Draught In Southern California

[Dave Ehl]

Southern California is going through a drought right now, and the price of water is about to skyrocket. There are also going to be "water police" handing out citations for excessive water use. So i need help reducing how frequent I do my water changes. In my big tank, I feed 3 prawns and a few cichlid sticks daily. I am running two Rena xp3 filters bio only. I currently change 30gallons weekly. The stock list is below in my sig. If there are any tips you could share they will be appreciated.

 

[Dave Ehl]

no advice on how to reduce the frequency of water changes?

 

[Mauricia]

I guess you could cut back on food more and test the water so that you can wait until the water actually needs to be changed, I'm assuming your tank is mature. I would suggest adding plants too, but I know Oscars aren't very compatible with plants, so I don't know what else to suggest.

 

[Dave Ehl]

yeah, the tank is mature. monitor nitrates then? what point is considered maximum?

 

[sb_onefish]

30 gallons is not very much water compared to what a household uses in a month. You might be able to squeeze that out of your home usage, such as with low-flow showerhead, using the short cycle on your dishwasher, don't leave it running when you brush your teeth, etc.

 

[OldMan47]

Read up on the El Natural planted tank setup. The one who wrote the book is Diana Walstad. The essence of her approach is to grossly overplant and by her statements the water changes can go from weekly to maybe every 3 to 6 months. Conceptually you use your plants to remove the nasties that would build up in a normal tank so you can go much longer beteen water changes. I have one of my tanks where I am experimenting with her methods but don't have enough nerve yet to go that long between water changes.
The El Natural is a completely different concept to the one we usually use but it has been done by many people with good success. What we usually do here is called a high tech approach by people who have gone the El Natural route. They go so far as to plop fish in the same day they plant and fill the tank.

 

[Dave Ehl]

that's a great concept. I'd do it if replacing the oscar shredded plants didn't cost more than the water bill. haha. What I've decided to do is cut other water usage in my house as much as i can by flushing the toilet less, cutting 2 minutes off the time for my lawn sprinklers, and using the short cycle for my dishwasher. If this is not enough, then I'll reduce feeding to every other day, and not do water changes until nitrates hit 40ppm.
Thanks for the help and ideas.

 

[GoldfishAttentionSpan]

I've heard you can fill a milk jug with water and put it in the tank on the back of your toilet, and that way it uses less water with each flush. I have never tried this, but it sounds nifty.

HTH

 

[Dave Ehl]

that's genius, goldy!

 

[raptorrex]

uk
that's genius, goldy!

i used to use a brick, than i discovered how to reposition the ballcock! However junking the water sprinkler, though, it is beyond me why someone would even think of using one in a drought , would save enough to do even CFC's water changes! The concept of water going up in price in a drought, is totally alien to me. the price is fixed here, even in drought, though calling it a draught in the UK is a bit much, in comparison to droughts in desert regions.

 

[Dave Ehl]

The price is being raised as a sort of "encouragement" to reduce water usage. Americans can't be trusted with the honor system. The only reason I keep the grass green is because my neighborhood fines me if anything is "unsightly" about the appearance of our house.

 

[Spishkey]

paint the ground green then youd not have to water it for a while?

sorry was gonna suggest the toilet/brick one but people beat me too it. then i was gonna say collect rain water, then though 'what rainwater' so erm, yeah my advice, paint the grass/ground, then use the water saved from the sprinklers for the tank. da dahhhh!!!!!!

 

[Mr Bliss]

To reduce the need for water changes, how about growing emersed plants or even hydroponic houseplants in tank water, so the cichlids can't shred them? Tom Barr has been advocating plant filters for years and I've always found the idea intriguing. Should be simple to set up as you can basically just fill a pot with coarse gravel, stick a houseplant (or herb or lettuce or whatever; I'd probably grow Oregano ) of suitable size in it, lead water in and water out. If the pot hangs inside the tank at water level and has holes in the bottom, all you'd need is to put the powerhead/filter outlet inside the pot.

edit: here's a linky

 

[Dave Ehl]

that's cool, bliss. If i can figure out a way to make that look good, then i'll do it.

 

[raptorrex]

that's cool, bliss. If i can figure out a way to make that look good, then i'll do it.

there is a good section on hydroponics and aquaponics at www.crayfishmates.com the admin is really into it.