# With is the best water for reptiles?



## TJ-Geckos (Feb 19, 2011)

Can I use natural mineral water for misting/drinking/waterfall in my viv? Or should I use Water Conditioner. I have medium exo terra waterfall with ultrasonic fogger, how often should I replace the water and disinfect the whole waterfall?


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## woodrott (Sep 14, 2008)

TJ.James said:


> Can I use natural mineral water for misting/drinking/waterfall in my viv? Or should I use Water Conditioner. I have medium exo terra waterfall with ultrasonic fogger, how often should I replace the water and disinfect the whole waterfall?


 
tap water is fine mineral water if your rich:lol2:

clean every day


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## TJ-Geckos (Feb 19, 2011)

Perfect Thanks


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## tonkaz0 (Apr 25, 2008)

*Depends what type and where your mineral water comes from! buy yourself a cheapish water filter for a few quid at pound strecher and just filter your tap water! thats what mine have been drinking for years!:lol2:*


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## kirky1980 (Apr 4, 2010)

bog standard tap water fo me lol well not from the bog though :whistling2:


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## balmybaldwin (Mar 17, 2010)

Better and cheaper is rain water (provided you don't get acid rain in your area)

Get yourself a waterbutt if you can


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## OliverW (Dec 8, 2010)

I was told to leave a bottle of tap water with the lid off for 24 hours before using it to get rid of the chlorine is this right?


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## woodrott (Sep 14, 2008)

balmybaldwin said:


> Better and cheaper is rain water (provided you don't get acid rain in your area)
> 
> Get yourself a waterbutt if you can


 
rain water is fine if you catch it in a clean tub and use straight away

a water but is very very bad its a breeding ground for bacteria


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## woodrott (Sep 14, 2008)

OliverW said:


> I was told to leave a bottle of tap water with the lid off for 24 hours before using it to get rid of the chlorine is this right?


 
this is very true ask any fish keeper


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## TJ-Geckos (Feb 19, 2011)

Did anyone try to use Water Conditioner? You can get one with calcium from exo terra.


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## Stary eyed (Feb 7, 2011)

How about using boiled water?

Rain water is good for watering plants but as mentioned is soon gets bugs in it.

Also mentioned before, bottled water from a super store, dirt cheap.


:2thumb:


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## Slurm (Jun 6, 2008)

I use bottled water for all mine.

Its for 2 reasons really, no chlorine for the leos and no limescale stains on the exos for the cresties.

i dont mind paying a few x 17p for 2l bottle when i see the mess the limescales makes on glass from tap water.


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## 12843 (Nov 16, 2007)

Always used tap water(with a few exception where rain water was used.), both for my reptiles, amphibians and fish tanks. I've never used a single chemical in any of my set ups.

Leaving tap water for 24 hours is usually enough for even moderately high levels of chlorine is dissipate. If your unsure get yourself a testing kit, strip kits are quite inexpensive but can be inaccurate when measuring higher levels, and are probably the most ideal for testing drinking water. Other test kits consist of reactants which are much better at getting accurate measurements in higher levels but cost 8x as much.

Cooled, boiling water isn't bad for reptiles, but it doesn't do much to the chlorine, instead it removes the oxygen and for this reason shouldn't be used for fish tanks until it has been fully re-oxygenated, a correctly sized air stone on the correct pump should do it in about 24 32 hours. (NEVER pour boiling hot water straight into your fish tank. The glass could break.)

Just as a note, if a fish tank is being set up, you still need to 'cycle' it regardless of filling method (unless its from a pre cycled tank 6months+ old.). I also use no chemicals or 'pre-culture' for this.


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## Slurm (Jun 6, 2008)

most people would recommend a reverse osmosis with a di unit also for fish tank use, anything else is considered a risk.

The Di unit makes it unsuitable for drinking water which is a shame as we have a 4 stage unit under the sink for our aquarium set up.


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## Mal (Jul 22, 2007)

I use a Britta water filter for all of the drinking / spray water for all the reps apart from the cat geckos. For the cat geckos I use reverse osmosis water. They can be very intolerant of the slightest chemicals and impurities so I want to be absolutly sure their water is ultra pure. I pay something like 9p a litre for the RO water and a 5 litre container lasts for around a month. The Britta filter cost around £12 with two cartridges from Tescos. Each filter cartridge lasts 4 weeks and replacement cartridges are very cheap. No scale on the exo terras and no chlorine etc. It also helps stop the kettle from furring up and a cuppa tastes much nicer with filtered water. Well worth spending a few quid, not only your reps that will appreciate it but good for you too.


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## 12843 (Nov 16, 2007)

Slurm said:


> most people would recommend a reverse osmosis with a di unit also for fish tank use, anything else is considered a risk.
> 
> The Di unit makes it unsuitable for drinking water which is a shame as we have a 4 stage unit under the sink for our aquarium set up.


Not a fan of RO for cold water or tropical set ups, great for marine tanks. When in doubt, get the carbon out. 

Using a combination of activated carbon and zeolite with remove chloramine for anyone worrying about it, as it stays in the water much long that chlorine, and is not removed by boiling or particle separation (spraying). 

Not heard of a Di unit before. *Runs to google*


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## TJ-Geckos (Feb 19, 2011)

Thanks every one:lol2:


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## Bamboozoo (Oct 2, 2009)

I have been using the exo terra conditioner for years with all of mine.


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