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My girlfriend will be setting up a new tank at her place soon and she has rusty water (iron?). The water has a brown tinge to it, and I assume this is harmful to the fish (and also not that nice to look at).

Is there an easy way to remove this from the water? Will the filter remove the color? I work at a place where I can have the water tested for copper/iron/manganese.

Any info would be great.

Thanks in advance.

Hi,
You probably do want to test the water and see how
much of the iron is particulate, and how much is
actually present. We have a well, and when it was
first drilled we had "rusty water." However, after
running it on and off for a day, the water cleared
up, visually. However it tested out at 0.038 which
is 0.008 over our EPA standards. For drinking
purposes, we went to the local HomeDepot and picked
up a small system to remove the iron. Later we
will have to install a full supply system as continued
washing of clothing would eventually tinge the whites,
rusty.

My concern is the family and not the fish. Once the
water is good enough for family use, it is more than
adiquate for fish use.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Where I live, i once had a very dry month, and the lake, where we got our water, was lowering in volume, to a degree that there were water usage limitations. A result of the low water level caused a brownish tinge to the water. I am not sure what it was but i don't quite think it was because of iron. Where your living, is it rather dry and hasn't been raining for quite a long time?

Well I'm not 100% sure it's iron - that's what her parents told me. They've had it since they moved in, apparently it's from the old pipes in the house (100+ years old).

I'm not sure if it's actually safe to drink or not; maybe filling a few jugs of water and transporting them here would be the best idea, unless there's an easier way to remove it from the water.

Thanks

Anyone have any suggestions on removing metals from the water?

I don't know if there are any wide ranged chemicals to remove the stuff. Maybe if there's a way to find out, that'll pin point a chemical you may want to use. You said you work at a place where you can get the water tested right? So do that. Also, maybe you should try keeping a fish or two using that water, and in any sign that your fish are acting weird, and your sure your not doing anything wrong, then take them out.