Do we get "pothos" here?

[hovmoller]

I do care about running out of water over summer though!

Have you done any calcs? You know: Roof area, average rainfall, etc etc and compared it to your current usage (or your previous house usage) to see if you have enough water left for water changes. Should be easy enough to do an estimate.

Being on tank water is perfect for your new tank (if you have enough water that is). Just do a continuous drip system at a calculated rate and never have to worry about any water changes.

[Ira]

I've never had a problem with running out of water with water changes, spa(More water changes) and running irrigation on the garden in addition to the usual showers etc.

We did come really close to running out one summer when the hose kept blowing off the pump and dumped most of the tank a couple times.

[David R]

Have you done any calcs? You know: Roof area, average rainfall, etc etc and compared it to your current usage (or your previous house usage) to see if you have enough water left for water changes. Should be easy enough to do an estimate.

No I haven't, and TBH its probably not going to be a problem, the house was built for a "blended family" with four teenagers and she [ex-owner] said they never ran out of water the couple of summers they were all there (before the marriage split) even with the kids and all their friends. Got a good size roof and a big tank (25K litres IIRC) and hey, its Whangarei, even in summer more than a week without rainfall is unheard of!!

The water will be good for the fish, but I have been buffering it a little with calcium and baking soda each water change (just a tiny amount to take the TDS from nearly zero up to ~30) and a bit of coral in the sump to help prevent the pH from crashing.

Jen from the little I've read it seems that if you want to grow plants for nitrate removal then submerged plants are nowhere near as good as ones growing above water, and pothos is about the most commonly used.