will not keep nitrite levels down if food is continually fed to the fish.

Sounds like you should give the local expurt a link to this site or another good one of your chosing.

__________________

Robbw

My fish and I appreciate the response. Makes sense to me. I will continue my weekly 5 gallon water change, will limit lighting a little, will not put too much chemical crap in the water, and will check the plant section of this site for advice on a few live plants! (should be part of the swearing in of new members!).

Thanks again!