Well water and aquarium-keeping

[poisson]

Hi all,

Is there anyone out there who has experience with fish-keeping while living in a house that uses well water and a septic system?

I'm planning on moving out within the next year (more space --> more fish ), and I'm considering moving north of Kanata. I think that it would be optimal for me to get water from the city rather than a well, but I'd like to keep my options open. Are there any serious issues that I should know about before considering this option? I'll definitely need to check and see what the water parameters are and not overstress the septic system with too many water changes, but those are the only two things that come to mind.

Any advice, comments, and concerns are welcome (including comments about living in the Dunrobin/Carp/Constance Lake area).


Thanks!

poisson

[Mike L]

Water changes should not stress a properly functioning septic system. The water from the well will likely be hard. Excellent for African cichlids.

[k1ng]

Very curious to hear about this as well!

You could just drain into your yard with a pump?

[poisson]

k1ng,

I think that draining water out to the lawn/driveway would be fine in the summer, but not so much in the winter.

Saving it for watering plants is another option, but it isn't very nice if you've got a ton of water and not enough plants.


Mike,

That's good to know. But I've got a thing for Corydoras, which might be a bit too picky... I'll need to do more research.

[Bob_S]

I am also on a well and as Mike said the hard water is great for cichlids.

Other than Albino Pleco's I only keep cichlids from Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika, they do great with the hard water and high PH.

As for water changes I do not use my septic. My Sump Pump is in the utility room right near the fish tanks so I drain into it. In a very dry summer I have rerouted the lines to give water to the lawn and trees.

As for water changes they are easy as I can take the water right from the tap and adjust the hot and cold to suite.

The other benefit is that the water parameters stay constant, I very seldom check PH or GH.

[Jeff1192]

I ran a 90 gallon planted tank while living on well and septic for years. I did 50% water changes at least once a week. You dont have to worry about your septic system at all if it's working the way it should water changes are not an issue at all. You will most likely have hard water though which can cause issues depending what you want to do with the tank. There were some types of plants that I could not grow at all as the water was too hard.
Jeff

[poisson]

Putting it in the sump? That's interesting...would it be optimal to do that rather than relying on the septic system? Though I guess the feasibility would depend a lot on where the sump and tanks are located relative to each other.

According to google, cories can do fine in hard water, they just hate salt. So the option is indeed still open. I wouldn't be a fan of the calcium deposits; I remember having to deal with those before moving to Ottawa, and the mess was never very fun. But it doesn't seem like a well would be a deal-breaker.

It's also good to hear experienced sources saying that septic systems should indeed be able to hand water changes. Thanks guys!

[StuM]

I live in the Gatineau hills, well and septic. Water is soft due to mostly limestone bedrock.
All my water changes (90, 45, 30, 15) go into septic system with no problem. I believe the size of your septic system determines whether it can handle the extra water. Ours is very big due to large house with 5 bedrooms. Now that it's just the two of us, not a problem.

Water chemistry is good for most plants and I have the 90 as mixed tropical fish (angels, tetra, rainbow, cory, danio, barbs, etc.) , 45 as plants with cherry shrimp. 30 is mixed tropical as well. I have never experienced new fish die off from the water.

Yes, very handy to connect the Python directly to the laundry tub taps.

Any questions, feel free to contact me.

StuM

[wolfiewill]

To reduce water changes try doing the PPS method for a planted tank (perpetual preservation system). Water changes are only necessary occasionally when one or more of your parameters threshold is reached. I use is on all my tanks except for shrimp breeding tanks and do water changes on average of once every four to six weeks. Some low light tanks need a WC on a two to three month basis. And as for hard water, I wouldn't worry about that unless you have livestock that are sensitive to hard water. Plants have evolved by adapting to soft water and usually do very well in hard water, and so do fresh water shrimp.

PS: When I say PPS, I don't mean the online pre-prepared PPS or PPS Pro as they were called the last time I looked. I mean a do it yourself version which costs virtually nothing for the macros.

[Mike L]

Could you please elaborate on this method

My understanding is thst when the carbonate hardness of water is depleted 2 problems follow. Osmoregulation which is the way in which fish control minerals in there body is compromised . Secondly without the buffering effect of minerals Ph can swing wildly causing acute acidosis. Good maybe for some fish but not many.

[wolfiewill]

I'm not sure what osmoregulation has to do with PPS? The DIY version of PPS is to test for nitrates (NO3), phosphates (PO4) and dose back up to the target that you have set for the tank. For instance: A planted tank, with moderately to high lighting, might have a target of 20 ppm NO3 and 2 ppm PO4. Initial dosing would be established using - as an example - Rex Grigg's solutions and dosing levels at start up or after a major water change. After a week the levels should be retested and measured against the targets. If, for example, the NO3 concentration is half of the target then dosing would initially ensure that the NO3 target is reached one day 1, and that the uptake of NO3 during the week is compensated accordingly by dosing again on day 3 and day 5. The phosphate is tested separately, and made up to its target using a separate solution of only PO4, again on day 1, day 3 and day 5. As it happens, this method demands that an iron/micro fertilizer is dosed on days 2, 4, and 6. Ideally, testing again would occur late on day 7 or before lights go on on day 8, and so on each week.
I also do separate potassium dosing with Seachem's Equilibrium. This is due to the very low GH found in the city of Ottawa's water. The GH is usually in the range of 2.5 to 3 ppm from the tap, and so is in need of extra potassium, calcium and magnesium, which is found in Equilibrium. I dose up to a minimum of 4 ppm with this fertilizer right after a water change, and this is all that is needed. This single dose will keep the desired level of GH for the full amount of time until another water change is done.
But there is a final test that I strongly recommend: Total dissolved solids (TDS). There are many fish waste products that are not nitrogen, phosporous or potassium based. And if untested will gradually increase to noxious levels for live stock. I have been doing TDS testing for years now and have set my own upper level, which, upon being exceeded, requires a water change.
However, in my experience, the need for water changes occurs most often when the nitrate levels rise too high / too quickly. Nitrate becomes toxic in the range of 90 ppm and so I never let my tank concentrations go above 40 ppm (my highest target for NO3 is 30 ppm). As for PO4, I have never read that this toxic at any level for any livestock.
And it must be understood that if the above is followed a measurable carbonate hardness (KH) is not required in a fully planted tank. Many of my tanks over the years have had a zero KH, and this is no trouble at all - I rarely test KH any more.

[poisson]

StuM, thanks for the support! It may be a while, but you might get some contact from me if/when I get to that point.

wolfiewill, that sounds super complicated and I'll need to go over it again at some point. Fewer water changes is definitely a plus. I feel like this topic also came up at that plantatholics meeting a (couple?) year(s) ago...

[wolfiewill]

This topic came up at the meeting you attended but I think it does at every meeting here. Ottawa water quality is very good and so makes PPS a much more viable option than in areas where the tap water has high concentrations of nitrogen compounds or any of the other noxious chemicals. So I'm a big proponent of this method especially in light of the recent findings by Tom Barr about his own EI method (precise adherence to WCs and macro concentrations are not necessary as long as you don't go over board with CO2 or nitrate)

But I'd like to stress here that the method only sounds complicated to those who may not have tried it. But those of use who use it are very pleased with how well it works, and it's really simpler than it sounds. It's easier if I show you. With the Rex Grigg's macro solutions and instructions, Seachem NO3 and PO4 test kits, and a GH test kit it's really not that difficult.