E-Man Posted November 30, 2020 Share Posted November 30, 2020 Has anyone ever tried to filter and reuse the old tank water? I know it sounds silly but Im trying to think of a way to reuse the water. I’m on city water and before I set up my tanks my water bill ran around $80 and now I’m in the $170-190 range. I only have 3 tanks (75, 29 and 10) set up for now but have 5 more in the garage just waiting to be set up. Maybe a 55 gallon drum with plants? Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted November 30, 2020 Share Posted November 30, 2020 Water your potted plants/veggie patch. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted November 30, 2020 Share Posted November 30, 2020 its good fertalizer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-Man Posted November 30, 2020 Author Share Posted November 30, 2020 I already do that. I have a barrel with a pump and hose set up. I’m looking for ways to reduce water consumption. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrozenFins Posted November 30, 2020 Share Posted November 30, 2020 dirty tank water is AWESOME for your garden or plants Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted November 30, 2020 Share Posted November 30, 2020 Just now, E-Man said: I already do that. I have a barrel with a pump and hose set up. I’m looking for ways to reduce water consumption. You can reduce evaporation with tight fitting lids. Your water change schedule is going to be the biggest driver of water consumption. Plants will help reduce the need for water changes but that will depend on your stocking levels. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nataku Posted November 30, 2020 Share Posted November 30, 2020 How often are you doing water changes? What %? Whats your stocking like in these 3 tanks? What plants/how many are you running in each tank? Are you running an RO system? Honestly it seems like thats a rather massive price spike for just three tanks, only one of which is good sized. I know different municipalities charge different rates, but running 7 tanks here (29x2, 47, 54, 58, 65, 220) in addition to an RO system, my water bill is usually $21-30 a month, vs the $16 it was per month before tanks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coronal Mass Ejection Carl Posted November 30, 2020 Share Posted November 30, 2020 Water is usually a fraction of a cent per gallon. If you changed 115 gal/week at 0.4 cents per gallon that's less than $2/month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-Man Posted November 30, 2020 Author Share Posted November 30, 2020 Yes there are other factors to the increase. It’s not so much about the % being changed I was just thinking of a way to reuse the water. I water our garden and plants with it now. I live in Washington but it might as well be Oregon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenman Posted November 30, 2020 Share Posted November 30, 2020 There are two issues you'd have to deal with. The first is obviously nitrates. You could put the used water in a large tub/bin outdoors and fill the tub with something like water hyacinths or potted marginal plants like cattails that are very good at pulling nitrates from the water. Once you got the nitrates back down to a reasonable level you'd still have one issue though and that would be the trace elements. They'd be diminished. You could use one of the additives like those used for RO water in shrimp tanks to help replenish them however. Another option would be to collect rainwater to use for your tanks. Your roof likely sheds a ton of water each time it rains, enough to fill your tanks several times over. Collecting it and storing it could be an issue, but it's doable. (I use Rubbermaid trash cans and also Tuff Stuff 110 gallon stock tanks from Tractor Supply Co to collect rainwater.) Rain water tends to be a bit soft and acidic so adding some crushed coral or aragonite to the storage container would be wise. (Unless you're keeping discus, angelfish, or fish that like soft, acidic water.) Rain water needs to be filtered before use due to stuff on the roof mixing in with it, but it can be done. A heavily planted tank with moderate or minimal stocking can be maintained fairly long with no water changes also. I have high ammonia levels in my tap water, so I tend not to do large water changes and my fish are fine, but the tanks are very heavily planted. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-Man Posted November 30, 2020 Author Share Posted November 30, 2020 (edited) I like the idea of rainwater. Living in the north west we have no shortage of it. Also cities assume water in water out so for what you take through your meter they assume it goes back to the sewer so they get you coming and going. I just found an old bill from august (2 month cycle) just as an example. city water 5/8” line $51.97 (not bad) city sewer $87.00 drainage 23.60 (I assume this is rain and/or car wash or sprinklers) total $162.57. (1300 cu ft of water used) Edited November 30, 2020 by E-Man Added info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coronal Mass Ejection Carl Posted November 30, 2020 Share Posted November 30, 2020 Americans typically use 80-100 gal per person per day which dwarfs what most people's tanks use. I have a toilet float valve that sometimes doesn't shut off. I bet that wastes more water than my tanks use. You could always use old tank water to flush toilets. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted November 30, 2020 Share Posted November 30, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, E-Man said: live in Washington but it might as well be Oregon. Our water is wicked expensive people. It is counter intuitive, but it is true. My cost for water and sewer is higher in western Washington in a small apartment as a single person than It was in a house with a lush garden and a 4 person home in Sacramento, California. @E-Man, the struggle is real! 🙂 Edited November 30, 2020 by Brandy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingFishKeeper Posted November 30, 2020 Share Posted November 30, 2020 Maybe distill the water then remineralize it with Wonder Shell? I agree with people talking about watering plants, maybe take the residue from the distillation, then next time you water the plants add it in like a powder fertilizer? Not sure what the possible side effects might be, so don't take my word for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadaAmanda Posted November 30, 2020 Share Posted November 30, 2020 Can you reduce the % of your water change? Nitrate tests should be able to help you determine how much needs to be changed. I'm not sure what the difference would be putting the water in a drum with plants vs putting the plants in the tanks, unless you can't put plants in with the fish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChefConfit Posted November 30, 2020 Share Posted November 30, 2020 My best advice for cutting back water usage in your tanks is do water changes when they're needed rather than on a schedule. Most of us change water to cut down nitrate buildup and keep them at levels that are safe for our fish. Some people with heavily planted/lightly stocked tanks may never get nitrate buildup and then only change water to replenish trace elements that aren't in our fertilizers. Figure out which one you are by monitoring your nitrates. If they slowly build up then do a change when the levels get too high(most people like them under 40 but if it's a planted tank above 20). If they stay stable or you can't keep nitrates in the water then 20% every 4 weeks should be more than adequate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpiritLiefe Posted November 30, 2020 Share Posted November 30, 2020 5 hours ago, gardenman said: Another option would be to collect rainwater to use for your tanks. Your roof likely sheds a ton of water each time it rains, enough to fill your tanks several times over. Collecting it and storing it could be an issue, but it's doable. (I use Rubbermaid trash cans and also Tuff Stuff 110 gallon stock tanks from Tractor Supply Co to collect rainwater.) Rain water tends to be a bit soft and acidic so adding some crushed coral or aragonite to the storage container would be wise. (Unless you're keeping discus, angelfish, or fish that like soft, acidic water.) Rain water needs to be filtered before use due to stuff on the roof mixing in with it, but it can be done. In some places collecting rainwater is illegal. I'd would also look into local and state law just to be sure you won't get in any trouble. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-Man Posted November 30, 2020 Author Share Posted November 30, 2020 I guess I used “reuse” wrong. My fault. What I was going for is a creative way to reuse (there I go again) the water in my tanks. Picture a tub or barrel open top loaded with plants and at the bottom 2 spigots one at the bottom and one a foot from the bottom. All the mulm would collect on the bottom and could be poured out (for the garden) and on the upper spigot you could drain the water and reuse it to do water changes. I’ll be clear I have no issues paying my water bill if I did the easy solution would be to get rid of the tanks. I just like to come up with new ideas or ways to be more efficient. Here are my tanks. I received my plant order on Wednesday from aquariumcoop so re-scraped them on thanksgiving. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michaelvollmar Posted December 1, 2020 Share Posted December 1, 2020 I don't know too much about reusing the water I use aquaponics and I can go almost 2 months in my hundred 50 gallon tank before I have to do a partial water change I have very large fish and this saves me about 30% of water per month Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seized Posted December 1, 2020 Share Posted December 1, 2020 Good to seed new tanks with. And for house plants Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreshwaterFacet Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 I realize this is an older forum post but wanted to show these before & after photos of the benefits of recycling old tank water. I wish I had a photo from the very beginning of the summer when we potted these plants but they were not full and beautiful so we didn’t take any photos. We were super behind and didn’t get the plants purchased or planted until the 2nd week in June (and what was left for us to purchase.. wasn’t the greatest but we hoped they’d bounce back). I had heard Cory mention it on a live stream about recycling water & immediately started using it on these sad looking plants.. the results shocked even my farm raised parents. The plant on the top is the same exact plant just showing its growth from June 17 (after one dose of aquarium water) until now July 17th). Below is two photos taken on the same day but they are different plants that were purchased from the same tray on the same day BUT one was watered with used aquarium water the other was not! Insane! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT_ Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 On 11/30/2020 at 3:53 PM, E-Man said: Picture a tub or barrel open top loaded with plants and at the bottom 2 spigots one at the bottom and one a foot from the bottom. All the mulm would collect on the bottom and could be poured out (for the garden) and on the upper spigot you could drain the water and reuse it to do water changes. This was basically my first thought. Water hyacinth sucks up insane nitrates. I can't even keep any nitrate in my pond so my tank water goes there to retire. I think a big pothos in your hob would help you lower water change frequency too. My LFS sells "pathos"[sic] for 5$/ft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 Is great for scrubbing porch sidewalk outdoor with soap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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