Im not exactly sure how your water bill is broken down but, mine is like sostoudt's bill, the vast majority of the bill is in service charges and fee's, the actual water I use cost me about 12 bucks a month, that includes all the water I use plus the 80g p/week in water changes. Make your dad an offer, i.e. mow/rake the yard or keep the trash policed up and taken out in exchange for you doing the WC regime that you like. Or offer to spot him a fair ammount of money based on the gallons per month that you use.
Is My Dad Right?
- Thread starter Tropicalfishking
- Start date
Ok, so it sounds like I will do 2 things, I will get a Nitrate test kit, then depending on what that says I will look at the water bill with my dad...
http://www.tfhdigital.com/tfh/200907/?pg=39
Part of the article mentioned is here.
In Sac we pay a flat rate for our water but they don't charge us based on our usage
Part of the article mentioned is here.
In Sac we pay a flat rate for our water but they don't charge us based on our usage
Austin;3570089; said:
lucky!!!
my bill always been around 70, even before i started raising fish. We have gold in the water or something. so freaking expensive.
anyway i think your best option, is to test the water. and adjust accordingly.
i personally dont think you have a huge bioload, if your filtration is good. i think you could possible cut the water changes to 1/4 every week.
with that light stock list, you may be able to push it out to once every 2-3 weeks, those arent exactly some large fish
imo you're about just right on WCs... Your not excessive, but your also not borderline questionable. why just get a nitrate test kit? it's only a few dollars more for a complete test kit. and testing your water regularly is as important as doing regular WCs on your tank. I use to take the garbage out to the curb weekly for my "water privilages"
do them. 50g per week is going to be neglegible on your water bill, unless you live in a place where water is super expensive.
its the same has having a simple shower. its nothing.
doing them eliminates 99.9% of fish health issues because most are all related to water quality.
doing a weekly 1/3d change means your water quality is seldom an issue, unless you are overstocked.
most of the time, its the people that skip them that have the problems.
not the ones that do them each week.
I used to work at a LFS and saw it all the time.
the customers that changed water each week were never bringing in dead fish or samples for testing.
it was always the ones that didn't.
also, its not quite as simple as just keeping the nitrates down. water changes eliminate the risk of 'old tank sydrome' which is a gradual drop in pH due to waste buildup. it can kill.
its the same has having a simple shower. its nothing.
doing them eliminates 99.9% of fish health issues because most are all related to water quality.
doing a weekly 1/3d change means your water quality is seldom an issue, unless you are overstocked.
most of the time, its the people that skip them that have the problems.
not the ones that do them each week.
I used to work at a LFS and saw it all the time.
the customers that changed water each week were never bringing in dead fish or samples for testing.
it was always the ones that didn't.
also, its not quite as simple as just keeping the nitrates down. water changes eliminate the risk of 'old tank sydrome' which is a gradual drop in pH due to waste buildup. it can kill.
