Water changes am I to careful

[terrypin]

Hi after reading here it seems people change their water straight from the mixer tap. I have always been concerned the water from he hot storage tank would be contaminated with zinc and other trace elements. I have always boiled a kettle from cold and added this to a bucket of cold water then checked after each bucket for any fluctuations in tank temperature then judge how much to fill the kettle for the next bucket. This works well for me but I wonder am I wasting my time.

 

[kwi]

In the UK our HW systems had the double whammy of being stored in a cold storage tank, and then in the HW tank.
The only potable water tap was the kitchen tap, and quite often the outside tap too.
Now with mains direct feed boilers and HW on demand systems it's a lot less likely that you HW would be unsafe.

 

[Utar]

@kwi your sig pic is really cool...

I don't know much about city water so I don't have anything to add. I think maybe you need to try and talk to others in the aquarium hobby in your area for advice. If you can join an aquarium club, find out how they do water changes using city tap water or not.

But for me I am very lucky with my water source, I live in the country near a large river. The water plant that supplies me water is right on the river and only treats it enough to make it safe to use in our homes. This makes really good aquarium water for my tanks.

 

[eatyourpeas]

@kwi your sig pic is really cool...

I don't know much about city water so I don't have anything to add. I think maybe you need to try and talk to others in the aquarium hobby in your area for advice. If you can join an aquarium club, find out how they do water changes using city tap water or not.

But for me I am very lucky with my water source, I live in the country near a large river. The water plant that supplies me water is right on the river and only treats it enough to make it safe to use in our homes. This makes really good aquarium water for my tanks.

Lucky you!

Our water is from an underground source and polluted with chemicals that barely make it below the safe standards. They also flush the mains periodically, so it is "scummy tea" instead of water during those flushes. I do boil the water in a kettle and use conditioner (API Stress Coat). So far, it is working. RO is not an option due to space and cost.

I follow @terrypin method and seems to work.

 

[mcordelia]

@eatyourpeas same boat, except ours is from the Huron river, you know, of Flint Michigan water disaster fame.... (don't live in flint, but it's a long river). I'm contemplating buying an under-sink filter to use for both drinking water and doing water changes with, I was just reading the wirecutter reviews on under sink filters and I'm leaning towards getting their "upgrade pick" https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-under-sink-water-filter/ which allows you to use 800 gallons before you need to buy a new filter replacement. I have yet to do the math on how that compares to using seachem prime or stresscoat, however it certainly beats RO water prices.

 

[terrypin]

Thanks for the replies, where I live the nitrates straight out of the tap are between 40 and 60. When I checked on the water company site because of agriculture they cannot allow it to go higher than 70 for a third of their readings . When I see advice for water changes to reduce nitrates I wish it was so easy here. Needless to say I only drink bottled or boiled water my self.

 

[eatyourpeas]

@eatyourpeas same boat, except ours is from the Huron river, you know, of Flint Michigan water disaster fame.... (don't live in flint, but it's a long river). I'm contemplating buying an under-sink filter to use for both drinking water and doing water changes with, I was just reading the wirecutter reviews on under sink filters and I'm leaning towards getting their "upgrade pick" https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-under-sink-water-filter/ which allows you to use 800 gallons before you need to buy a new filter replacement. I have yet to do the math on how that compares to using seachem prime or stresscoat, however it certainly beats RO water prices.

Ouch! The Flint disaster was/is quite tragic. Thanks for the link, I will look into it

 

[eatyourpeas]

Thanks for the replies, where I live the nitrates straight out of the tap are between 40 and 60. When I checked on the water company site because of agriculture they cannot allow it to go higher than 70 for a third of their readings . When I see advice for water changes to reduce nitrates I wish it was so easy here. Needless to say I only drink bottled or boiled water my self.

If you do not have plants, that might be a good reason to add them. Also, I have pothos in all my tanks, they are nitrates hogs!

 

[mcordelia]

@eatyourpeas do you have any pictures of your pothos/how you have them set up in your tanks? I am strongly contemplating setting one up as well, and am curious what works for other people!

 

[AbbeysDad]

Thanks for the replies, where I live the nitrates straight out of the tap are between 40 and 60. When I checked on the water company site because of agriculture they cannot allow it to go higher than 70 for a third of their readings . When I see advice for water changes to reduce nitrates I wish it was so easy here. Needless to say I only drink bottled or boiled water my self.

My Nitrate Fight and Lowering Aquarium Nitrates

 

[AbbeysDad]

I can't really speak to hot water tanks in the UK. Here in the US, we may see a collection of calcium in hot water tanks but the flow through negates any real effect on water exiting the tank. As far as the cold water, if it's not clean enough to drink you really need filtration ... even if only for cooking and bathing.
All things considered, even if not desirable drinking water, it may be okay for the aquarium - it's hard to say. (I've seen footage of portions of the amazon river so murky you couldn't see a few feet ahead.)

 

[eatyourpeas]

@eatyourpeas do you have any pictures of your pothos/how you have them set up in your tanks? I am strongly contemplating setting one up as well, and am curious what works for other people!

Yes, here is the 6 gal. tank. I put the pothos next to the internal filter. The other tanks have them just near the top openings so the plant can remain emersed. It started with a cutting of one leaf and they are now thriving. The drawback is that I have less algae in the tanks so my ostracods needed a new jar near a window.


Here is the newest one on the 12 gal. tank

 

[mcordelia]

neat!!! so you just have them free-floating if you will, and they just stay in place due to their leaves being entwined in the electrical cord or similar? that seems very low fuss. Do your fish eat the roots at all?

 

[Fishy_Dan]

Maybe you saw my post? In the UK combi boilers are common, heat mains water on demand. So no worries about storage tank issues.

 

[terrypin]

I am not sure if I have a combi boiler will look into it as the last place I was there was a storage tank. Although I find it very therapeutic cleaning filters and doing water changes it helps to clear my head.