Lake Water used in Aquarium

[TKOS]

Well you wouln't drink water in an aquarium but you often drink the water that is going to be added to an aqauarium. I know I do as it comes from my tap.

I wasn't saying that is the only criteria but it sure is a good starting point.

 

[Danimal]

Thanks for all the input... It was just a thought.

 

[happychem]

Originally posted by TKOS
Well you wouln't drink water in an aquarium but you often drink the water that is going to be added to an aqauarium. I know I do as it comes from my tap.

I wasn't saying that is the only criteria but it sure is a good starting point.

Agreed, I wasn't saying that it was a bad point, just that it may not be so simple as that. Many of the reasons I stated are probably all good reasons for not wanting to drink the water.

 

[silentskream]

look at it from the reverse. instead of asking "would your lake be okay in your aquarium?" ask "would the aquarium be okay in the lake?" if you dont consider temperature a problem, then yes, it would probably be okay. think of all the invasive species that has resulted from people dumping their unwanted fish in the lakes. they're all over the place!


if you Do decide to use a little lakewater, take it from the surface layers of the CENTER of the lake, thats where it's the cleanest usually.


you have to remember that the lake is much bigger than your aquarium, and it wont take nearly as much of a pollutant to throw your aquarium out of whack.


on the other hand. a biology teacher here at ECU takes "samples" from a small nearby lake, and keeps them in several filtered ten gallon fishtanks filled with lake water. he has minnows (which look like zebra danios) and tadpoles, and lots of other stuff.

 

[Traci]

I don't use lake water, but about once a month I collect water in a creek about 10 feet downstream from an aquifer fed spring to take home for water changes one of my cray tanks.

 

[happychem]

Originally posted by silentskream
you have to remember that the lake is much bigger than your aquarium, and it wont take nearly as much of a pollutant to throw your aquarium out of whack.

Yes, but the water coming in would have the same concentration of pollutants. Hence, same amount per volume of water.

But let's define pollutants, what are we talking about when we say that word?

 

[silentskream]

no because pollutants arent always evenly distributed throughout the lake. sometimes the'yre more heavile concentrated towards the edge of the lake, oil like substances are like that. i imagine if there's been a recent pesticide runnoff, it might not have reached the center of the lake yet, and so on.

so the concentration is different depending on the part of the lake you get the water from, at least in some cases.

and by pollutants i'm mainly talking about pesticides and fertilizers.. although i know there's plenty of other things to worry about.

 

[happychem]

Ah, ok, I read ya. Except that I don't think the he has a choice of where to draw from, his intake pipe is probably pretty close to the shore.

 

[Danimal]

Originally posted by happychem
Ah, ok, I read ya. Except that I don't think the he has a choice of where to draw from, his intake pipe is probably pretty close to the shore.

Yes it is... From shore, the intake is probably about 10' out at a depth of about 3.5'.

 

[happychem]

Well, like I said, ferts aren't really an issue unless there's big time agriculture around your area. Pesticides may be, again, depending on quatities.

I still maintain that the biggest danger is the opening of your tank to pathogens and parasites.