# Bottle test... use water conditioner?



## jessem (Jun 4, 2007)

I just set up a little betta bowl with a 1" layer of soil and about 1" of gravel to test out the soil before I use it in my 40g. My question is, I used Prime to treat the tapwater... will that skew the ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite results of this "bottle test"?

Jesse


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## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

I don't think people treat the water when they are doing a bottle test. I know I didn't but others might have.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

jessem said:


> I just set up a little betta bowl with a 1" layer of soil and about 1" of gravel to test out the soil before I use it in my 40g. My question is, I used Prime to treat the tapwater... will that skew the ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite results of this "bottle test"?
> 
> Jesse


I assume that you have added Prime, because your tapwater has chloramines. If that be the case, then I would add a water conditioner to your bottle test. You want to mimic tank conditions as much as possible.

If you add tapwater with chloramines (and no water conditioner) to the bottle, it could kill the soil bacteria and create havoc. Nitrifying bacteria in the soil may be killed, plus many other dead bacteria may cause severe anaerobic conditions and a major meltdown. Plenty of ammonia will be released if this happens.

I would also suggest gently stirring the water once or twice a day. This will introduce oxygen into the system and better mimic tank conditions.

Remember folks that soil contains a living ecosystem. Treat it carefully.


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## rohape (Feb 7, 2005)

I used Prime on both my bottle test, and on my first water change yesterday. First one in almost 6 months.


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## jessem (Jun 4, 2007)

Thank you all for your responses! I tested the ammonia after first adding the soil and gravel and there was no measurable levels. I then measured it about 4 hours later and it had creeped up but was still under .25ppm. I also tested the nitrates and nitrites and they were both undetectable. My GH and KH were both high, as was my pH (all expected based on my city's reports). The GH was 180, KH somewhere between 180-240, pH was around 7.8. 

Anyways, thanks again for all your help! This site has a huge resource for the tank I have in the works. Much friendlier than a few of those reef sites I've been hangin around for years. 

Jesse


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## rohape (Feb 7, 2005)

I have been told that driftwood will help neutralize and stablize your ph...ize. 
Glad you like it here!


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## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

Well I just learn t something new. I didn't know that chloramines killed the bacteria in the soil! I'll treat my aged water first before putting it in my tank.

Rohape, I think driftwood also softens hard water as well so it might lower the amount of hard water nutrients in the tank but I could be wrong.


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## rohape (Feb 7, 2005)

Red_Rose said:


> Rohape, I think driftwood also softens hard water as well so it might lower the amount of hard water nutrients in the tank but I could be wrong.


That makes sense. We have pretty soft water here already, so I had to use a lot of crushed shell. But I also make "Calcium cookies" for my snails, so thats a good thing. Like I said too, I only have a small little piece of driftwood, I guess you could say driftstick. :mrgreen:


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## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

rohape said:


> That makes sense. We have pretty soft water here already, so I had to use a lot of crushed shell. But I also make "Calcium cookies" for my snails, so thats a good thing. Like I said too, I only have a small little piece of driftwood, I guess you could say driftstick. :mrgreen:


It must be nice to have soft water! That would be so much better on my betta's fins then what we have here! I don't even have to add crushed shell or lime to my tank.

In the 2.5 gallon that I have my betta in now, I have a small piece of driftwood in there and it didn't even affect the pH in anyway!

What exactly are calcium cookies?


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## tkos (Oct 30, 2006)

Driftwood really won't affect the pH that much. It will colour your water though.


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## flagg (Nov 29, 2004)

Red_Rose said:


> It must be nice to have soft water! That would be so much better on my betta's fins then what we have here! I don't even have to add crushed shell or lime to my tank.
> 
> In the 2.5 gallon that I have my betta in now, I have a small piece of driftwood in there and it didn't even affect the pH in anyway!
> 
> What exactly are calcium cookies?


You should be glad to have hard water! The water in my home is VERY hard (18dGH or 321ppm) and my bettas (Cambodian Halfmoon DT Butterfly) all thrive in the tanks. They have exquisite colors and finnage. Your hard water should have no effect on your betta's fins. Also, hard water will mean more available nutrients for your plants, especially vals. if you have any. Hard water is almost always preferred by plants over soft water (Diana's book, pgs. 116 - 117, 185).

As for the driftwood, just b/c you have driftwood in your aquarium, doesn't mean it's going to make the water softer. Driftwood releases humic substances (acids, aka tannins) which is what often softens water. However, I suspect that different woods leach diff. amounts (and types?) of tannins into the water. I've had some woods that have only needed to soak for a week to remove excessive tannins and others where the water kept turning brown even after a month!

All that being said, bettas do do better in tanks that have tannins present, especially tannins released by the indian almond leaf. If you want, you can add about half a dried leaf to your 2.5g to really improve your fish's health, especially if you want to breed bettas, like I do. Hopefully, I'll have a bunch to bring back from Puerto Rico... but I won't be back there for a couple of months.... You can buy them online if you look around. Faith at bettatalk.com (she has AWESOME bettas!) usually carries the leaves.

-ricardo


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## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

flagg said:


> You should be glad to have hard water! The water in my home is VERY hard (18dGH or 321ppm) and my bettas (Cambodian Halfmoon DT Butterfly) all thrive in the tanks. They have exquisite colors and finnage. Your hard water should have no effect on your betta's fins. Also, hard water will mean more available nutrients for your plants, especially vals. if you have any. Hard water is almost always preferred by plants over soft water (Diana's book, pgs. 116 - 117, 185).
> 
> As for the driftwood, just b/c you have driftwood in your aquarium, doesn't mean it's going to make the water softer. Driftwood releases humic substances (acids, aka tannins) which is what often softens water. However, I suspect that different woods leach diff. amounts (and types?) of tannins into the water. I've had some woods that have only needed to soak for a week to remove excessive tannins and others where the water kept turning brown even after a month!
> 
> ...


I wonder what could be causing my betta's fins to appear damaged then? Could it be because he's not in a cycled tank? The 2.5 gallon that he's in now gets a 100% waterchange once a week. I know it's not fin rot because I know what to look for when it comes to that. The water here is 28d or 500ppm. I had just gotten all of my plants today and all of them are hard water plants. 

Would it be okay to add blackwater extract then? It wouldn't affect the GH or KH, would it? I still have some of that left so I could easily add it to the tank. Also, he's use to being in water with tannins in it so I certainly wouldn't mind adding it to the water. The soil I'm using also contains humus so I know that it will gradually change the color of the water.


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## rohape (Feb 7, 2005)

Calcium cookies, or Calcium disks are generally used for snails. Because of the calcium (duh)  since that is essential for their proper growth and look. Here is the link to the thread about it on applesnail.net

http://www.applesnail.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=16504


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