I live close to a wetland area some large patches of open water I was wondering if it would be a good idea to collect water from there to help start the cycle on a tank and possibly even some substrate for a nutritional layer at the bottom of a tank?
Water Collection
- Thread starter neekaragua
- Start date
I take water from the river behind my house. There are a lot of trout so if its good enough for them. I take sand for the substrate too....
well yea store water is terible! how good can it be with all those dead fish rotting in the water, who probably died of parasites, bacteria or fungus or any combination of them all! do not put water from stores in! but um from the wild is taking a chance if there isnt much to lose in ur tank then go ahead i guess! but still would never even think of doing it! too risky! all the bacteria that's possible to get and various algae spores
The only thing you need to be careful of is outside pollutants and bacteria that could be introduced into your tank. I used to catch salt water stuff when I lived in Florida and I would put them in freshwater for a short period of time to kill any bacteria. I have herd that captive fish are exposed to different illnesses than what is in the wild. So if your fish do get something it may not be able to fight it off.
i was thinking that it would be realy no different from getting water from the tap if your local water is not chlorinated
hell id drink the water...
hell id drink the water...
you mean like well water? Little different than a wetland, but I would fear adding it for introduction a disease the fish are not immune or able to fight off...
would raising the fish from babies in the water build up the needed imunities
maybe treat it with a small amount of fish meds in the begining?
gathering this water in no means would be easier or cheaper i was just thinking it would create that black water environment much more naturaly
maybe treat it with a small amount of fish meds in the begining?
gathering this water in no means would be easier or cheaper i was just thinking it would create that black water environment much more naturaly
I have never heard of a guy who tried to make a wild water tank...it's an interesting idea.
Not sure of the result but as an experiment, getting wild water and sand and bringing up fish with them might be interesting.
You know, I have a house sump pump in the next room that in the spring runs about every 30 seconds.
Thats about 5 gal Im pumping out onto the ditch every 30 seconds.
Im told that I could never use that water in an aquarium, but, still it is a Lot of water .
I wish I could use it for something...
Not sure of the result but as an experiment, getting wild water and sand and bringing up fish with them might be interesting.
You know, I have a house sump pump in the next room that in the spring runs about every 30 seconds.
Thats about 5 gal Im pumping out onto the ditch every 30 seconds.
Im told that I could never use that water in an aquarium, but, still it is a Lot of water .
I wish I could use it for something...
Using water from healthy natural environments is MUCH better than using crappy tap water. There is a risk of parasites but they are far less common in wild waters than they are in aquaculture tanks, which are often heavily medicated. Think Organic versus Factory Farming. There is in my opinion a much better chance of adding benificial bacterial, little beasties and plant/algae seeds/spore and insects than anything negative. Some of my fav plants have spontaneously appeared after waterchanges...
I think the risk from tapwater is much greater... Get out on the lake/river in spring and see how much is going on, if there are loadsa fish and insects the water will be great. I love looking in my tanks to see what the lastest hichhickers are...I found some waterspiders the other day, making air bubble nests under a leaf!
I think the risk from tapwater is much greater... Get out on the lake/river in spring and see how much is going on, if there are loadsa fish and insects the water will be great. I love looking in my tanks to see what the lastest hichhickers are...I found some waterspiders the other day, making air bubble nests under a leaf!