Is creek water safe for my betta fish tank? Do I need conditioner?

Yes, tap water may contain chlorine or chloramine. Either can be toxic. Chlorine will dissipate if water is left out for 24-48 hours. This is called aging. Chloramines (used by many municipal water systems) will not dissipate and must be removed chemically with a water conditioner. StressCoat by API or NovAqua Plus by Kordon are both adequate conditioners. Look in the aquarium section of the local Petco or fish store for them.

Hi I don't recommend using distilled water in your tank as the "osmolarity" of the water can cause problems for your fish. Either pick up a bottle of water conditioner from a pet store or draw a large bucket of tap water and let it sit for 4 or 5 days. Some of the chemicals will evaporate out when left to sit, but it's not such an ideal option.

Yes, this is fine for a Betta tank. You should still use a small filter as well as a small submersible heater to maintain water temp. Bettas do best between 78 F and 80 F. If you choose to use tap water, use an appropriate water condition to remove harmful chemicals and heavy metals.

Fresh tap water can be left sitting over night and any chlorine in the water will evaporate. It can then be used for your tank. Depending on the type of fish you have you should adjust pH and hardness of the water and of course temperature. Your local pet store can help you with that.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Ideally, no. It is better to use coarse small rocks instead of sand and in general it would be better to get them from the store where they come already clean and free of other organisms which may affect the environment of the tank. Good luck!

Hi there. Most water conditioners will state on the bottle how long to wait. However, most are pretty instantaneous. If the bottle does not state how long to wait, I would arbitrarily wait about 5-10 minutes. Hope this helps, and thank you for using Pet Coach.

Ideally, you want to wait at least 4-6 weeks for the tank to properly cycle regardless of size. Bettas are quite hardy and adaptable, so as long as water chemistry and temperature are good then you can probably add him now since you have everything set up. When testing water chemistry, aim for an absence (0 ppm) of ammonia and nitrites with nitrates at 20ppm or less. Water temp should be between 78 F and 80 F. A small filter and submersible water heater should be used. You will still need to perform partial water changes to stabilize chemistry and/or to maintain water quality. Use only conditioned water that is temperature matched to prevent stress or shock.