Tracey Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 Afternoon all I am hoping that those here who live in a rural/semi-rural location will be able to educate me on how they cope with keeping fish when on tank water. My partner and I are considering moving to a semi-rural location and all the properties that we have looked at are on septic tanks and tank water. I have heard a number of horror stories over the years, but I am wondering if they may be more "urban legends" that based in fact. Either that, or happened 20 or more years ago when things like decholinators were less available. Any insights or advice y'all can give me would be greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 Possibly the biggest problem you may have is if the water tank is made of concrete. The pH will be high (unless it has been well coated with sealant) - great for African cichlids In summer, if you have to be careful with water useage, it might be difficult to perform water changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 Afternoon all I am hoping that those here who live in a rural/semi-rural location will be able to educate me on how they cope with keeping fish when on tank water. It's an extremely complicated, detailed and risky process to use tank water. I'll try to keep it short assuming you don't want to read a novel. Filling the tank: Put water in. Water changes: Take water out then put water in. Bored yet? :slfg: There's really not much else needed unless you're trying for a really high PH for africans. The water will probably be pretty soft so the PH can tend to drop more than on mains water. But you can just put a handful of bird grit, coral rock etc in the filter to counteract that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 I live out in the wops, I use bore water, high in iron but that mostly settles down before come out the tap. Perfectly fine to use. Just test the water if the house has an old concrete/plaster tank, if its plastic no worries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 I don't think there's any need to worry about the PH out of a concrete tank. They should be sealed well and even if not it's probably had 20-30 years to wash any excess lime out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 If the water supply is reliable like it is ariound here people in rural areas usually don't have a storage tank. They use a pressure cylinder between the well and the house. If you have iron in your water it is acid. Water has a greater affinity for oxygen than CO2 and it is usually that which makes the water acid. If you aerate the water it drives off the CO2, the pH rises, the iron changes from ferrous (soluble) to ferric (insoluble) and it will settle out. Iron leaves a brown stain and manganese (often present also) makes the white washing come out grey. Red plants need iron to stay that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 i am on tank water & no issues, thankfully a air of concrete tanks for my tangs. the water changes consume around 250L per week which is equivalent to three or four showers i guess so i just don't let the kids bathe. :sml2: joking! the water used for changes is small in comparison to overall usage for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwiplymouth Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 Using rain water really sucks. Every time I do a water change the fish breed 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 If the water supply is reliable like it is ariound here people in rural areas usually don't have a storage tank. They use a pressure cylinder between the well and the house. If they're on a well then they are not on a rainwater tank. Totally different systems other than they both have pumps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 I am hoping that those here who live in a rural/semi-rural location will be able to educate me on how they cope with keeping fish when on tank water. My partner and I are considering moving to a semi-rural location and all the properties that we have looked at are on septic tanks and tank water. If they're on "tank water" isn't it it more likely to be rain water than ground water? What are the "horror stories" you're talking about?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 rain = tank, bore systems don't use tanks as they have great pressure and have a large supply of water ready and waiting to be sucked up from the ground. We have both at out farm, house on tank, Farm & flat on bore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos & Siran Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 We've always lived in the *wop wops*, had tank water, bore water and spring water. Never had any issues. The spring at the last farm we were on had crawlies and bullies living in it ...... so it was all good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 Some well or spring water supplies have a large storage tank and could be called "tank supplies." It is mainly done to give a gravity water supply in case of fire for when the pole fuses get pulled. However you are right, It usually refers to rainwater supplies and as KP says your biggest problem is likely to be buying all the tanks to store the fish that have been bred. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bellshill Belgians Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 Hi, I definately qualify for Wop wop status!! I have a 22,000L plastic water tank for the house which collects rain water off my roof. It comes out of the tap as soft and acidic as I can measure. Great for my SA corys, tetras etc. I modify the water using a rift lake recipe (MgSo4, bicarb & salt) for my frontosas/altos etc. Although this is a challenge I seem to be able to maintain good water quality, test it all regularly to make sure all is ok. I guess it depends how much effort you want to put into making sure the water is right for your fish. If you just want to turn on the tap and change your water without thinking about what you are doing you may have more problems than if you were on mains supply with a more neutral ph etc. At least my water has no chlorine in it! Joanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracey Posted May 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 Many thanks guys and girls....seems as if I have been jumping at shadows Don't have many fish in pairs, so too much breeding won't be an issue, although if it jumpstarted by Clown Plecos back into breeding, that might be a bad thing :slfg: I don't have African's, so softer water shoudln't be a problem. Many thanks again for all the advice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted May 4, 2011 Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 While we are on the subject of tanks I must recommend people who have storage tanks for their houses get them cleaned perodically, we had to shut off the feed into the tank while we had the roof cleaned etc and after a few days of use all the crap on the bottom was starting to unsettle off the bottom and creating a very bad smell in the water. Ended up cleaning out the tank and the amount of crap we saw come out of it was unbeliveable, loads and loads of gunk had collected on the bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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