Well Water

[The Mule]

We’re looking at buying a house that has a well and septic instead of municipal water/sewer. I imagine the water itself should be fine for aquariums but was curious if there were any potential issues one might run into maintaining a large aquarium in this situation. I imagine the well could run dry in a severe drought. Or a power failure could lead to no water making it to the house, but that’s what generators are for…

any ideas, suggestions or warnings would be greatly appreciated. ?

 

[TwoHedWlf]

I imagine the well could run dry in a severe drought.

Unless you have a very shallow well you're looking at a severe drought lasting decades to end up with the aquifer being emptied.

Or a power failure could lead to no water making it to the house, but that’s what generators are for…

Definitely a possibility, but if you have a power outage the last thing you'd be likely to be planning is a water change.

Although...I guess you'll have nothing better to do.

 

[The Mule]

Haha. Good points!

 

[duanes]

Depending on the aquifer, the type water parameters might have an impact on what fish you may be successful, or unsuccessful at keeping. (of course this happens with municipal water as well) Well water can be extremely soft, or....extremly hard depending on the rock base surrounding it.
If the rock is calcium based the water may be hard enough to preclude Amazonian species.
If the surrounding rock is granite it may be extremely soft, and preclude rift lake Africans, or Central Americans.
I'm sure you will get an assay of water parameters before your move, so just be aware, and do research on what species needs and match your water parameters, before randomly buying a bunch of fish, just because you like them.
If your water is soft, low pH, and mineral poor, cardinal tetras, wild angels, or certain Asian Anabantoids and others like them could work well.
If your water is hard, high pH, mineral rich, a tank of mbuna from lake Malawi or cichlids from Lake Tanganyika or Mexico may be up your alley.

 

[The Mule]

Thanks, duanes. I’ll have to look into that. The house is in the Hudson Valley in NY. Here in NYC our water is pretty ideal for the ca/sa cichlids I’ve always kept (and easily treatable to suit rift lake or marine setups). NYC’s water comes from sources upstate, up towards where the house is, so I’m fairly sure it will be more or less in the same ballpark, but I need to check. ?

 

[jjohnwm]

^ All excellent points to keep in mind. I've been on well water for several decades, in a couple of different locations. If your water is good for the fish you want to keep...or, to put it differently, if you are happy keeping fish which are suited to your water...then having an essentially limitless supply of water that requires no treatment other than adjusting the temperature is an absolute joy.

As far as temperature goes, your well water will be much colder than you probably want for your tanks. I have recently put in a small on-demand tankless water heater which gives me the temperature I need without wasting energy on keeping it warm when I don't need it. In the past, I used large water storage tanks with aquarium heaters in them to preheat the water, but this limits how much you have on hand at any given time.

I will just mention one other thing that nobody seems to think of: your septic system. A septic field has a limited useable life, after which it clogs and requires very expensive work. The less water you flush down your drains and through your septic field, the longer your field will last, so it is important that you arrange for other ways to dispose of your used tank water when doing water changes. If your fish room is above grade, you can siphon out a window and direct the water to flower beds, gardens, etc. With a basement fishroom, use a pump to exhaust the water to a similar location outdoors. In either case, do not drain large amounts of aquarium water into your septic system. The old fish water is perfect for watering plants for the same reason that it is bad for your tank, i.e. it is loaded with nutrients. Also, using it this way reduces the strain on your well and pump since you won't be drawing new water for the plants.

Congrats on moving to the country; life is about to get a lot better!

 

[The Mule]

Cool - and thanks! I love the idea of watering the plants/garden with old tank water, so that will work out nicely. There have been many times I wanted to drain my large tanks out the window of our 24th floor apartment here in Manhattan!

 

[jjohnwm]

Wow! Double congrats! I went through a similar life change many years ago, and it is wonderful, the best thing I ever did. You are moving from the septic bed to the flower garden of life.

If you aren't familiar with it, you must check out an old TV show called "Green Acres"...because that's gonna be you!

 

[The Mule]

Hahaha. Green Acres is the place to be, farm livin is the life for me... I definitely have a good deal of Eva Gabor's character in me, so the adjustment will be interesting. We're planning on splitting our time between NYC and the country for the first year or so (and maybe permanently - two looooong time city slickers here).

 

[deeda]

I am on a private well and also have a private septic system. My well water is kinda hard so I chose to keep African cichlids which do quite well. I also drain my aquariums to the outside back yard for the most part and I'm lucky I have a walk out basement so no need for a pump.

See if you can find out details on any house you are considering buying regarding the well and the septic system before you buy. Different states have that info available online, usually through the health department though it can vary on the amount of info available and how old that info is.

Septic system types also vary greatly depending on local regulations and ground conditions. Ours is called a Jet residential waste water treatment system which uses an aerator to draw fresh air into a chamber to aid the bacteria and does not have the old fashion leach field, just a swale where the discharge water is emitted eventually.