Water Help

[Malachite]

Hi, was wondering if someone could help me.

I've got a 20 gallon tank that I just started doing a fishless cycle on. The pipes at this house are ancient and all water that comes out of said pipes is a gross red/brown color. You fill a glass and you can have trouble seeing through it. I certainly don't drink it, my cats don't (if I can help it!) and I didn't want the fish to either.......

So I thought I would be smart and fill the tank with Sparletts purified drinking water....it has minerals added. And of course now I find out that wasn't such a good thing to do.

So now what?


Thanks for any help!

 

[dcarmor927]

idk for sure, but i think you could try deionized water. i didn't know mineral water would be bad, but i wouldn't have thought to use that personally. again i have no idea what to do other than that lol good luck

 

[shelaghfishface]

just out of interest,have you tested the water for all the usuall and copper?,PH,chlorine,chloromine ( is there a copper test)
cant you get water in drums from your fish shop ( is he local and does he have the same water)

im not in any qualified on this issue but i did once live in a very old house where the colour of the bath water in the evening was a bit like a lucky dip,and i also kept a few goldfish that never seemed to last very long and always died of the same thing-ulcers, but then again i had no idea i was supposed to be filtering the water, the best i was doing was washing the whole bowl out when it looked like it needed it
i would test it( or have it tested) and then go from there ( maybe your water company would test it for you-as you have to drink it) but then again they take a dim veiw of doing anything on "private property" without charging a hefty fee

 

[Corleone]

I mentioned it in Malachite's other post when I recommended he make a more specific post about the water, but there's parts of my area with brown water that's attributed to old iron mains, and old houses in areas with clean water that get brown water because of iron pipes in their own plumbing.

If neighbors get the same water, it's either in the water source or the pipes. If it's the mains, you can complain to the local authorities, but it probably won't do any good. One run down old neighborhood here only got their old iron main replaced when somebody decided to rent a backhoe to dig a pool without getting the proper permits or training and instead dug a large, dirty fountain in the middle of his front lawn.

 

[Malachite]

Thanks dcarmor

 

[Malachite]

shelaghfishface, test the water out of the tap? Or the bottled water?

I haven't tested the tap water since I didn't think it was usable due to being so brown. It's from the pipes, not the water company. We have a set of four duplexes here and all of us have OLD iron pipes except the one that was repiped with new copper pipes. (and no, I'm not able to get water from the house that has the good pipes)

The API kit I have can test for everything but the copper. Is copper something you normally test for?

Don't think the water company would be much use to me since it's a problem with the pipes on the property. The landlord is elderly and sees no point in repiping the units since everything will be knocked down when she is gone anyway.

Corleone had recommended I post over here to see if I can add something to the bottled water to make it safe.

I just thought about something, I could try to see about getting some water from the hose outside the house with the new, copper pipes. Not sure if that would work if it's clear?

If that is the case, and I can use the water from the hose...do I need to replace all the water in the tank or just part of it?

Thanks for the help.

 

[shelaghfishface]

im not sure about a copper test thats why i asked,
i would check the hose water then, gradually change it rather than all at once, it will be cold and i wouldnt ( tho i have) changed a huge amount with cold before and gotten into a right panic as did the fish

 

[Malachite]

Well, as I mentioned above, I'm almost a week into fishless cycling, so there aren't any fish to panic

Just wondering if I should change it now or wait till my big water change when the tank has cycled. If anyone has any opinions, throw them at meh!

Thanks!

 

[shelaghfishface]

oops yes so you did, sorry .
if the cycle is going to plan then i would be inclined to leave it as it is, but then of course leave it another week just to make sure

 

[OldMan47]

If you can get clean water from the outside hose, I would definitely go for that. The water in Southern Cal tends to be very hard and somewhat high in pH because it comes all the way from the Colorado River in concrete lined waterways. In your position, I would be tempted to mix that water with bottled water to get the hardness down, but the tap water should be tested for hardness first. Some water out there does come from local wells and is not so bad, thus the test.

 

[Malachite]

I checked the water outside from the hose and it's crystal clear. Assumed it would be the same as in the house, but sure glad it isn't!

Tested the outside water for hardness, ph and alk....ran four strips as it seemed to go up and down on the alkalinity and hardness.

Outside water:
Hardness: 0-80
Alkalinity: 80-120
PH: 8.0

Bottled Water
Hardness: 0
Alkalinity: 0
PH: 6.5

 

[bae1994]

Hi, was wondering if someone could help me.

I've got a 20 gallon tank that I just started doing a fishless cycle on. The pipes at this house are ancient and all water that comes out of said pipes is a gross red/brown color. You fill a glass and you can have trouble seeing through it. I certainly don't drink it, my cats don't (if I can help it!) and I didn't want the fish to either.......

So I thought I would be smart and fill the tank with Sparletts purified drinking water....it has minerals added. And of course now I find out that wasn't such a good thing to do.

So now what?


Thanks for any help!

hi if you have a lfs near you most of the bigger ones sell ro (reverse osmosis) water ande is around 10p per 24 litres or somtimes its free with every purchase