which water is best

[nikky]

hi 8 of my 11 babies have now hatched and they are all doing well so far .when i have done water changes i have use tap water and dechlorinated it. i have a brita water filter jug which you can taste the difference between normal tap water and the filtered water .In the tap water you can taste the chlorine but once its filtered you cant so im wondering weather anyone knows if it is safe to use the brita water for the babies when doing water changes .

 

[rich]

im not totally the one to answear..so wait for more replays..but im sure the filtered water would have less minerals in it than the declorinated tap water... and the briter filter would not remove 100% of the chorine.... as i said wait for more replays...but just something to ask people.

 

[ali000]

Hi, i'm new to keeping axies but we have kept tropical fish for many many years and we keep a big plastic box (holds about 30 litres) of water which sits for at least 3 days then we use that for our water changes, all the chlorine has then evaporated out naturally. I would think to do it naturally is better than using chemicals
Alisonx

 

[nikky]

thankyou for your replys i have a container at the moment that has clean water in. it has been standing for a few days now as i have read thats the best way to do it. i dont like using chemicals as a rule ,ive kept fish before but never axies so i want to do it correctly .i have a filter in the tank which helped the tank to go through its cycle but when i put the eggs in the tank i was so afraid that the babies would be sucked up so ive turned it off until they get bigger so now im do partial water changes but im not sure how often i have to do this as some people say everyday and some say every couple of days the tank is 18x10x10 and its just over a quarter full with water .how long will it take for the chlorine to dissolve naturally

 

[benw]

I used some brita filtered water in a tank with yellow bellied toads and they died, im convinced it was the water. ok for us to drink, but as for amphibians?????
I know one thing-- i wont ever use it again , rain water for me, works in the wild.

Ben

 

[nikky]

hi ben thanks i will definatly not be using it now i will stick to the natural method and let the water stand id be gutted if anything happens to them so would my daughter she sits and watches them and even drew diagrams of the babies in the egg every couple of hours so she knew that they had rotated she absolutley adores them she always checking on them to make sure they are ok

 

[Levo]

I used some brita filtered water in a tank with yellow bellied toads and they died, im convinced it was the water. ok for us to drink, but as for amphibians?????
I know one thing-- i wont ever use it again , rain water for me, works in the wild.

Ben

Actually rain water isn't working to well in the wild as the increase of gases in the air is causing acid rain which is causing problems for the lakes in which amphibians live in pushing the PH level up to high for them.

 

[benw]

you are right of course, the ph of mine is ok, but probably varies regionally, more pollutant around large industrial areas, my personally find rain water far better than any form of tap water in area, would recommend testing water, used rain water on over 500 axyies reared over last few years, but note and agree about acid rain.

 

[Kaysie]

One of the main issues with rainwater is that it tends to be very 'soft', that is, it's low in dissolved minerals.

 

[benw]

yes its low in dissolved minerals, which could be elevated with the addition of a powder, one of which i used, R/O Right which replenished ' stripped' water from reverse osmosis units, the addition of a pinch of this could replenish the mineral depleted rain water.

Everyone has there own tried and tested way, what works for me may not for you, i just stick to rain water, it works for me.

Perhaps a 50/50 mix of dechlorinated tap water/rain water??

 

[Jennewt]

In theory Brita-filtered water should be good for amphibians. The filter does remove 100% of chlorine (more effectively than aging), and it does not remove the minerals, which is good. Such filters do introduce some phosphate into the water.

That said, the horror story from benw is the second story I have heard of problems arising from charcoal-filtered water. That's enough for me - I wouldn't use it for amphibians.

 

[allan]

which water

My newest set up contains water taken from a local stream (taken several miles upstream to avoid polutants) This is also the stream where I collect sand and live plants. There has been a female leucistic axie in this tank for about a month now,and she is thriving in the conditions.
Lots of her live food comes from this river and its surrounds.Most water changes come from the same source .
Its great having water,subtrate,plants and live food on my doorstep all free.
Im thinking of changing my other tanks to similar set ups. Can anyone tell me if there can be any pit falls to this enviroment or if it could harm the axies long term Thanks Allan

 

[rich]

Well... its all naturall to scotland..and not the axies..but i have no idea if that would be a problem..If the sourrding area is fine, and animals fine then i would guess it would be ok. With the food..with any natural live food you run the risk of parrasite/diseases... but once again, if the local inhabbitance of the strem are fine then i would once again guess it would be ok. The only real thing i would be worried about is the plants, and making sure you know the species, and that it would not releas any harmfull toxin into your tank, or if ur axie would injest some. Me myself, I love the idea! ... but it is worth talking to to your local counciel or environmentalist to make sure it is a natural streem, with no man made extras..e.g sawege or waste... (Once again i would love to be able to do this!)

 

[allan]

Hi Rich. Iknow the spring which feeds this stream.I collect everything about 1 mile from the spring .
The surrounding land is miles from civilisation .The land has sheep grazing on it .
Not worried about sewage etc. in these parts electricity is rare let alone civil engineering.
I must confess though that my knowledge of plants is not good.will consult with local enviromentalist for advice. As for the enviroment being natural to Scotland not axies I can only repeat that the axie in question is looking great ,eating well and very active.
p.s. if you dont believe me you can place an order for my tartan morphs if I decide too breed her lol
thanks for your interest .Should any strange events occur -good or bad ill let you know
ALLAN

 

[Bellabelloo]

With regards to the Brita filter, you need to make sure that you change the filter cartridge regularly.

 

[rich]

hey allan, i believe you lol, was just trying to help, didnt mean to sound patranising in any way..so sorry if it did, but all the best for u an ur axie in the futur!

 

[nikky]

its been very interesting reading everyones coments everyone has different view on how to do things i just want whats best for the little ones i have normal tap water naturally standing to let the chlorine evaporate out of the water this seems to be the favoured method so i will stick to that.... good luck i hope all your axies have very happy lifes and long lived ones

 

[Mark]

As an experiment last year I raised a few species of newt and some dendrobatid tadpoles exclusively using Brita filtered water. I had no problems.

This year I'm experimenting with fresh (non aged) dechlorinated tap water and again I've had no problems - so far.

If anything using tap water is far easier and cheaper. Those filter replacements are really not cheap and they only last a month (or so Brita say) plus you have to wait an age for the water to trickle through .

If you don't like using chemicals you could trickle water through the carbon medium used in aquarium filters. Far cheaper than Brita.

 

[benw]

Mark
Just out of interest what is your tap water quality like,
In my area its as hard as nails, you can boil a freshly descaled kettle once and you can see scale deposits forming straight away

Ben

 

[Mark]

Hi Ben, the water here in Bristol is hard too. That was my main reason for using the Brita filter for dart frog tads - they like soft water.

Bristol water: Total Hardness (mg/l as Calcium Carbonate) 210-300. You can check your own supplier for details. Some newts species prefer soft water but I don't know if axolotls are fussy.