Water From The River.

[Ludwig Venter]

I mean... there are cheerful fish in the water, so surely my fish will be fine with a fresh tank filled with water from the river??

 

[Truck]

I mean... there are cheerful fish in the water, so surely my fish will be fine with a fresh tank filled with water from the river??

as long as it doesn't contain pollution i don't see a problem at all.

 

[JustKia]

You don't cycle water hun - you cycle your filter.
River fish are fine in the river because the water is constantly filtered, naturally, and replenished.
Once you put the river water in your tank it is no longer getting filtered naturally so you will need to have a cycled filter to keep the toxins from building up.

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Permanent flowing stream of rainwater from around 200km away from where the sluices are opened out the dam... crystal clear and potable.

 

[Blown 346]

I dont know if I would use water from a river stream etc. You dont know what is in the water. It might look clear etc, but it could carry not only disease,pollution, but could also have parasites you dont want in your tank.

The best bet would to use tap water, de chlorinate it and let the tank cycle.

 

[raptorrex]

I mean... there are cheerful fish in the water, so surely my fish will be fine with a fresh tank filled with water from the river??

would it not depend on the type of water the fish are used to? I would imagine the river water is quite different to the stuff that comes from the tap. but apart from that, i see no reason why not? lol, if you can sort some form of hydro system (from river to tank and back) you would not need a filter.

 

[ellena]

It won't be any better for your fish than dechlor tap water and could be worse, so unless your tap water is v.expensive, why risk it?

 

[raptorrex]

It won't be any better for your fish than dechlor tap water and could be worse, so unless your tap water is v.expensive, why risk it?

interesting, but, don't fish come from rivers? well freshwater anyway.

 

[Ludwig Venter]

I have google earthed this river and from the origin to where it flows past our town,.... there are no industries or towns/cities in the pathway... just dense plantations and rocky banks..... There is an abundance of fish in the river including freshwater mussles and crabs......My drawing point would be directly downstream from (about 800m) of rapids, so in my Opinion.....

Unfortunately,... test kits are not readily available here in SA, so I cannot tell the water composure, but if it's good for the river fish, why not for mine??... (there are - apparently - some Killis in this river as well)... Saves me from doing the cycle thing (& Kia... I hear what you'e saying..... I have plenty filters running... would just move one to the tank in question)

 

[Geoff1991]

Well, as far as i can see as long as its not polluted and doesnt contain parasites, i cant see it being a problem... Would a UV sterilizer be an option to kill parasites? I dont have any experience with UV...

 

[bae1994]

just think no filter and no water chamges and uv should kill the parasites dependant on size however it depends on flow rate if its to fast then the uv wont be in effect

 

[loraxchick]

i studied marine science in college (and got my degree) and was in charge of the schools wet lab for 2 years(worked there for 4). this was where we housed our study specimens, algae cultures, and some monstrous display tanks. the school was situated on an inlet for the bay and we got all our water directly from the bay (for waterchanges, setting up new tanks, ec.). it was heavily filtered for particulates, but not really for microbes and chemicals (and the bay in question is heavily used in the summer months where folks use fertilizers etc on lawns, but the bay itself flushes naturally with the tides, out an inlet and into the ocean, twice a day, everyday from tidal action...would be similar to the constant downstream flushing of the river in question). disease was not a problem with our method. i dotn reacall any huge tank disasters or outbreak of anything in my time there. all tanks were filtered separately. not a centralized filtration once the water was in the tanks.
try it on one tank and see how it goes. then youre not risking all tanks to be using the water. im sure it would be fine, especially if you can hook up a coarse filter to the hose youd use to suck the water (get rid of all debris and many hitchikers before its in the tank).
just my two cents.
cheers

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Now who can argue with a doctorate in the subject..... Thanks Lorax.... the river is about 7 km's from my house, but I'll go out there with ample containers to collect a good sample. My gutfeel is that it will be fine.

 

[helterskelter]

How about testing it on one tank to see what happens.

The main problem is disease. ducks are the carrier for spreading diseases.
So see what happens, you could be adding something white spot into every system each time you do a water change.