Hauling buckets.... there has to be a better way.... but what?

[mrsjoannh13]

I’ll be completely honest,

I got an email alert tagging me in the post, and I glanced my way through it.

ive been absolutely swamped lately with zero time to check in on the forum.

so I don’t have a 100% idea on what I’m drawing plans for... something about a shed... I think

Look, Nate.... being swamped is a lame excuse for not being able to get right on building my shed. Chop chop! Hop to!

 

[FFGuest6357]

Look, Nate.... being swamped is a lame excuse for not being able to get right on building my shed. Chop chop! Hop to!

Well for FRANK’s sake. We have to get the excavator in, dig the for the drain lines.
Then the plumbers have to come in and connect the drain lines, run the water supply lines.

Then we need the concrete guys to come in and backfill. Then grade it, compact it and pour the slab...

After that we’re looking at the framing, which could take between 1 and 2 weeks, depending on the size and design.

Then we have to get the electricians in to run power, and that may even involve installing another panel.

I suppose we could have the HVAC guys in at the same time, we’ll need an independent heating/cooling and humidity controlled environment, so that will need to be addressed. Then we have to look at interior/exterior finishes.

Of course we want to go with the mold and mildew resistant drywall and mud, tack on another 5 days, plus paint, trim. But none of that can be done before the whole place is insulated, vapour barried.

I could easily finish the interior plumbing, but we would need to hire someone to finish the exterior, whatever siding had to go up, waterproofing the roof, eastroughs, downspouts...

we haven’t even touched on the racking systems, which would be very easy to build...

however, all of this and more would need to be done before we got permits... and man would we have to wait for permits...

shouldn’t be a problem... lol

 

[eatyourpeas]

I’ll be completely honest,

I got an email alert tagging me in the post, and I glanced my way through it.

ive been absolutely swamped lately with zero time to check in on the forum.

so I don’t have a 100% idea on what I’m drawing plans for... something about a shed... I think

And here I was, just picturing more of an outhouse with a fish tank inside it! And that probably means that the bread exchange won't work either...

 

[itiwhetu]

Here is what I know. I was on town supply for almost 40 years. I have never used a dechlorinator, I was taught how to keep fish by a Professor of Zoology. I only know about Chlorine. If you do a 25% water change on a well planted aquarium with acid water you can drag your garden hose in and fill your tank. No problems. Forget the buckets!!. Chlorine in the water is an inert gas, it will dissipate on contact with the aquarium water the small amount that is left will be absorbed by the plants. I do not know about Chloramine but I suspect that at some level of water changing the same result could be achieved.

 

[Colin_T]

Chlorine in the water is an inert gas, it will dissipate on contact with the aquarium water the small amount that is left will be absorbed by the plants. I do not know about Chloramine but I suspect that at some level of water changing the same result could be achieved.

Chloramine is completely different to chlorine in water. Chlorine will come out of water quite easily, a bit if aeration and it's gone.

Chloramine is a mixture of chlorine and ammonia and it does not come out of water. You can have a bucket of tap water with chloramine in, aerate it vigorously for a month and the chloramine will stay in the water.

Virtually every water supply in the US has chloramine and you need to remove this with a dechlorinator that breaks the chlorine ammonia bond, neutralises the chlorine, and binds with the ammonia making it non toxic for 24-48 hours.

If you don't use a dechlorinator to remove chloramine from tap water, you may as well kill your fish with a hammer, it's more humane.

 

[itiwhetu]

Chloramine is completely different to chlorine in water. Chlorine will come out of water quite easily, a bit if aeration and it's gone.

Chloramine is a mixture of chlorine and ammonia and it does not come out of water. You can have a bucket of tap water with chloramine in, aerate it vigorously for a month and the chloramine will stay in the water.

Virtually every water supply in the US has chloramine and you need to remove this with a dechlorinator that breaks the chlorine ammonia bond, neutralises the chlorine, and binds with the ammonia making it non toxic for 24-48 hours.

If you don't use a dechlorinator to remove chloramine from tap water, you may as well kill your fish with a hammer, it's more humane.

Like I say I have no experience with chloramine

 

[itiwhetu]

Chloramine is completely different to chlorine in water. Chlorine will come out of water quite easily, a bit if aeration and it's gone.

Chloramine is a mixture of chlorine and ammonia and it does not come out of water. You can have a bucket of tap water with chloramine in, aerate it vigorously for a month and the chloramine will stay in the water.

Virtually every water supply in the US has chloramine and you need to remove this with a dechlorinator that breaks the chlorine ammonia bond, neutralises the chlorine, and binds with the ammonia making it non toxic for 24-48 hours.

If you don't use a dechlorinator to remove chloramine from tap water, you may as well kill your fish with a hammer, it's more humane.

According to google only 68 million people have Chloramine in their water supply.

 

[Colin_T]

Google needs updating How many million people in the US, 300million+. Most of them would be on mains water with chloramine or well water with who knows what

More and more countries are using chloramine because it stays in water for longer and is apparently/ allegedly safer. However, I don't know how anyone can consider chlorine or a mixture of chlorine and ammonia safe.

 

[itiwhetu]

Google needs updating How many million people in the US, 300million+. Most of them would be on mains water with chloramine or well water with who knows what

More and more countries are using chloramine because it stays in water for longer and is apparently/ allegedly safer. However, I don't know how anyone can consider chlorine or a mixture of chlorine and ammonia safe.

I have no idea, I only know what I know.

 

[madmark285]

Virtually every water supply in the US has chloramine and you need to remove this with a dechlorinator that breaks the chlorine ammonia bond, neutralises the chlorine, and binds with the ammonia making it non toxic for 24-48 hours.

I live in western New York, metro population of ~1 million, our water is treated with chlorine. The source is Lake Ontario and an inland lake.

 

[eatyourpeas]

Our water quality is rated 40/100 with the average US being 55

 

[mrsjoannh13]

Here is what I know. I was on town supply for almost 40 years. I have never used a dechlorinator, I was taught how to keep fish by a Professor of Zoology. I only know about Chlorine. If you do a 25% water change on a well planted aquarium with acid water you can drag your garden hose in and fill your tank. No problems. Forget the buckets!!. Chlorine in the water is an inert gas, it will dissipate on contact with the aquarium water the small amount that is left will be absorbed by the plants. I do not know about Chloramine but I suspect that at some level of water changing the same result could be achieved.

I do have chlorine in my tap. I've tested it with test strips. I have added a filter to my faucet and it removes the chlorine and I'm guessing whatever other nasty stuff is in our water supply.

 

[madmark285]

We are planning a big (125?) gallon next and at that point we'll probably go with suggestions above and have a large brut container with the treated water and run a python type hose from that to the tanks. Whew. Our fish don't know how lucky they are!

Do you own your own home? Does it have a basement? Is the planned 125 gallon tank near your other tanks?

Long term, I would start looking at the space below the 125 gallon tank for your water changes. With the $1/gallon sale on tanks, you can get a 29 gallon tank for $30 which will fit below the 125 gallon set up and you can use this for water changes. The big question, how to get water to this tank.

Before spending money on a python system and large brute containers, I would look at option on getting water/drain lines to the big tank.

 

[AbbeysDad]

Chlorine in the water is an inert gas, it will dissipate on contact with the aquarium water the small amount that is left will be absorbed by the plants. I do not know about Chloramine but I suspect that at some level of water changing the same result could be achieved.

I'm guessing that the chlorine added to this posters New Zealand water is very slight. For most, especially at certain times of the year and when supply line water mains are serviced, chlorine levels can be quite high. Refilling a tank from a partial water change with chlorinated supply 'tap' water that hasn't been treated with a dechlorinator will most often KILL fish! And as @Colin_T points out, chloramine is even more potent. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"...(Colin, you can borrow this one too<grins>)

 

[mrsjoannh13]

Do you own your own home? Does it have a basement? Is the planned 125 gallon tank near your other tanks?

We do own our home. Well, technically the bank owns it but they let us live here as long as we pay them every month. ?

We do not have basements in my area of the country. We're deep south and below sea level so if we tried to add basements here they would turn into rather large aquariums themselves, LOL. If you've ever seen the above ground cemeteries in New Orleans that's why the tombs are above ground. Don't want the bodies floating around. It's bad for tourism.

The 125 gallon is planned for our breakfast nook which is near our wash room with a large wash basin sink in it. It will be easy enough to run a hose from the sink (or where we will keep the holding containers) to the 125 (or larger!). So I'm less worried about that one than all the smaller ones that are popping up around our house that are very far from the water source.

For now hubs suggested a pretty good system that is working well. We have 3 of the 5 gallon RO containers - one for each 20g tank. I have space under the wash basin to store them under the sink on the floor. So I fill up with filtered water and treat with the peat granules to adjust pH and Seachem Equilibrium (cuz I have 0 GH from the tap). I have nano heaters in each of the containers keeping the water temp controlled at 78. When it's time for water changes, I gravel vac / siphon out into a dedicated 5 gallon 'dirty' container. Then use a hand cart to dump the dirty water out in the garden. Then.... hand cart the treated water container into place near the aquarium and use this (link below) liquid transfer pump to get the water from the 5g container (ground level) up to the tanks.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07LFSNGKH/?tag=ff0d01-20

So there is no lifting required. The water is ready to go when it's time for water changes and it's all perfectly adjusted in terms of temperature, pH and minerals. This seems to be working really well for now! And I think we have some good suggestions to sort through when we get the larger tank.