water level and cats...

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

pupwalker

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Apr 22, 2008
Messages
3
Location
Northwestern NJ
I keep reading about PWCs and NOT to top off, well I do about a 33% water change weekly in my 16 Gal bowfront tank, but my water level drops alot due to my cats:cat::cat::cat: deciding it is the best watering hole in town ( felines do prefer a moving water source) ... is it really a bad thing to add that inch or so of aged water mid-week???
Nan
 
As long as you continue to do the water changes as well as the top offs you should be fine and it does not have to be aged water as long as you use a declorinator. But I think I would find a way like a good lid to keep the kitties out before they make a snack out of your fish.
 
The fish are not at risk, they drink from next to the filter, not enough space to get into the tank and grab a snack.... NOT so sure who's fish they are though, all 3 sit and watch the tank, one for hours on end.... One cat sits on the lid, got a rude surprise when the top was off so I could clean the tank, she did manage to not get 1 wet paw, but had all four feet on the sides with the greatest what the! look on her face!
 
also be careful... if the cats have some chemicals on their paws and stick them in the tank you could have a real problem... i would find a way to keep them out... they could knock the tank over too if theyre not careful... sounds dangerous to me
 
If I were you I would get a canopy to keep the cats away. If you ever treat the tank for an illness it could harm your cat. As stated, what happens if the feline has some liter attached to his/her paw and dips it in the tank. Or maybe walks through floor cleaner. Your best bet would just be to get a canopy.
 
OK after some thought, and talking to hubby who sees far more than I... It seems Dandi could only be drinking from the filter... I replaced it with an Aquaclear....LOL a covered filter, Us and fish 1 cat 0....
 
I have 5 cats and have had to come up with some ingenious ways to keep them from drinking tank water. They never get into the fish due to the tight lids I have but I've had to build more than one add on cover to cover the open areas. Cats seem to really like the taste of fishy water.
 
One of my cats is crazy over fish water! I was dipping some water out for a PWC today and he started yowling like he does when he's going to get something good to eat, then he jumped right into the bucket of water and sat there purring while getting soaking wet.
 
I top off when the water level reaches 1 inch below the rim where you can see it. I have a 5 gallon water jug that I fill with my well water and I treat it with water conditioner and Stress Zyme and let it sit until the next top off. So far I have had very good results using this method.

Back in 1990 I had a 20 gallon tank that I set up full of mollies, platys and fire belly newts. It was planted with plastic plants but had a thick layer of floating Hornwort and Duckweed. I had it up over a year before I moved and had to take it down and always topped off with untreated well water. Never did a pwc for over a year, just top offs and fed the fish only once a week. Had only an UGF running. Never tested the water either, not once. I also left the lights on 24/7. It was a beautiful healthy tank. Guess I was just lucky. :)
 
My cat also LOVES fishy water. She comes whenever I do a water change, and I let her have some of the old tank water in the bucket.
 
Back
Top Bottom