Moving from city water to a well

[fishmonger]

Hi to all with the greatest advice Ive often needed!

Ill be moving soon, have a small tank with Endlers, Red Cherry Shrimp, and a few bushynose Plecos, wondering what I need to do as part of water changes as we move from city water to filtered and UV filtered well water?  This is all new to me as far as the well goes, so all advice is welcome and appreciated.

Many Thanks as always

[exv152]

I would suggest beginning with a full analysis or your well water parameters. That'll give you a good idea where you're at with the Ca, Mg etc.

[fishmonger]

Good start, thank you, Ive never had to worry about water parameters in the city, Ive not ever had an issue with that as long as I age my water before adding it to the tank.  Guess Ill have a big learning curve.

[exv152]

The city does free testing of well water, not sure if they'll test all the parameters you're looking for, but it may be worth calling and asking...
http://ottawa.ca/en/residents/water-and-environment/drinking-water-and-wells/rural-well-water-drop-schedule#P31_2453

[Nerine]

Don't forget to get your well tested on a regular basis!

My fish LOVED the transition from city to well water! as did I...I found it so much easier to do water changes because I didn't have to worry about adding anything to the water!! just dump and refill

Good luck! and introduce the fish with a drip method I find works best (if your well water is vastly different from your city water!) that way there isn't a huge shock to their system

[Bob_S]

I agree with Nerine that you should acclimatize them to new water, well water usually is harder and a higher PH but I believe Ottawa City water does have a high PH.

The City of Ottawa tests water free but it only tests for  acceptable levels of for Bacterial Contamination (coli form and E. Coli) if you want a complete analysis of your water it can be quite costly.  I have been on well water for years but do not have a filtration system just a water softener.

Since I have mainly kept Cichlids the well water is perfect, very high PH 8.6 and the water is hard. I don't think the well water parameters change much during the year. Water changes are very easy as I can take water straight from the tap.

The only drawback is that there are certain fish that do not like the high PH, I have kept all sorts of fish over the last 25 years. Currently have cichlids and albino plecos.

Got six Cherry Shrimp in the spring and most did not last, but still have one left that seems to be doing fine. I don't think water was the issue.

[magnosis]

Take a sample to the lab.
I would also take a second sample after running through your UV filter.

Do you use a softener?
My well water is liquid rock. I use a softener which depletes most minerals in exchange for sodium. I am still trying to figure out if I need an RO/DI unit, or if I should mix well water together with softened water.

I take my samples to the Micro-B lab on St-Raymond Boulevard in Hull. They will test everything you want with high precision lab equipment, for a fee. 

Sears can also test your water free of charges (I would think they test the most basic stuff like the City does). As most things, you get what you pay for.  I saw how Sears tested the water and they were using cheap-o test strips. This is even less accurate than what I can do at home...

[fishmonger]

Loving all the info, I need all I can get.  Ive not lived on well water in forever.  Im planning to get a UV filter, as Im a tad squingy about water safety.

In saying I should be OK with the well water, I assume its the water taken before it hits the softner system?  If thats the case, it would miss the UV filter....

And great advice about the water change!

The water sample taken at the time of the well inspection was useless as the owner of the home shocked the well.  She was shocked when I accused her of of deception and took a few grand off the sale price of the house for her. 

[magnosis]

In saying I should be OK with the well water, I assume its the water taken before it hits the softner system? 

Methinks you need to have samples before & after the softener analyzed in order to make that decision. Most residential softeners use the same technology which is ion exchange; resin beads are charged with sodium ions (through a "recycling" process in softener's world) and water passes through the beads, exchanging hard minerals ions with sodium ions.

What you need to know is how hard is the well water and whether it contains any potentially harmful elements in substantial quantities (copper, boron, iron, etc etc). You may be better off with high sodium than with high copper or who knows what's in your well's aquifer.

She was shocked when I accused her of of deception and took a few grand off the sale price of the house for her. 

Not uncommon, and illegal to say the least. I've heard of similar cases where the original owner got charged with deception, hiding defects and even criminal neglicence (because of "unintentional chlorine poisoning" sorry I'm translating straight from French.. owner did not intend to poison per say, but such was the result of his/her intention to deceive). It happened to family members, no one was harmed, but they got back ~35,000$ for damages/repairs/stress/etc etc O.O   Get a good lawyer

[fishmonger]

Apparently quite a common practice to bleach the well to get a "clean" sample, the efforts she had to go to to access the well cap def showed me she was worried.  New samples being taken next week, and either way Ill be installing a UV filter.

Do we have any culligan-type folk on the forum?

[exv152]

Did the home owner not have the well water tested and inspected prior to listing the house?

[fishmonger]

Re the inspection prior to listing, I don't know.  The woman got the house as part of her divorce agreement, left it vacant (but fully furnished , even clothes in the closets, for a year.  Her excuse on the well shocking was cause it had been standing water for a year....