so the city broke the main water line in our town and we were without water this weekend. now we are being told that we need to boil our water for the next 2 weeks. well obviously that wont work with over 500 gallons that get changed weekly. should I be concerned with this? are they just being overly cautious? I checked my tap water with my test kit and it seemed normal but maybe there's something that cant be seen with the test kit???? any advice would be appreciated.
told to boil water
- Thread starter BichirKing
- Start date
I would put the new water for the tank in a storage tank with a bottle of peroxide per 50 gallons, let it circulate for 1 day, then let it run through carbon for a few days prior to a water change. Also, add carbon to your tank filtration.
Or by generic bottled drinking water (less than $1) by the gallon.
I would also feed the fish only once every 7 days or 2 weeks (depends on your fish) until the city says it is safe to use your tap water without boiling. This could be a good time to get a RO system just for the fish water.
Or by generic bottled drinking water (less than $1) by the gallon.
I would also feed the fish only once every 7 days or 2 weeks (depends on your fish) until the city says it is safe to use your tap water without boiling. This could be a good time to get a RO system just for the fish water.
that's the leverage I need
now im not sure about the extra tank for water storage(room & $$$) but I did a wc the day before luckily. I was thinking about not feeding them much (they can stand it since they're well fed) and just wait the time out??? I can add carbon to the sumps easy enough.
The reason for a water supplier to call a boil order, usually has to do with the detection of coliform bacteria in the system, these bacteria are "indicators" of possible bacteriological contamination. For a drinking water provider, even 1 coliform on a test of finished (treated) water could be cause for a boil alert.
If you did a coliform test on your normal aquarium water, it would usually have a result of TNTC (too numerous to count) coliforms. I tested my normal tank water a number of times, when I worked as a chemist/microbiologist at a drinking water facility, my tank water was always off the charts, with coliforms.
The thing to worry about with your aquarium, is that due to that indicator being found in the distribution system, will mean the water provider may super chlorinate for the next couple weeks to purge the system of bacteria that could cause a water bourne disease in humans, and that extra chlorine is much more dangerous for your fish than few random coliforms. So if you do water changes, be sure to add enough dechlorinator to neutralize an eventual slug of highly chlorinated water flushing thru the system.
If you did a coliform test on your normal aquarium water, it would usually have a result of TNTC (too numerous to count) coliforms. I tested my normal tank water a number of times, when I worked as a chemist/microbiologist at a drinking water facility, my tank water was always off the charts, with coliforms.
The thing to worry about with your aquarium, is that due to that indicator being found in the distribution system, will mean the water provider may super chlorinate for the next couple weeks to purge the system of bacteria that could cause a water bourne disease in humans, and that extra chlorine is much more dangerous for your fish than few random coliforms. So if you do water changes, be sure to add enough dechlorinator to neutralize an eventual slug of highly chlorinated water flushing thru the system.
I would play it safe and not do a water change for the next 2 weeks. Just feed lighter than normal and you should be fine.
You can do partial water changes just leave it in a large container for couple days and add prime.. hope that help
I would take this a step further and not do any feedings. Let them fast. I've always just let my fish fast while I'm on vacations, and it has never been an issue. Fish looked and behaved completely normal once I got back.
duanes
is right on the money. You dont need to worry about thr boil order its the fix your city is going to perform to fix the issue that made them call for the boil. They may not use chloramins normally they may in a case like this. Get some extra prime and make sure to use it during water changes. I run my city water through a 3 stage carbon filter tests at 0 chlorine coming out. You can (well I can) smell the chlorine coming out of the tap but out of the filter nothing. I still keep a bottle of prime handy just in case. I use a lower dose of it at all water changes.again thanks everyone for taking the time to reply! i'm going to pick up some prime. i normally use a solution I made from RD's thread about water conditioner using sodium thiosulfate which has been working well for me so far. picking up a rubber maid garbage can to fill and circulate the water in. i'm also looking into a r.o.d.i system that I will drip into the garbage can think I might add my auto top off to it also...
