What do you use for water changes?

[RobertK]

I use water straight from the tap for a normal waterchange, anything up to 20%, but I was thinking of collecting rainwater in a water butt.
I've done some tests and the water is fine with a PH of 7.0
Fortunately I don't live in an industrial area and the air is the cleanest in the UK and one one of the cleanest in the world due to us being in the gulf stream.


Robert

 

[RobertK]

57 views and only 13 votes, it doesn't take much to vote you know, come on its Christmas give a vote today.


Robert

 

[thecichlidaddict]

you don't dechlorinate your tap water?

 

[RobertK]

you don't dechlorinate your tap water?

No, I never have.

In my opinion if I'm only doing a maximum of 20% water change theres no need to.
I kept and bred wild caught discus many years ago when popular thought was they we're so fragile that only the optimum water and best filtration would encourage them to breed. In those days most fish died because they had just endured days packed in to bags with many other fish, in unheated holds of aircraft.
These days thye are imported in inairconditioned holds and of course many are tank bred any way.
I think if basic rules are kept to then most fish can tolerate conditions out side the normal range.
Logically fish in the wild have to survive extremes in the water chemistry, along with fluctuating water temperatures and crisis such as algae blooms in the summer, with no apparent harm.
This is only my opinion but I think that manufacturers would make a test kit for any thing if they thought aquarist would buy it.
I don't say that specialist aquarists don't need to know the exact chemical composition of their water, but your average tank doesn't need to be run along the lines of a laboratory.

Just my opinion for what its worth.

Robert

 

[thecichlidaddict]

I agree with pretty much everything you are saying, and frankly, chlorine is so unstable that there really is none left in the water by the time it reaches the aquarium anyway, but...

Not dechlorinating your water is playing with fire. All it will take is for your water co. to add too much chlorine just once, or perhaps just up the usage of chlorine in general - is that worth the chance?

And the wild can't be compared to a tank. In a tank you get about .5 to 1" of fish per gallon of water. In the wild they get .5 to 1" per thousands of gallons of water, if not hundreds of thousands. Water perameters do fluctuate, but not nearly as quickly as they can in an aquarium.

And my last comment is that you have been keeping fish for a long time by the sounds of it. Care must be taken when giving advice to newer fish keepers. A little too much care is better then not enough, let them be 'too careful' and figure the rest out through experience, like you and I did.

 

[RobertK]

I agree with what your saying, and I should have made it quite clear that its better to be too cautious with your fish.

My plan is to collect water in two 60 gallon water butts, off a plastic coated flat roof.
Then I would trickle the water through filter media contaning activated carbon, and a fine filter wool in to two 20 gallon plastic bins with lids of course.
I calculate using the amount and times I do water changes to have filtered water available for use that has been standing for about a week.
And I wondered what methods others might use, it doesn't matter how long you've kept fish, their is always some one who can show you a better way, and its not always people who have been keeping fish for a long time either.

Which gives me an idea for a new topic in another place, that might throw up some interesting points.


Robert

 

[Inchworm]

...My plan is to collect water in two 60 gallon water butts, off a plastic coated flat roof.
Then I would trickle the water through filter media containing activated carbon, and a fine filter wool in to two 20 gallon plastic bins with lids of course.
I calculate using the amount and times I do water changes to have filtered water available for use that has been standing for about a week.

If your tap water is good, why go to all that trouble? And why risk killing the bacteria in your tank by not using a good dechlorinater?

Sometimes the easiest way is also the best way.

 

[RobertK]

Thats the point isn't it, tap water isn't good, it has Chlorine in it, which you have to add a chemical to remove a chemical, then depending on where you live, there's flouride which is a poison, I worked at water treatment plant, and the procedure in case of getting flouride on your skin was like something out of James Bond, plus all the other chemicals that are added. and as thecichlidaddict pointed out, what if the water company "accidently" add too much of a chemical, it happens, theres a big case here in Cornwall where they did it, and people have become seriously ill from drinking the water.
When I say tap water isn't good, what I mean is its OK, so why not go one better, collecting rain water is no hassle really.
Most fish that are a little stubborn can be persuaded to spawn with a few water changes of a period of days, so I'm thinking how much better the results if we use water thats as pure as we can get.

Your right, more often the not the easiest way is the best, but a little effort can pay dividends.




Robert

 

[thecichlidaddict]

Hey Robert

My only concern with rain water is that you will need to use additives. Rainwater is evaporated water, and most of the trace elements that our fish depend upon do not evaporate with the h2o.

 

[Where the river goes]

I just stick w/dechlorinated tap water.

 

[Eelzor]

57 views and only 13 votes, it doesn't take much to vote you know, come on its Christmas give a vote today.


Robert

They just don't listen Rob, I have a post regarding it here.

 

[Inchworm]

...When I say tap water isn't good, what I mean is its OK, so why not go one better, collecting rain water is no hassle really.
Most fish that are a little stubborn can be persuaded to spawn with a few water changes of a period of days, so I'm thinking how much better the results if we use water thats as pure as we can get.

Hi RobertK

True, accidents can and do happen, but that's the exception (thank goodness!) not the rule.

In almost all cases, tap water is fit for human consumption and once the chlorine is removed it is safe for fish. This cannot be said for rainwater. No matter how clean the air is supposed to be in any given area, different things can happen to pollute it. If for example, a house in your neighborhood catches fire, when it burns plastics, etc., release fumes into the air. Residue from this will settle on the surfaces that you plan to use to collect the rain water. Other things, as well can have this result.

Filtration can only remove certain large particles from the water; it cannot remove chemical or biological contamination.

IMHO, rainwater is not a safe way to go.

 

[Jo]

I jnow people that successfully use rainwater round the world to keep their tanks, I personally wouldn't go for it because I dont think I can trust the water where I live, but if you can then I say go for it Robets.

If you have found that using non-dechlorinated water works well for your fish, then thats great too, do what you find works IMO...Just because other people think its wrong doesnt mean that it wont work for you!

I agree with making sure newbies are specially careful about what they do/dont add to their tanks, but you've obviously had an experience and found it works, so do what you think best for your fish...life is about choices huh!

 

[RobertK]

Thanks Jo.
I maybe living in the past, but I remember back too many years, and we used to use rainwater for delicate species, and I definately remember the recommended water for killifish was rainwater and not tap water.
There isn't a great deal about using rainwater on the web, but the more I read the more I'm leaning towards it again, using the appropiate safeguards of course.
I'm lucky living where I do the air is relatively un-polluted, so I'm going to give it ago, in my mind it can be no worse then using tap water with all its attendant chemicals, some of which the water companies refuse to identify.


Robert.

p.s Jo Iused to live in the west Midlands