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I'm so stupid... (Water TDS)

Nepenthesis

Formerly known as Pineapple
So I've been buying 2.5 gallon jugs of distilled water from the grocery store for the past 2 years, weekly spending $10 or so... So it's likely I've spent close to $1000 on water, and I've gotten to a point where I can't even buy enough water to water all my plants weekly. Can't fit enough jugs in the cart.

So I was looking up water test readings for my city because I wanted to keep these special fish that like hard water, and I noticed my city's water reads consistently between 30-80 TDS ever year.

So basically I've been wasting money on water when I could just use the hose... Right?

QUESTION: Just wanna double-check that this IS safe for Nepenthes. Also, will a hose/pipes change this water reading? Or is it safe?
 
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Don't know about Neps, but what fish? I just got something you might be interested in. Have to get them breeding first, but not likely to be a problem. Endlers with a proven lineage back to Dr. Endler's original collection at Laguna de los Patos. These fish have never even seen a Guppy or any other strain of Endlers let alone made babies with them!
 
Don't know about Neps, but what fish? I just got something you might be interested in. Have to get them breeding first, but not likely to be a problem. Endlers with a proven lineage back to Dr. Endler's original collection at Laguna de los Patos. These fish have never even seen a Guppy or any other strain of Endlers let alone made babies with them!

Nothobranchius... No specific species. Just whatever is on aquabid.
 
A Notho that likes hard water? Are you sure? Only worked with rachovii Beira 98, but all the annual Killies I'm familiar with like it soft.
 
Don't know about Neps, but what fish? I just got something you might be interested in. Have to get them breeding first, but not likely to be a problem. Endlers with a proven lineage back to Dr. Endler's original collection at Laguna de los Patos. These fish have never even seen a Guppy or any other strain of Endlers let alone made babies with them!

You caught my interest :)

That is cool.

And to keep it on topic and RO unit will save you money, it doesn't have to be a fancy one. I've seen some around $100 that will do the job just fine and save you a lot of money in the long run.
 
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This weekend they get a 75 to themselves so.................
 
Okay so I just went outside and watered everything living in the greenhouse with hose water. We'll see what happens. I'll go get a ton of distilled to flush the pots later. I even watered the Sphagnum because it was almost bone dry... Comes back though.

A Notho that likes hard water? Are you sure? Only worked with rachovii Beira 98, but all the annual Killies I'm familiar with like it soft.

Is rachovii Beira 98 hard to keep?I heard they're difficult. Do you keep salt in your tanks? Ever had issues with velvet?
 
A Notho that likes hard water? Are you sure? Only worked with rachovii Beira 98, but all the annual Killies I'm familiar with like it soft.

Annual fish? It is already hard enough getting some annual species to set seed each year; I can't imagine what it must be like making sure fish breed each year.
 
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They don't necessarily die within a year in captivity, but in the wild the waters they live in do dry up every year.
 
  • #11
At that reading you shouldn't have to flush the pots, especially if you're top watering and allowing water to run through on each watering. That will help prevent anything from building up. Wish I could use tap water! :p


I've been keeping Nothobranchius palmqvisti for quite a few years now. At first I kept every fish that hatched (moving the non-breeders to my planted tank) but since they mature so quickly they really do get aged and sickly looking fairly quickly. I end up feeling bad for keeping them alive than nature has taught them to. So basically I do what most annual killifish people do, keep one male and 3-4 females for breeding and cull off the others. And once I get a few bags of eggs, cull off those ones.
I've always used tap water for them, I tried RO water at one point because someone mentioned them liking that... and the freshly hatched fry died off. I'd assume PH swing or something but really don't know. Went right back to using treated tap water. I have a few topics on TF regarding annuals....

http://www.terraforums.com/forums/s...al-killie-attempt-(Nothobranchius-palmqvisti)
http://www.terraforums.com/forums/s...l-killie-attempt-(Nothobranchius-rubripinnis)

I tried rachovii Beira 98 once, but didn't get any to hatch, I think the guy sent me some cultures of other live food too saying their mouths as babies are really small and couldn't start off with brine shrimp like other annuals.

I kept a couple cycles of Nematolebias papilliferus too, but gave away my eggs, man they eat a lot!!

Andrew
 
  • #12
At the 30PPM end of the range, that water is certainly safe for Nepenthes -- as you get more towards the 80PPM end, you will want to perform regular flushings to clear accumulations of minerals (if you aren't already doing so), and avoid letting plants stand in water. I would have no problem using the municipal water, as long as you monitor the TDS and watch for "hot spikes" (I would guess that is unlikely). Calcium is one of the minerals that Nepenthes require for good health and at those concentrations it is an asset, not a worry.
 
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  • #13
Nothobranchius... No specific species. Just whatever is on aquabid.

Nothos like any water that is wet :grin: In nature they are most frequently found in pools with high TDS.

I would suggest researching species and sellers before purchasing eggs on AB. Nothing more disappointing than incubating a bag of dirt for 3+ months only to hatch nothing. Best to locate Notho breeders nearby or find someone willing to ship 4 week old fish.

Andrew has valuable insight into raising these fish and has been very successful with N. palmqvistii.
 
  • #14
At the 30PPM end of the range, that water is certainly safe for Nepenthes -- as you get more towards the 80PPM end, you will want to perform regular flushings to clear accumulations of minerals (if you aren't already doing so), and avoid letting plants stand in water. I would have no problem using the municipal water, as long as you monitor the TDS and watch for "hot spikes" (I would guess that is unlikely). Calcium is one of the minerals that Nepenthes require for good health and at those concentrations it is an asset, not a worry.
+1

Now you can spend your money on plants :)
 
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