dan78 Posted February 2, 2013 Report Share Posted February 2, 2013 I was wondering is there anyway which I can recycle the old fish water. I was thinking that if there's a way that I could chlorinate the water again like with something similar to pool chlorine then filter the water to clean it up and kill all bacteria. After water is cleaned I would add some water aged or equivalent to kill chlorine which by rights should put me back close to having usable water for fish. Is this correct or am I getting to ahead of myself with trying to save water. Any thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul Posted February 2, 2013 Report Share Posted February 2, 2013 Hi Dan. The bacteria will not be the problem that prevents you from recycling tank water. The issue is the waste products that build up in the fish tank. In particular ammonium/ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. You cannot just remove these by just chlorinating the water. In nature this is normally done by plants and bacteria. It's a little complex.... but water recycling systems like this have been described.... though I doubt it's practical for most hobbyists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6ftaquaman Posted February 3, 2013 Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 I agree with paul, its way too complicated for the average hobbyist to achieve. There are other ways to recycle though, for instance all my drained tank water is used on my plants and the water is also a great fertilizer on the plants, they love fish tank water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan78 Posted February 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 (edited) Thanks Paul and 6ftaquaman. I did expect it not to be that easy to recycle but at least my plants are getting a good drink. Edited February 4, 2013 by dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zhong89 Posted February 3, 2013 Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 if you're worried about cost have a look at your bill carefully most of your water bill should be service charges and only a little bit should be water usage or sewage disposal. My water bill water $140 and only $20 water actual water usage and sewage disposal for the 3 months I was using it. I found to reduce water usage (or just my laziness ) I use plants. I simply stuff as much as I got of java moss/fern into my tanks and my water quality stays better for longer. I'm a civil engineer and dabbed a little bit into waste water management in uni it's really not worth the effort for a hobbyist. It needs a great deal area and effort the end result is not desirable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan78 Posted February 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2013 Thanks joan. I have always had some live plants in my tanks, elodia, wisteria and grass pots (sorry hope spelling is correct) and usually only a couple of each till the fish demolish it to nothing. After reading a lot of posts I'm in the process of getting my first bettas for breeding hopefully soon. When decorating my tanks I'm going more natural plants for that exact reason trying to keep the water cleaner longer so when the weekly or fortnightly water change happens the water will still be good (here's hoping). Now the research on aquatic plants is happening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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