I keep a couple of tropical fish tanks and was wondering if the waste
water after water changes would be benificial or harmful to garden
plants, seems a shame to flush 40l a week if it could be doing some
good in the garden instead.
Cheers,
Ford.

Ford Prefect wrote:

I keep a couple of tropical fish tanks and was wondering if the waste
water after water changes would be benificial or harmful to garden
plants, seems a shame to flush 40l a week if it could be doing some
good in the garden instead.

There are some nutrients on there; to seal an old line, "It couldn't hurt."


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

On Apr 27, 8:27 pm, Ford Prefect wrote:
I keep a couple of tropical fish tanks and was wondering if the waste
water after water changes would be benificial or harmful to garden
plants, seems a shame to flush 40l a week if it could be doing some
good in the garden instead.
Cheers,
Ford.

We use fish, bone and bone in the garden, don't we?

Why O Why are you depriving the fish of their water??
A good fish keeper wouldn't change any water in two years.

Fresh tap water is harmful to fish.


"Ford Prefect" wrote in message
...
I keep a couple of tropical fish tanks and was wondering if the waste
water after water changes would be benificial or harmful to garden
plants, seems a shame to flush 40l a week if it could be doing some
good in the garden instead.
Cheers,
Ford.

medico wrote:
OP put back at the top where it belongs
"Ford Prefect" wrote in message
...
I keep a couple of tropical fish tanks and was wondering if the waste
water after water changes would be benificial or harmful to garden
plants, seems a shame to flush 40l a week if it could be doing some
good in the garden instead.

Unless you're keeping marine or brackish water fish the water (and added
fish waste products) should do most plants good.

If your fish like alkaline water, then obviously don't give it to
lime-hating plants, but otherwise it should be fine.

When I had a tropical tank I always put the waste water on the garden
and never boticed any ill-effects.

Why O Why are you depriving the fish of their water??
A good fish keeper wouldn't change any water in two years.

Nonsense. The accumulated waste would kill the fish long before that,
even with good filtration.


Fresh tap water is harmful to fish.

Which is why you put dechlorinator in it, or let it stand for several
hours before adding it if you have a container big enough, as any
sensible fishkeeper knows.

--
Carol
"The glassblower's cat is bompstable"
- Dorothy L. Sayers, _Clouds of Witness_

"Carol Hague" wrote in message
...
medico wrote:
OP put back at the top where it belongs
"Ford Prefect" wrote in message
...
I keep a couple of tropical fish tanks and was wondering if the waste
water after water changes would be benificial or harmful to garden
plants, seems a shame to flush 40l a week if it could be doing some
good in the garden instead.

Unless you're keeping marine or brackish water fish the water (and added
fish waste products) should do most plants good.

If your fish like alkaline water, then obviously don't give it to
lime-hating plants, but otherwise it should be fine.

When I had a tropical tank I always put the waste water on the garden
and never boticed any ill-effects.

Why O Why are you depriving the fish of their water??
A good fish keeper wouldn't change any water in two years.

Nonsense. The accumulated waste would kill the fish long before that,
even with good filtration.

What accumulated waste would that be?

As I've said, I kept fish for many years and none of them died, and the only
filtration was drawing water down through the silt at the bottom of the
tank, and never had a change of water, this was, of course, before
unrequired gadgets were developed and sold to idiots who were lead to
believe they were essential.

I'd just like to remind you that people have been keeping fish in tanks for
over 70 years, without all the modern stuff.

Fresh tap water is harmful to fish.

Never bothered mine, I always left the water for a few days before
introducing the fish.

Which is why you put dechlorinator in it, or let it stand for several
hours before adding it if you have a container big enough, as any
sensible fishkeeper knows.

No such things as declorinators 50 years ago.

Are you by any chance a seller of uneccessary fish stuff?

Alan


--
Carol
"The glassblower's cat is bompstable"
- Dorothy L. Sayers, _Clouds of Witness_

Alan Holmes wrote:

"Carol Hague" wrote in message
...
medico wrote:

Why O Why are you depriving the fish of their water??
A good fish keeper wouldn't change any water in two years.

Nonsense. The accumulated waste would kill the fish long before that,
even with good filtration.

What accumulated waste would that be?

Fish poo. Also, any uneaten food and rotting plant material if you have
plants.

Fish poo breaks down into nitrites, which, if allowed to build up will
eventually kill the fish.

As I've said, I kept fish for many years and none of them died, and the only
filtration was drawing water down through the silt at the bottom of the
tank, and never had a change of water, this was, of course, before
unrequired gadgets were developed and sold to idiots who were lead to
believe they were essential.

Large tank, very few fish? You can get away without water changes for a
lot longer that way.

Otherwise I suspect you're talking just as much nonsense as you do on
the cycling group.


I'd just like to remind you that people have been keeping fish in tanks for
over 70 years, without all the modern stuff.

I was keeping fish about 20 years ago and most of this "modern stuff"
was already available then.


Are you by any chance a seller of uneccessary fish stuff?

No I'm not.

I'm someone who reads up on what I'm doing before I take the lives of
unsuspecting fish into my keeping.

--
Carol
"The glassblower's cat is bompstable"
- Dorothy L. Sayers, _Clouds of Witness_

"Carol Hague" wrote in message
...
Alan Holmes wrote:

"Carol Hague" wrote in message
...
medico wrote:

Why O Why are you depriving the fish of their water??
A good fish keeper wouldn't change any water in two years.

Nonsense. The accumulated waste would kill the fish long before that,
even with good filtration.

What accumulated waste would that be?

Fish poo. Also, any uneaten food and rotting plant material if you have
plants.

Fish poo breaks down into nitrites, which, if allowed to build up will
eventually kill the fish.

As I've said, I kept fish for many years and none of them died, and the
only
filtration was drawing water down through the silt at the bottom of the
tank, and never had a change of water, this was, of course, before
unrequired gadgets were developed and sold to idiots who were lead to
believe they were essential.

Large tank, very few fish? You can get away without water changes for a
lot longer that way.

Otherwise I suspect you're talking just as much nonsense as you do on
the cycling group.


I'd just like to remind you that people have been keeping fish in tanks
for
over 70 years, without all the modern stuff.

I was keeping fish about 20 years ago and most of this "modern stuff"
was already available then.

Yes but not 50 years before that!

Do you have difficulty in understanding the differencee between 20 and 70?


Are you by any chance a seller of uneccessary fish stuff?

No I'm not.

I'm someone who reads up on what I'm doing before I take the lives of
unsuspecting fish into my keeping.

I had the experience of others to give me advice, and they would not have
known about the rubbish wich is on sale today.

On Mon, 30 Apr 2007 13:04:19 +0100,(Carol Hague) wrote:
Fish poo breaks down into nitrites, which, if allowed to build up will
eventually kill the fish.

but it will not remain as nitrite (unless you have a badly overstocked
tank and/or bad fitration)
You of course meant to say nitrate which is the final decay product
which is not especially harmful to the fish, in contrast to nitrite.
Nitrate can only (conveniently) be got rid of by water changes, **

But I agree that water changes can be infrequent but best practice
suggests more often than once in a blue moon.

Alan is right that many fresh water trops can be kept without frequent
water changes, however, in Alan's day not many people were
keeping/breeding for example discus. That is now much more common
(easier) with modern practice.

** unless you have vast amounts of anaerobic reactors
or huge plant growth
or access to ion exchange resins at considerable cost

anyone for going to uk.rec.aquaria.misc ??

On Mon, 30 Apr 2007 11:52:03 GMT, "Alan Holmes" & others wrote:
Fresh tap water is harmful to fish.
Never bothered mine, I always left the water for a few days before
introducing the fish.

That is ok if your water company uses chlorine, it will de-gas ok in
that time,
however a new(ish) treatment is chloramine (which was probably not
much used in 'Alans time' by the companies and is less used by them
today than in the '80s and '90s) and that takes much longer to
dissociate and disperse and is especially harmful to gills.

Which is why you put dechlorinator in it, or let it stand for several
hours before adding it if you have a container big enough, as any
sensible fishkeeper knows.

No such things as declorinators 50 years ago.

Yes there was, but it was known as 'hypo' as used by photographers,
also known as sodium thiosulphate, but even that name has had a modern
politically correct name change.
Sodium thiosulphate is much cheaper than the "de-chlorinater" sold to
fishkeepers who dont know any better.

"Ford Prefect" wrote in message
...
I keep a couple of tropical fish tanks and was wondering if the waste
water after water changes would be benificial or harmful to garden
plants, seems a shame to flush 40l a week if it could be doing some
good in the garden instead.

Why on earth would you want to change the water at all?

Alan

On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 21:00:12 GMT, "Alan Holmes"
wrote:


"Ford Prefect" wrote in message
.. .
I keep a couple of tropical fish tanks and was wondering if the waste
water after water changes would be benificial or harmful to garden
plants, seems a shame to flush 40l a week if it could be doing some
good in the garden instead.

Why on earth would you want to change the water at all?

He's talking about partial water changes, and you know it.

"Clint Snyder" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 21:00:12 GMT, "Alan Holmes"
wrote:


"Ford Prefect" wrote in message
. ..
I keep a couple of tropical fish tanks and was wondering if the waste
water after water changes would be benificial or harmful to garden
plants, seems a shame to flush 40l a week if it could be doing some
good in the garden instead.

Why on earth would you want to change the water at all?

He's talking about partial water changes, and you know it.

Why on earth would he want to partial change the water at all?

On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 19:27:01 GMT, Ford Prefect
wrote:

I keep a couple of tropical fish tanks and was wondering if the waste
water after water changes would be benificial or harmful to garden
plants, seems a shame to flush 40l a week if it could be doing some
good in the garden instead.

Yes, it's fine to use and beneficial.

Ford Prefect wrote:
I keep a couple of tropical fish tanks and was wondering if the waste
water after water changes would be benificial or harmful to garden
plants, seems a shame to flush 40l a week if it could be doing some
good in the garden instead.
Cheers,
Ford.
It's great for the garden. But, what are you doing with 40l changes a week??
When I kept tropicals, I only did partial changes if water parameters were
off the normal. unnecessary changes will stress your fish.
--
ßôyþëtë
London, UK