Big problem
Taking your steps one at a time, there is nothing at all wrong with brook water, unless it comes from (or through) an undesireable source. Other than that, its perfectly suitable. You should invest in basic test kits for the simpler (yet important) water parameter tests, either singularly or as one more complete master kit. In this way, you will be able to keep on top of most any situation when it comes to a question of your water chemistry. This info is often needed by us in efforts to advise you, should there be a related problem, if you can’t interprete the problem yourself from the results. Copper pipe in itself is not the most desireable of aquarium water transporters, although being 200 years old it would not have any freshly exposed surface contacting the water. Too much copper though will stress your fish, although I doubt that’s a problem you need to be concerned about. There are copper test kits that you can buy, even though they’re not coinsidered as one of the more basic ones.
Being from an above ground source, your water’s pH will naturally fluctuate with the seasons due to differences in flow rate and amount of contact the water has with its stream-bed, in the time-frame of its flow at any given time — and the level (depth) of the water contacting various pH inducing elements (rocks, gravel, etc.) during these fluctuating periods. This again is nothing to worry about; fish in their natural habitats are subject to these same influences.
Right, “if it an’t broke, don’t fix it.” I would still recommend some test kits, which you’ll need in order to get to know your water’s parameters at any time (and which come in handy when you do have a problem), as well as a good book or two. So yes, follow your instincts. As for adding any new fish in the future, since you have this concerne, you need to learn how to acclimate them to your water.
This is done very slowly if need be (first, with determining the pH of both the fish store water and yours), then, after properly floating them to equalize the temperature, you can either “drip” them in, or add a small amount of your tank water to the fish bag every 10 or 15 minutes, while discarding a small amount of bag water — until after 45 minutes to an hour, you can feel safe in adding the fish to your tank; the actual amount if time in acclimating depending upon the difference in pH. As pH is usually associated with hardness (although not necessarily and not always), this acclimation process will also ajust your fish to its new water hardness enviornment — which is the more important factor here (even more so than the pH), as this influences the osmotic pressure — a much more important detail to be concerned with. Ray
Category: Philippines Internet Koi Society
