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Home > Archive > Gardening in England > May 2007 > Water from Aquarium Water Changes and Gardening
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Water from Aquarium Water Changes and Gardening
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| funfly3 2007-05-20, 1:25 pm |
| Rich wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I change 20% of the water in my 180L Tropical Freshwater Aquarium every
> week. I'm sure this year we're gonna get a hose pipe ban, and mindful of the
> high Nitrate and Phosphate content of my aquarium water, I've been using the
> old water for my garden, particularly tomatoes and strawberries.
>
> I was covinced this was a great idea until somkeone told me aquarium water
> usually carries salmonella.
>
> Is this true, and if so is it safe to recycle my water in this way ?
>
> --
> http://www.richdavies.com
> http://www.richdavies.com/tropicalfish.htm
> http://www.richdavies.com/profit-pr...recruitment.htm
>
>
oh er I have been sticking mine on strawberries and the rhubarb I have
not died as of yet?
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| David \(Normandy\) 2007-05-20, 1:25 pm |
|
"funfly3" <dontemailme@ntlworld.com> wrote in message news:nN%3i.5748
> oh er I have been sticking mine on strawberries and the rhubarb I have not
> died as of yet?
We put custard on ours :-)
David.
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| funfly3 2007-05-20, 1:25 pm |
| David (Normandy) wrote:
> "funfly3" <dontemailme@ntlworld.com> wrote in message news:nN%3i.5748
>
> We put custard on ours :-)
>
> David.
>
>
now there's a thought rhubarb & custard yummmmm mine needs a little more
growing time for a water change
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| Bob Hobden 2007-05-20, 5:25 pm |
|
"Rich" wrote
> I change 20% of the water in my 180L Tropical Freshwater Aquarium every
> week. I'm sure this year we're gonna get a hose pipe ban, and mindful of
> the high Nitrate and Phosphate content of my aquarium water, I've been
> using the old water for my garden, particularly tomatoes and strawberries.
>
> I was covinced this was a great idea until somkeone told me aquarium water
> usually carries salmonella.
>
> Is this true, and if so is it safe to recycle my water in this way ?
>
> --
> http://www.richdavies.com
> http://www.richdavies.com/tropicalfish.htm
> http://www.richdavies.com/profit-pr...recruitment.htm
I doubt it as I'm still alive and I've swallowed enough water over the years
siphoning out tropical fish tanks. Might be true if you kept terrapins as
they are serious carriers of salmonella.
--
Regards
Bob H
17mls W. of London.UK
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| Alan Holmes 2007-05-20, 8:25 pm |
|
"Rich" <nosp@amnospam.net> wrote in message
news:m-ednXqXZ7nkGs3bnZ2dnUVZ8v2vnZ2d@bt.com...
> Hi,
>
> I change 20% of the water in my 180L Tropical Freshwater Aquarium every
> week.
Why, it is not neccesary!
I'm sure this year we're gonna get a hose pipe ban, and mindful of the
> high Nitrate and Phosphate content of my aquarium water, I've been using
> the old water for my garden, particularly tomatoes and strawberries.
Why waste good water which will do more good being left in the tank?
>
> I was covinced this was a great idea until somkeone told me aquarium water
> usually carries salmonella.
>
> Is this true, and if so is it safe to recycle my water in this way ?
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| On Sun, 20 May 2007 22:28:20 GMT, Alan Holmes wrote:
> "Rich" <nosp@amnospam.net> wrote in message
> news:m-ednXqXZ7nkGs3bnZ2dnUVZ8v2vnZ2d@bt.com...
>
> Why, it is not neccesary!
> Why waste good water which will do more good being left in the tank?
If you check Alan Holmes posting history on Google, you'll see that he's a
fuckwit troll who's best ignored.
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| Les Hemmings 2007-05-21, 3:25 am |
| Alan Holmes wrote:
> "Rich" <nosp@amnospam.net> wrote in message
> news:m-ednXqXZ7nkGs3bnZ2dnUVZ8v2vnZ2d@bt.com...
>
> Why, it is not neccesary!
>
I've bred Kribensis, kept a "general tank" and also kept some very fussy
Discus. A regular water change of 10% to 20% depending on pollutant levels
is normal practice. The idea of the perfectly balanced tank needing only top
ups to replace water lost from evaporation is a myth.
Salts, calcium carbonate, "messenger" hormones controlling growth rates from
the fish and many other pollutants would increase over time without water
changes using water treated to strip out chlorine and heavy metals.
It is down to the hardiness of the common goldfish that gives rise to all
those "stick the fish in a bowl of tap water while you scrub out the tank
once a year" and the practices of lots or careless fishkeepers who stress
their fish (giving rise to disease, it's not normal for fish to regularly
die as many seems ready to accept) that give rise to the "I never did water
changes" stories too.
You are really a "water keeper", keeping the system within certain limits of
hardness and nitrate load to match the water from the part of the world your
preferred fish hail from.
Also, the water coming out of the tank is nutrient rich and is great for
houseplants and food crops. I always used it. Plus, as someone else has
said, swallowed quite a bit too.
More here http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/wchanges.htm
Les
[color=darkred]
> I'm sure this year we're gonna get a hose pipe ban, and mindful of the
>
> Why waste good water which will do more good being left in the tank?
>
--
Remove Frontal Lobes to reply direct.
"These people believe the souls of fried space aliens inhabit their
bodies and hold soup cans to get rid of them. I should care what they
think?"...Valerie Emmanuel
Les Hemmings a.a #2251 SA
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| Charles 2007-05-21, 3:25 am |
| On Sun, 20 May 2007 18:38:04 +0100, "Rich" <nosp@amnospam.net> wrote:
>Hi,
>
>I change 20% of the water in my 180L Tropical Freshwater Aquarium every
>week. I'm sure this year we're gonna get a hose pipe ban, and mindful of the
>high Nitrate and Phosphate content of my aquarium water, I've been using the
>old water for my garden, particularly tomatoes and strawberries.
>
>I was covinced this was a great idea until somkeone told me aquarium water
>usually carries salmonella.
>
>Is this true, and if so is it safe to recycle my water in this way ?
It's safe. the amount of nitrate and phosphate is trivial compared to
what's used as liquid fertilizer. It's a good reuse of water, though.
There are probably some bacteria in the water, but without bacteria we
wouldn't be able to live.
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| Alan Holmes 2007-05-21, 9:25 am |
|
"Les Hemmings" <les.frontalclaire@lobesvirgin.net> wrote in message
news:5bd0o5F2roje2U1@mid.individual.net...
> Alan Holmes wrote:
>
> I've bred Kribensis, kept a "general tank" and also kept some very fussy
> Discus. A regular water change of 10% to 20% depending on pollutant levels
> is normal practice. The idea of the perfectly balanced tank needing only
> top ups to replace water lost from evaporation is a myth.
As I've said before, I kept tropical fish for many years, breeding them for
sale to the local tropical fish shop, and I never, ever changed the water.
If your tank had a proper number of plants in it the water will stay
healthy.
Alan
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| On Sun, 20 May 2007 22:28:20 GMT, "Alan Holmes"
<alan_holmes@nowhere.com> wrote:
>
>"Rich" <nosp@amnospam.net> wrote in message
>news:m-ednXqXZ7nkGs3bnZ2dnUVZ8v2vnZ2d@bt.com...
>
>Why, it is not neccesary!
>
> I'm sure this year we're gonna get a hose pipe ban, and mindful of the
>
>Why waste good water which will do more good being left in the tank?
>
Are you familiar with "Old Tank Syndrome"? Try Google for details,
but when you top off your tank without doing water changes, the solid
density increases. The fish in the tank adjust to the gradual
changes, but adding new fish later on, creates a difficult and
sometimes deadly osmotic pressure adjustment.
I am winging this, but it is what I recall from what I have read.
I have also formed a personal opinion, filters only remove large
solid material, dependent on the mesh. Smaller particles pass
through. Erosion allows larger particles to eventually break up and
pass back into the tank.
I am a minimalist in most things and even use tap water rather than
risk adding chemicals to adjust water qualities. My tanks are all
heavily planted. The plants live on fish waste. I can move fish
between my 5 tanks easily as water condition and temperatures are
equal do to my simple procedures.
>
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| On Mon, 21 May 2007 11:50:43 GMT, "Alan Holmes"
<alan_holmes@nowhere.com> wrote:
>
>"Les Hemmings" <les.frontalclaire@lobesvirgin.net> wrote in message
>news:5bd0o5F2roje2U1@mid.individual.net...
>
>As I've said before, I kept tropical fish for many years, breeding them for
>sale to the local tropical fish shop, and I never, ever changed the water.
>
>If your tank had a proper number of plants in it the water will stay
>healthy.
>
>Alan
>
How do you keep the solid density down?
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| Edward Cowling London UK 2007-05-23, 5:25 pm |
| In message <m-ednXqXZ7nkGs3bnZ2dnUVZ8v2vnZ2d@bt.com>, Rich
<nosp@amnospam.net> writes
>Hi,
>
>I change 20% of the water in my 180L Tropical Freshwater Aquarium every
>week. I'm sure this year we're gonna get a hose pipe ban, and mindful of the
>high Nitrate and Phosphate content of my aquarium water, I've been using the
>old water for my garden, particularly tomatoes and strawberries.
>
>I was covinced this was a great idea until somkeone told me aquarium water
>usually carries salmonella.
>
How does this nonsense start ? Every Saturday I get a mouthful of water
from about 3 tanks as I do the weekly water change, and I've never had
the slightest problem.
By the time it gets onto soil and then gets into the plants any chance
of it being harmful must be about a hundred times that of winning the
lottery :-)
It's good muck for the plants and valuable water. All mine goes on
indoor plants and you should see the size of my Cycads (ooer missus).
--
Edward Cowling "Time Fly's Like an Arrow.
Fruit Flies Like A Bannana."
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| Richard Sexton 2007-05-23, 8:25 pm |
| In article <m-ednXqXZ7nkGs3bnZ2dnUVZ8v2vnZ2d@bt.com>,
Rich <nosp@amnospam.net> wrote:
>I was covinced this was a great idea until somkeone told me aquarium water
>usually carries salmonella.
Do you know how rural septic systems work? In a nutshell, bugs when exposed to air,
die.
There are caveats: I wouldn't do this with tanks fed tubifex worms (they are often harvested
in Mexico and feed on human waste, sometiems contaminated with hepatitis) or in tanks
with sick fish - especially ones that won't eat or are wasting away. This could be
mycobacterium marinum which is contagous to humans. There's a good article about it
in this months TFH.
--
Need Mercedes parts? http://parts.mbz.org
Richard Sexton | Mercedes stuff: http://mbz.org
1970 280SE, 72 280SE | Home pages: http://rs79.vrx.net
633CSi 250SE/C 300SD | http://aquaria.net http://killi.net
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| Andrew Gratton 2007-05-25, 1:25 pm |
| The only way I can see anyone contracting salmonella from a fish tank
would be if terrapins and certain smails were kept in the tank , saying
that there are a lot of different strains of salmonella out there , but all
are just as nasty as each other , watering your garden with water from
your tank, is a more ecological way of using all the nutrients suspended in
the water than just pouring it down a drain where it will end up goint to
a water treatment plant and back through your tap , If your really
worried you can always look at getting an inline UV Filter to kill any
bugs ,
On Water changes I have 4 tanks running and only do water changes every
14 days or so and then only about 25% max
"Richard Sexton" <richard@news.vrx.net> wrote in message
news:f32ivm$bjf$1@news.datemas.de...
> In article <m-ednXqXZ7nkGs3bnZ2dnUVZ8v2vnZ2d@bt.com>,
> Rich <nosp@amnospam.net> wrote:
>
> Do you know how rural septic systems work? In a nutshell, bugs when
> exposed to air,
> die.
>
> There are caveats: I wouldn't do this with tanks fed tubifex worms (they
> are often harvested
> in Mexico and feed on human waste, sometiems contaminated with hepatitis)
> or in tanks
> with sick fish - especially ones that won't eat or are wasting away. This
> could be
> mycobacterium marinum which is contagous to humans. There's a good article
> about it
> in this months TFH.
>
>
> --
> Need Mercedes parts? http://parts.mbz.org
> Richard Sexton | Mercedes stuff: http://mbz.org
> 1970 280SE, 72 280SE | Home pages: http://rs79.vrx.net
> 633CSi 250SE/C 300SD | http://aquaria.net http://killi.net
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"Andrew Gratton" <andy.gratton@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:YCC5i.969$J15.357@newsfe3-gui.ntli.net...[color=darkred]
> The only way I can see anyone contracting salmonella from a fish tank
> would be if terrapins and certain smails were kept in the tank , saying
> that there are a lot of different strains of salmonella out there , but
> all are just as nasty as each other , watering your garden with water
> from your tank, is a more ecological way of using all the nutrients
> suspended in the water than just pouring it down a drain where it will
> end up goint to a water treatment plant and back through your tap , If
> your really worried you can always look at getting an inline UV Filter
> to kill any bugs ,
> On Water changes I have 4 tanks running and only do water changes every
> 14 days or so and then only about 25% max
> "Richard Sexton" <richard@news.vrx.net> wrote in message
> news:f32ivm$bjf$1@news.datemas.de...
Thanks to all who replied, I guess my garden is, as ever, going to be
watered using aquarium waste water, which is rich in nitrate and other stuff
plants love. (and happens to be at a temperature which won't shock the
tomato and pepper plants in the greenhouse ;-) )
--
Rich
http://www.richdavies.com
http://www.richdavies.com/tropicalfish.htm
http://www.richdavies.com/profit-pr...recruitment.htm
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