High iron levels in water

[smidget]

A friend of mine is building a house and has decided to build an aquarium into one of the walls complete with a drain and tap for water changes.

The water comes from a well and is quite high in iron (makes the toilet bowl orange). Are high iron levels harmful to the fish, or is this maybe just an asthetics thing?

Thanks

 

[BillD]

If the iron levels are high enough it will kill fish. I was in a trout hatchery at a college that had to contend with high iron and they just ran the new wayer over a pail of steel nails to rmove the iron. It appears that manganese greensand may have this ability also.

 

[BrianNY]

Agreed. Metals can be highly toxic to fish. If the iron content is enough to turn the toilet orange, the water should be treated before being used in the aquarium.

 

[BillD]

I wasn't aware of this until I visited this site, http://www.redflint.com/index.htm that managanese greensand is used to filter iron and other noxious substances. This is a good site for sourcing attractive aquarium gravels and sands, but they may have info on the iron problem.

 

[smidget]

Thanks for the info everyone, I'll be sure to pass it along