What's the best water to use in my betta fish tank ?

[ghost]

Tap, distilled, drinking, or spring water? Any advise ? Also could use advise on which filter & plants are best ? Thanks.

[NorthernBoy]

1st off you shouldn't be changing 100% of the water every week. The cloudiness is the necessary bloom of baceria. Change only about 1/2 to 1/3 of the water a week. How much and how often do you feed him? You can use tap water. Add some conditioner when you change the water as well. You can use stress coat as well if you like.

[kimmers318]

They probably told you to use your tap water rather than spring or distilled because alot of the bottled waters have all of the minerals and such removed from them, and the fish do need some of it. People that use strictly reverse osmosis water for their tanks re-mineralize it to get the right balance. And a locally bred/raised betta would have been raised in the local tap water, so that is what it would be used to.

You asked which filter is best...did your 2 gal come with a filter? Most of those that I have seen have either no filter or an undergravel one.

I personally recommend silk plants over plastic...they are softer, look more natural, and usually have a weighted bottom which helps keep them in place....the plastic that I have bought like to come out of the gravel too easily.

[ghost]

Thanks for the help. He's been more active & eating better with the change to tap water. I use Betta complete water conditioner & feed him twice a day using either Betta flake food or Betta Bio-Gold pellets(4 or 5). My tank didn't come with a filter. I've been using live plants because I thought he would enjoy them better plus I read fish sometimes cut themselves on plastic plants. But while my water is pretty clear I sometimes get a film on top of the water. Could this be from a break down of the live plants? Thanks again NorthernBoy & kimmers318 for your time & help.

[kimmers318]

Your welcome Ghost. As for the film on the water, can't help much there, I only have seen that with some of the frozen bloodworms I regularly feed if the thawing water looks a little gunky, if I drain off the "gunk" and add fresh tank water after thawing I don't see that problem.