Aquarium keeping when water is restricted

[Masha]

I wondered whether any of you are living (like we do) with water restrictions? And if you have any tips for aquarists? Cape Town dam levels are very low and things are looking pretty dire.

We've managed to cut our water usage drastically. I still do a 50% water change on my 20 gallon aquarium once a week, but now I siphon the old water into a drum and use it to flush our toilet and water potplants, rather than just letting it flow down the drain. It's actually incredible how much water a flush toilet uses

If things keep getting worse I'm going to have to consider doing fewer water changes. If the drought continues, it's likely that water usage will be severely limited and we'll only get access to water a certain times of the day.

 

[Delapool]

Nothing that bad! Good to hear from you (although not under good circumstances).

Guessing you have a cover to stop evaporation?

 

[TMaier]

In California we had water usage restrictions last year or 2. I would catch the tap water in 5g buckets while waiting for the shower to warm up. But about 6 months I switched to using bottled. Tap water was brown/yellow or grey. High in metals, ammonia and nitrates. So as the restrictions last, keep an eye on the quality of what is coming out of the tap.

 

[Nuvo40]

You could add additional water filtration and flow.I only do a 10% weekly water change on my 40 gallon planted tank.

 

[UntimelyLord]

+1 to catching water while waiting for shower to warm up, and then using that for water changes. Glad I'm not the only one who did that. It's harder to temperature match exactly that way, but I also am under-stocked and over filtered so I could get away with smaller water changes. In So Cal we could get payment breaks on low-flow toilets, I don't know if any programs like that are available where you are.

 

[BBradbury]

Masha...

Consider using house plants to use the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate produced by the fish and plants. Once established, the plants will help keep the tank water cleaner and you'll need to do fewer water changes. You can cut your water changes in half and simply top off the tank a couple of times a week to maintain good levels of trace elements the fish, bacteria and plants need.

I use Aglaonema (Chinese evergreen) in all my tanks and they do a much better job of water filtration than mechanical filtration. To prep the plant for a water environment, you just rinse all the potting mixture from the large, white roots and immerse just the roots in the water, with the leaves above. If you move your filter close to the plants, the water movement will allow oxygen and other nutrients to flow through the roots.

B

 

[_Drago_]

Yikes! The only water restrictions I've had in my state have been over chemicals being added to the water and that was a monthly thing at most. Very interesting hearing the ingenuity that people have when it comes to situations like these! Hope wherever you guys are, water restrictions won't last too much longer

 

[TMaier]

+1 to catching water while waiting for shower to warm up, and then using that for water changes. Glad I'm not the only one who did that. It's harder to temperature match exactly that way, but I also am under-stocked and over filtered so I could get away with smaller water changes. In So Cal we could get payment breaks on low-flow toilets, I don't know if any programs like that are available where you are.

I keep a few extra heaters for warming. We have low flow everything. And our main bathroom toilet is set up to use grey/rain water.

 

[Masha]

Good point on checking tap water quality. There have been rumours that the tap water is not safe to drink anymore but as far as I can tell those are unsubstantiated. Still worth keeping an eye on things.

I want to install a rainwater barrel, but for household use not for the tank - not sure how safe rainwater would be in the aquarium.

I've already got emergent plants growing out of the tank but I suspect they do very little for the water quality. They just look nice I do have a cover to stop evaporation but the level does drop between water changes so I might have to look into that. Don't like to seal if off completely, seems like a bad idea to cut off all airflow?

So far we save water by doing bucket baths instead of baths or showers. All that water goes into a barrel for reuse. Also the grey water from washing clothes and washing dishes. Grey water is surprisingly dirty and needs to be used pretty quickly otherwise it gets disgusting, we mostly use it for flushing the toilet, and left over water waters pot plants. The past few months our water bill has been 0 as we are using under the minimum amount, so I hope this makes a difference.

If this becomes permanent, we'll have to figure out a better solution. Maybe a filter of some kind for the grey water.

Still see people washing cars or hosing down pavements with drinking water. But I guess they'd say my having an aquarium is a waste of water!

 

[Autumnsky]

Those all sound like great ideas and a tank really does not use too much water. The best idea of using water before it gets hot enough for a bath is a perfect use. So sorry to hear of the tremendous struggle of lack of water. We haven't had things to that extreme in the places where we lived.

The plants growing out the top really do help tremendously. BBradbury is right about that. They ARE living filters.

 

[Onefish_Twofish]

On the scale of things, I think aquarium water changes make only a tiny impact on your overall household water consumption. Forty litres once a week is insignificant in the scale of things. It's like trying to save electricity by switching off your phone charger when your hot water cylinder is using three orders of magnitude more energy.

Then again, you could always try using the siphoned water to wash dishes. Should be interesting.