I Have Revamped My Tankwater!

[Joanna69]

Okay, a few here might remember me bemoaning my appalling London tap water - PH8 and very hard. Well after advice on this board I decided to quit my fishless cycle, drain my 63l tank and start again using a mix of tap and rainwater from my waterbutt.

I used a 60 rain/40 tap water mix (thanks to a cool conversion programme posted on here) and put a carbon filter in my tank. Luckily both my waterbutt AND the guttering are pretty brand new so I didn't have any detritus etc there. I hope the carbon filter deals with anything I couldn't see.

My PH is now down from 8 to 7.3. My water has gone from pretty hard 16 down to somewhere between 7 and 8.

I also gave up on the "adding fish flakes" method to kick off cycling. I got myself to Homebase and bought the Ammonia. But my lord, the smell almost took my head off when I screwed the lid off!!

But added it in last night till I had 5ppm and now am about to test to see if anything is happening yet.

Thanks to people on here, I managed to get from feeling very dispondant about things due to my water quality. But looks like I've turned things around and I'm feeling pretty happy about it. My only big concern is if we have a massive drought and my butt (which is big and stil has lots of water in it) runs out.

Dearly want to get some fish now but patience is a virtue! I want a bigger tank naturally. I'd use 100% tap and have Cichlids in there

 

[mike_nofx]

Im sure you could still keep fish in your tap water. It doesnt sound over the top, like PH9 or something.

I would have tried to raise fish in your tap water, as you will always have tap water, but rain water can vary. Tap water should stay fairly steady.

You could have still fishlessly cycled with tap water, then if you really wanted, add tank water later once its cycled.

I wouldn't really want to be using tank water, who knows what could end up in the tank, especially if there are any factorys, or restaurants nearby that would emit pollution.

If something like, say, a bird died and ended up in the guttering that could be disaterous....

 

[Joanna69]

Im sure you could still keep fish in your tap water. It doesnt sound over the top, like PH9 or something.

I would have tried to raise fish in your tap water, as you will always have tap water, but rain water can vary. Tap water should stay fairly steady.

You could have still fishlessly cycled with tap water, then if you really wanted, add tank water later once its cycled.

I wouldn't really want to be using tank water, who knows what could end up in the tank, especially if there are any factorys, or restaurants nearby that would emit pollution.

If something like, say, a bird died and ended up in the guttering that could be disaterous....

The guttering is on a low extension - I'd know if something died in it. I would also test the butt water BEFORE adding it into the tank to pick up on ammonia should anything have died. However remember mine is a small tank. We are not talking gallons and gallons required just to do a water change. A bucketful (at 10ltrs a bucket) plus the required ratio of tap will do a 25% water change. I wouldn't do this for a bigger tank. But it seems a good solution to the problem I was facing. Yes, its not perfect but neither was struggling to find fish that would fit in my tank AND be happy. As I say, my guttering is low, and new. The butt is also new. The carbon filter should get rid of anything unwanted. I agree about the risk of running out of rainwater. But my tank is still almost full and it holds ALOT.

There aren't any factories in my neck of the woods.. 8) .(West London) restaurants yes but nice small ones that don't have huge chimneys churning out rubbish. Lots of trees and greenery here actually.

You may say 8 isn't high, but it is! It really stops you having loads of fish you may like. I should know, after trawling umpteen books, sites and shops and finding out about what conditions fish like. Yes, some fish like tetras may TOLERATE 8 but they won't necessarily thrive. I would hate to live in a situation I just tolerated. Much better to be happy in your environment then just put up with a bad lot. A fish is a living creature like me. Not just an ornament. I want to give it conditions that match its natural one as much as possible. Tetras come from the Amazon. The water in the Amazon is not PH8 with hard water!

 

[ElectricMayhem]

Good job lowering the pH. I think it would be important to lower it, considering the potential of H+ scale is logarithmic, so the difference between 7 and 8 is 100x the alkalinity. [100 or 10? I'm far more a biologist than a chemist ] And hell, soap is pH 9!

Have you thought about putting in a piece of bogwood? Apparantly that's good at lowering pH.

 

[Joanna69]

Good job lowering the pH. I think it would be important to lower it, considering the potential of H+ scale is logarithmic, so the difference between 7 and 8 is 100x the alkalinity. [100 or 10? I'm far more a biologist than a chemist ] And hell, soap is pH 9!

Have you thought about putting in a piece of bogwood? Apparantly that's good at lowering pH.

Have just done so after having a piece in soak for a while. Looks nice I have that, an artificial mangrove root thing and a real rock with a nice hole in it for them to swim through. Getting some plants Saturday.

I do feel I am stuck between a rock and a hard place a little. My tap water isn't ideal and niether is using rainwater. I think I got a bit defensive in my last post but I didn't mean to (sorry Mike).

I took a judement call and decided that adding rainwater was the lesser of two evils. Just want to get the most enjoyment out of having a fishtank while at the same time thinking about what's best for the wee fishies. I envy those who have low PH and soft water out of the tap. I just want to have fish that look and feel healthy and happy. At least I'll never get complacent about my water quality! I feel like a chemist with my test tubes! My OH thinks getting a goldfish would be simpler but I reckon tropical fish are worth the extra effort.

 

[ElectricMayhem]

This thought has just popped into my head, so there may be other people who can disagree or discredit it, but what about doing water changes and top ups using distilled or RO water? I'm pretty sure that comes out at pH 7. I'm not sure how expensive it is in your area, might not be a viable option, but something to think about. You wouldn't so much have to worry about pollution or detritus in it.

I think as long as you can keep it around where you have it things will be fine. And good on you for doing the best thing by your [future] fishies

 

[mark.w.jones]

This thought has just popped into my head, so there may be other people who can disagree or discredit it, but what about doing water changes and top ups using distilled or RO water? I'm pretty sure that comes out at pH 7. I'm not sure how expensive it is in your area, might not be a viable option, but something to think about. You wouldn't so much have to worry about pollution or detritus in it.

I think as long as you can keep it around where you have it things will be fine. And good on you for doing the best thing by your [future] fishies

RO units are dead expensive and waste quite a lot of water + Ive heard than can be a bit slow at producing the goods. Suppose it depends what you buy. Stick with your water butt water its cheaper just make sure to filter it well as you are doing when it comes out. As long as you keep the lid on it and the gutter fairly clean I reckon it all right.

The only other options for lowering pH is adding peat granules or fibre to your filter. I wrote something about it in this post:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=144397&hl=peat

 

[jayjay]

i would of just gone and kept african lake shell dwellers but your choice.

to lower pH - peat, bogwood and co2.

i would get a big bucket fill it with water and put bogwood inafter everywater change so when it come to the next change you have some water at the right pH, simpler than mixing water and more reliable than the rain.

 

[madmom]

I have always heard not to collect the first 20 min or so of rainwater because even in the burbs you have car exhaust and other things in the air. After the 20 min or so most of the pollution is washed to the ground and the rain is safer to collect.