putting water in my fish tank

[natalie149]

ok,this probably sounds silly, but i have just been given a fish tank it been filled up now for 3 weeks, ive put all the gear in it ive been told to by my local aquatics shop, and my fish are all happy and alive but my water level has dropped a bit and i need to fill it up,but can i just put tap water in to top it up, i ask this because the bloke in the shop told me , when i clean my filter out do it with a little tank water, because the water from the tap will kill all the bacteria have on the filter, so now im not sure what to do?
thanks

[B00]

You can buy products at your local petshop/aquatic shop that treat the chlorine in tap water, one I use is called Tap Safe. Just a few drops to a bucket of tap water.

[Solarjunkie]

Use rainwater & then there's no problem.

[Miss Zippy]

I used to used reverse osmosis water when I had a marine aquarium and would recommend this. Your fish will be healthier and you will suffer less algae growth. You can buy RO water from all aquatic retailers (about �4 for about 25 litres) or get an RO unit installed. Having said that, freshwater fish are generally more hardy than marine, so tap water is ok but should be treated first with an appropriate treatment as BOO says. As you were told, never clean a biological filter in tap water: rinse it in old tank water, otherwise you will kill all the beneficial bacterial in the filter.

[Pelandok]

Tap water will not kill the bacteria in the filter. However, it's not as good as soft water, so if you have a filtering jug to make drinks with, use the filtered water. Do not use water which has gone through a softener which uses salt

[Pelandok]

If it's chlorine, you have a problem with, stand a container of water overnight. Chlorine will evaporate in around 24 hours - quicker if warm

[KKACJ]

I had fish from a fun fair and all i used to do was change the water every 2 weeks depending on how dirty it was i used to just fill it back up with tap water at the same temp as the tank water, i was told that i should use dechlorinator and all that but i didnt and my little fishy lasted for nearly 3 years,