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Dedicated to keeping it native.


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#1 Fleendar the Magnificent

Fleendar the Magnificent
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  • Ohio

Posted 25 January 2019 - 02:29 PM

It's 5 F out today, it's going to be dropping to about -14 over the next week and I need water to do a partial change in my tanks. I guess chopping a hole through 4" of ice to get native water for my native fish is considered dedication to "keeping it native". Brought home 20 gallons.

If you love your native fish, you'll give them the best even IF it means chopping holes in 4" of ice!

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#2 Chasmodes

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  • Central Maryland

Posted 30 January 2019 - 11:18 AM

Wow, that is dedicated!  My well water is native...much easier than using an ax or auger!  But, it's a cool idea...lots of native phytoplankton and zooplankton, for sure.


Kevin Wilson


#3 Fleendar the Magnificent

Fleendar the Magnificent
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  • Ohio

Posted 30 January 2019 - 04:41 PM

I did water changes in both tanks yesterday and the day before and then went back, chopped open the hole again yesterday afternoon and refilled 2 buckets. So both tanks are changed and I have 20 gallons more warming up. That should last me 2 weeks until the weather warms back up.

Wish our tap water wasn't so toxic. It's a LOT of work hauling back 5 gallon buckets from across town.



#4 Doug_Dame

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Posted 30 January 2019 - 10:01 PM

I admire your dedication, hugely.

 

But I don't want the new Care Standard for Native Fish Keepers to be that we have to go out and chop through the ice to collect a half barrel of "native water." Or three barrels full, for those with large fish rooms. (And for those of us who live in the deep south, the round-trip just to find the ice would be an almost full-time job.)

 

If you live in the US and have "city water", pretty much by definition it's not "toxic" ... it meets US EPA Drinking Water Standards. (Except in Flint Mi, which is a tragic and stupid example of what not to do.)

 

What are the problems with your tap water that make you go such lengths? 


Doug Dame

Floridian now back in Florida
 


#5 Chasmodes

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Posted 30 January 2019 - 10:48 PM

Chris, you could invest in an RO/DI filter if you want to eliminate these trips.  It does cost money though.  You could also run a line off the RO water and have it for drinking water.


Kevin Wilson


#6 Fleendar the Magnificent

Fleendar the Magnificent
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Posted 31 March 2019 - 03:53 PM

@Kevin,

 

Sorry for the late reply. What's this RO/DI filter? How does it work?

 

@Doug,

 

Our tapwater is horrible. My wife refuses to drink it. Very hard which isn't such a problem, but when I have ever used it in a tank, the pH collapses within 24 hours or less. I have never been able to stabilize the pH in a tank with tapwater. Now when I use native water, nary a problem and it stays balanced and within parameters. Perhaps in the past I haven't let it cycle long enough. However, it goes from neutral to acid extremely fast and even with pH balance chemicals, I still couldn't get it to balance out.



#7 lilyea

lilyea
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  • Peace River Watershed, Central Florida, USA

Posted 31 March 2019 - 05:23 PM

@Kevin,

 

Sorry for the late reply. What's this RO/DI filter? How does it work?

 

@Doug,

 

Our tapwater is horrible. My wife refuses to drink it. Very hard which isn't such a problem, but when I have ever used it in a tank, the pH collapses within 24 hours or less. I have never been able to stabilize the pH in a tank with tapwater. Now when I use native water, nary a problem and it stays balanced and within parameters. Perhaps in the past I haven't let it cycle long enough. However, it goes from neutral to acid extremely fast and even with pH balance chemicals, I still couldn't get it to balance out.

 

RO/DI = reverse osmosis and deionization system.



#8 Doug_Dame

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Posted 31 March 2019 - 09:39 PM

Interesting. (Says a person who doesn't have to deal with your water.) pH instability is usually/often a characteristic of water with little inate buffering capability ... like RO/DI water, for example. Have you looked at a copy of the local water utility's annual water report?


Doug Dame

Floridian now back in Florida
 


#9 Matt DeLaVega

Matt DeLaVega
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  • Ohio

Posted 01 April 2019 - 06:55 AM

My water is the opposite. Coming from a limestone aquifer, it seems to be super stable, and perfect for local fish.

 

Does your water company use chloramine? I seem to remember that it causes some instability.


The member formerly known as Skipjack





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