City Water

[rahmdog]

Hi, noob to city life, not to the hobby, wondering how big of an issue city water is. I just moved to Houston from New Hampshire where I had well water so I have never had to treat before. If anyone has any experience with this I would greatly appreciate some wisdom. I plan on setting up a Central American tank soon, semi-hard, pH 7.5ish.


Thanks in advance,

James

[myjohnson]

Welcome to Texas!

Which part of Harris County do you live in? Most of the north side is getting surface water from lake Houston.

You made need to mix tap with RO to get the water the way you want it.

I treat my water with a whole house carbon bottle and seachem prime.

[Airjammer]

I'm on city water, and I also treat with Seachem Prime. PH out of the tap is about 8.2. I don't buffer my water at all, and I keep SA/CA and Africans.

[SunnyHouTX]

Welcome rahmdog. Love your avatar from one of my favorite movies of all time.

I concur with the above posters. I use Seachem Safe (think concentrated Prime) to treat my water and have had no issues so far. Ph is 7.6 or so.

[TexSun]

+1 on what the others have posted.

Sunny, how does the Seachem safe compare on price to Prime?

[rahmdog]

myjohnson: I live close to UH, in the 3rd ward, doubt I am receiving water from anything that could be called a 'lake' lol.

Haha thanks SunnyHouTX, I watched it for the first time in years with my buddy and basically narrated the whole thing, died.

TexSun, good lead, what is the cost per treatment with these type of products?

[troy tucker]

Welcome to Houston ...

I live in the west Houston. Ph about 8.2 ... I age my water no sachem. But do more frequent small water changes. The water is to bad to do big changes.

[SunnyHouTX]

+1 on what the others have posted.

Sunny, how does the Seachem safe compare on price to Prime?

It doesn't even compare. 1tsp per 200 gallons is the dose for Safe, so I guess it's pennies on the dollar compared to Prime the way I do water changes

[SunnyHouTX]

Welcome to Houston ...

I live in the west Houston. Ph about 8.2 ... I age my water no sachem. But do more frequent small water changes. The water is to bad to do big changes.

That's a pretty bad if true. I do weekly 75% water changes using Safe with no problems.

[mistahoo]

Welcome to Houston! No clue how the water is in 3rd ward but for the most part my water is fine. I do 90-100% water changes every 2-3 days with a carbon bottle and Kordon's Amquel+ (treatment is 5ml/gal) with no problems. Chlorine gets kinda bad after it rains but my fish seem fine. A gallon jug is about $40 and $35 on sale at petsmart.

[Fancyfish]

Welcome to Houston. I live in SW near South Post Oak and Belt way 8 and I've been having problems with droping ph for the last 6 months. I have to do 50% or greater weekly water changes to keep my water from droping below 6.0. I am on city water and I use a carbon bottle. Our water lines are 50+ years old and are apparently schedualed to be replaced in the next 3 years.

[rahmdog]

that does not sound bad at all, can not wait to get back in the game

[troy tucker]

If true

Our water (mud)changes so much from day to day. I age 24 hour and still won't risk more then a 1/4 change. Every other day. I could do things to make it better. But at this time money is to tight. I have thought about saling off all my stuff...

[LooksLater]

Welcome to TX! And as you see, it depends on where you're at...we're in Spring, WAY north houston. Our tap comes from an aquifer, usually runs about an 8.0 and we treat with Seachem Prime as a gen water conditioner. We've been experimenting with softer water tanks, (brightwell soil and distilled/RO water = 6.0 in that tank) but for the most part we just keep things that will live in the liquid rock!

We've debated running peat in a canister to pull pH down for a SA tank we hope to set up this year, but haven't gotten that far yet...experiment and let us know what works for you!