Central Coast facing level 5 water restrictions

[lesley]

Hi enigmatic,

as someone who does not have water supplied and can only use tankwater, I sympathise with your problem.

You can do reduced water changes if your tank is under rather than overstocked for quite a while before probs develop. I have been on reduced water changes for six months. I am currently down to a quarter tank every two and a half weeks. Currently fish are happy, hope this continues!!

I have started using carbon. I have six discus, three medium-large plecos, one small pleco, several bristlenoses, nine cardinal tetras in a 6x2x2 tank. lots of driftwood, some plants, some sand on bottom, no substrate.

We currently save the water we use at home by
showering at work
have bought a front loading washing machine that uses minimal water
only wash clothes when they are dirty!!
don't ever let your tap just run - turn it on and off when you are doing your teeth!
you don't need to flush the toilet every time it is used, apart from obvious uses
if you can only shower at home, use a bucket to catch the water that you run until the shower is warm enough, you can use that to flush the toilet
if you shower at home, a 2 min shower is more than sufficient to soap yourself, wash your hair and wash soap off - everyone should be doing that at the moment regardless of what level of restrictions you are on, it probably won't be long before everyone is on drastically reduced water usage.
you can buy water in our area for $250 for 17000 litres

HTH

[enigmatic]

Lesley,

Where are you if you can't have water supplied?

I'm happy that we're doing everything we can to save water. We moved to the coast prior to the level 4 water restrictions but got straight on to reducing our water usage.

All our toilets are dual flush and have been fitted with a device to stop flushing as soon as you take your finger off the button.

All our showerheads are changed to use less than 7.5 L per minute and showers are kept short.

We've always used front loader washers since coming to Oz (we're Poms) and we have a 5A rated washer. We have 2 children under 3 so their clothes need washing

As many taps as possible have been fitted with water saving devices and we only run what we need.

We had a home assessment by Neco to get a general review of how we could be more efficient and were told we couldn't change anything on the water saving front.

Will look into the purchase of water and research more the use of carbon.

Cheers,

Chris

[lesley]

Hi Chris,

We are in the Strezlecki ranges on the edge of the Latrobe Valley in Gippsland. We will never have supplied water here; apart from a few small lots, like ours, mostly we are surrounded by large farms.

My problems are generally with the stability of the water since rain water does not have much in it! Even though we have really been in drought for almost ten years now, this last winter we did not get enough rain to even get us to dangerously low levels of water storage!

I am hoping that what I have read about carbon adsorbing impurities but then not releasing those impurities once it has adsorbed all it is going to is correct. (I believe that it needs high temps not experienced in the aquarium to release it). Therefore I am operating on the principal that changing it every four weeks will get rid of a lot of impurities in the water. I have duckweed on top (dreadful stuff, but useful) which absorbs nitrates and appears to do a good job. From reading about koi ponds, I am also operating on the principle that vacuuming mulm, pleco waste etc on a regular basis removes some of the need for water change. The plecos and bristlenoses are incredibly great cleaners and happy as long as they have driftwood to suck on. They do produce copious amounts of waste, but it is easily vacuumed.
I use mechanical sponge filters on the filter intakes which can be easily cleaned regularly. I use geoliquid and have recently started using easy-life which is supposedly the same thing, but cheaper. I believe they use bentonite clay which is used in water purifying systems.

HTH

[Robdog]

....you don't need to flush the toilet every time it is used, apart from obvious uses

If it's yellow, let it mellow.
If it's brown, send it down!


I've waited years to slot that phrase into a conversation. My time is NOW!

[Merrilyn]

I've waited years to slot that phrase into a conversation. My time is NOW!

Ohhhhhh Rob........then you have my deepest sympathy

Jokes aside, there are some really good water saving ideas here, so I might make a new thread where folks can contribute their ideas on saving water, and how they are managing with reduced water changes.

Carbon is a good way to remove impurities, but it has a short life. Only a week to ten days, and it needs to be replaced.

[lesley]

Hi Robdog,

that's exactly what I meant!!!

Ladyred, looks I need to change the carbon every two weeks then, RATS, I just need more expense!!

A water saving thread would be good, I could do with some new ideas.

[scott bowler]

as with water saving that would be a great idea lets get one going . does any one have the diverter on there down pipe to catch rain water of the house they are only about $25 at bunnings they seem like a great idea .i know it rains a bit in vic and we have had some rain here in the last few days .i would like to see how they work

[enigmatic]

as with water saving that would be a great idea lets get one going . does any one have the diverter on there down pipe to catch rain water of the house they are only about $25 at bunnings they seem like a great idea .i know it rains a bit in vic and we have had some rain here in the last few days .i would like to see how they work

I've got one of these fitted on one down pipe and have it running into a bin outside. Have been using this for watering the garden.

I got the Nylex one and it is good.

Need to look at getting a proper tank to run to and store the water properly. Currently have a problem with wrigglers in the water as it is exposed.

[scott bowler]

the fish would like the wrigglers i have a barrel out side and net the wrigglers and feed the fish they love them .but the pipe diverter works ok then .i sew it and thought what a geat idea

[enigmatic]

the fish would like the wrigglers i have a barrel out side and net the wrigglers and feed the fish they love them .but the pipe diverter works ok then .i sew it and thought what a geat idea

I wondered about whether to feed them to the Discus but decided against it - didn't want to risk a disease being added to the tank or bringing mozzies into the house if the wrigglers weren't eaten.