[drewman1962]

OK, I'm am a newbie and have been looking and gathering data. Let me see if I put what I think is what I am learning on water. Please feel free to tell me if I am way off base or if my simple mind is on the right track.
The water in your enclosure needs to be safe for our little buddies. I have a three stage filter system on my kitchen sink for drinking and cooking water. That should be fine if aged for my future frogs??
Misting being manual or automated. Should use RO or distilled water. This is really for better maintenence of your enclosure and misting systems. Less build up on the glass and plants and less opprotunities for clogging your misting tips?
Is this even close to being correct??

 

[dysphoria]

The three stage system on your sink, if it has a larger Carbon block stage, will probably remove chlorine/chloramines. It might be wise to age it still, in case some chlorine makes it through, but aging isn't going to help you with trace chloramines(if your utility uses it). From looking at the hollandbpw water report, it doesn't look like chloramines are used, so you are probably ok on that front.
The RO/Distilled water part above is spot on.. no mineral content means no hard water deposits on glass and plants, and no funk building up inside misting tips

 

[drewman1962]

The three stage system on your sink, if it has a larger Carbon block stage, will probably remove chlorine/chloramines. It might be wise to age it still, in case some chlorine makes it through, but aging isn't going to help you with trace chloramines(if your utility uses it). From looking at the hollandbpw water report, it doesn't look like chloramines are used, so you are probably ok on that front.
The RO/Distilled water part above is spot on.. no mineral content means no hard water deposits on glass and plants, and no funk building up inside misting tips

I am actually on a well with very hard water. The whole house goes thru in this order.

Cloth Filter to remove very large particles. (replaced every 6 months)
120 Gallon Container of Charcoal. (replaced every 3 years)
Water Softener that is automated based on water usage

Then the kitchen sink has the 3 stage Filter system that tells us when each filter needs replacing based on them getting clogged I think. Otherwise I do not know how it knows which filter needs replacing when.

My water has been tested and no trace of chloramines. Straight from the well very high Iron content and sulfar content (safe for humans they told me, but yuck) My wife does not like to drink the water from the filter part of the kitchen sink (no taste at all) Using it for coffee for over a year and hlf now and no minertal deposits inside of the holding tank on the coffee maker

 

[dysphoria]

Oh yeah.. on filtered well water, You'll have no chlorine/chloramine to worry about then.

 

[Ed]

probably remove chlorine/chloramines. It might be wise to age it still,

All water from a pressurized system should be aged to allow it to offgas and reach equilibrium with the enviroment since high levels of dissolved gasses has been linked with gas embolism in some of the literature.

Some comments,

Ed

 

[dysphoria]

Indeed. I age all my water - even off my RO system. I hadn't thought about gas exchange being one of the possible benefits though.. good stuff.

 

[Gamble]

Tap water shouldnt be used not only due to clogging and water stains but over time it can potentially create a film over the plants and slowly kill them off due to a lowered ability of photosynthesis.

Also, from what i understand, mixing RO or distilled in a ratio of 3:1 with treated tapwater is the closest thing you can get to rainwater.

I use distilled for misting & fly cultures ... and treated tap water mixed with tannin water for my tadpoles.

 

[Feffie]

I'm new to this forum but joined as I'm possibly looking at getting a pair or trio of darts around August.
I do have a few other species of frogs and for their water I just used boiled and cooled water to mist them and for their water dishes.

I obviously don't want to harm any frogs I may get in the future and I'm worried that the method I use won't be sufficient.

I can't afford an RO system or to buy spring water etc as here in the UK it's definatly not the cheapest.

So in short, would I still be able to use my current method with water?

 

[Gamble]

I'm new to this forum but joined as I'm possibly looking at getting a pair or trio of darts around August.
I do have a few other species of frogs and for their water I just used boiled and cooled water to mist them and for their water dishes.

I obviously don't want to harm any frogs I may get in the future and I'm worried that the method I use won't be sufficient.

I can't afford an RO system or to buy spring water etc as here in the UK it's definatly not the cheapest.

So in short, would I still be able to use my current method with water?

I suggest you atleast, at the minimum, use a water dechlorinating product similarly used by fish keepers.

 

[Feffie]

I suggest you atleast, at the minimum, use a water dechlorinating similarly used by fish keepers.

As far as I am aware boiling water does dechlorinate it or have my 8 or 9 years studying chemistry gone to waste

 

[Golden State Mantellas]

I am actually on a well with very hard water. The whole house goes thru in this order.

Cloth Filter to remove very large particles. (replaced every 6 months)
120 Gallon Container of Charcoal. (replaced every 3 years)
Water Softener that is automated based on water usage

Then the kitchen sink has the 3 stage Filter system that tells us when each filter needs replacing based on them getting clogged I think. Otherwise I do not know how it knows which filter needs replacing when.

My water has been tested and no trace of chloramines. Straight from the well very high Iron content and sulfar content (safe for humans they told me, but yuck) My wife does not like to drink the water from the filter part of the kitchen sink (no taste at all) Using it for coffee for over a year and hlf now and no minertal deposits inside of the holding tank on the coffee maker

The only issue I see is that a water softener replaces metals such as calcium and magnesium(culprits of hard water residue) with sodium ions to soften the water. I haven't read what effects sodium would have on amphibians, but logic would tell me that using tapwater that has the beneficial minerals such as calcium retained, and the harmful metals, minerals, and gases such as chlorine, chloramines, lead, etc removed, would be good for your frogs.

Run your tap water through a particle filter, a carbon filter, and age it for a minimum 24 hours.

 

[Ed]

As far as I am aware boiling water does dechlorinate it or have my 8 or 9 years studying chemistry gone to waste

If you boil it for at least 20 minutes it does drive off the chlorine from chloramines (assuming you have them to begin with). Keep in mind that I would be hesitant to use boiled water that was allowed to come to room temperature since boiling also drives off dissolved gases and this could be an issue for tadpoles as it could result in oxygen deprivation. If your studying chemistry, do you have access to distilled water? Most labs have a never ending supply of it. You can use that instead of RO.

Some comments,

Ed
(and my years of chemistry was over two decades ago...)

 

[Boyd75]

If I use tap cured with jungle "start right" an aquarium dechlorinator, with minerals.
Is that acceptable?

 

[Taari]

I bought a 5 gallon food-storage bucket at winco for less than $5 with lid, and fill it with RO water at the machine for $0.30 per gallon. Tannins from the substrate naturally get into the water and make it more acidic. Then I have a 1 gallon water jug that I fill out of the 5 gallon bucket so it's easier to handle.

Honestly, my tap water is fantastic water, but it's been buffered to have a pH of 8.0, otherwise I'd just use it. Our neighborhood has it's own water tower and it tastes better than bottled water with only the bare minimum of chlorine in it. I used it in all my aquariums with just a little dechlorinator to remove what little chlorine was in it.

 

[koldshot]

Most cities have a water store you can trust to be RO, or look for a wine or beer brew your own type place. I get a 5 gallon filled for $2, so I couldn't be bothered with buying filters or standing tap water. I might need 2 fills a year, if that.

 

[reptileguru2135]

i just saw this thread and im wondering if i have a home filter attached to my tap water can i use that in the Viv??

 

[Ed]

If I use tap cured with jungle "start right" an aquarium dechlorinator, with minerals.
Is that acceptable?

Is your tapwater deficient in minerals? If it isn't I'm not sure why you would then want to add more.... Also allantoin isn't needed.... It will be used by bacteria as a nitrogen source which can increase levels of ammonia and nitrite until the container cycles (just like a fish tank.....).

Some comments

Ed

 

[Ed]

i just saw this thread and im wondering if i have a home filter attached to my tap water can i use that in the Viv??

The correct answer is maybe... It depends on what is in the water before filtration and what you are using it for.... for example, I wouldn't suggest it for misting as the filter doesn't do anything for dissolved minerals and you would end up with hard water deposits on the glass and potentially the plants.

If your water company adds phosphates to the water to control corrosion, many carbon filters leach phosphates which can then push the levels high enough to cause issues with tadpole development.

Some comments

Ed

 

[amilbs]

So I'm new to this whole viv thing too and I'm using RO water currently in my mister. I know that both RO and distilled waters go through processes to eliminate harmful chemicals but I've also seen that these waters can actually lack beneficial minerals lost in the processes . Do i need to be adding something to my RO water to make it better for the vivarium setting? Also would collected rain water be acceptable to us? just looking options for sustainability and what not for the most realistic viv. thanks!

 

[Chrisem]

This may have been said already but distilled water at Wallmart is .88 cents a gallon.