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With it looking increasingly likely that the South East of England will face water restrictions of some sort this summer, I am trying to piece together some sort of information for aquarists dealing with the situation.

Some background

The last 16 months have been some of the driest ever seen in SE England. With less rainfall than fell in 1976, the year of the most severe drought on record in the uk (some background here http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/understanding/1976_drought.shtml)

It is increasingly likely that parts of SE England will face standpipe and rationing restrictions similar to that in 1976.

So, what I'm after is tips from people in low water areas for maintaining aquaria with sensitivity to the environment. Water conservation tips, how to manage aquaria in the context of water rationing, how to minimise water changes and reuse any water that is removed from the tank?

I want to put this together into some type of article in the end, as someone who lives in the SE of England, the pressure is already on.

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I like to think that whoever designed marine life was thinking of it as basically an entertainment medium. That would explain some of the things down there, some of the unearthly biological contraptions

We are on level 3 restrictions. and have been for quite some time.

Drought water sucks!

Its full of ikky stuff and extra chemicals to try to make up for the fact that it has been in the bottom of a dam for 40 years. The chlorine here has at times required 3x the standard dose of dechlor to get rid of it. Sometimes a water change which falls within normal measurable parameters wipes out entire tanks, or brings on great bouts of finrot.

I have taken to not changing water unless i absolutely have to. It sounds bad, but trying to keep standard WC schedules under these conditions was harming my livestock. I use all the 'make it last' chemicals I can find, understock and stuff tanks full of live plants. If i HAVE to change a lot of water, I age it for 3 days after adding chemical dechlor, as this seems to minimise the adverse effects.

Sending fish from drought water to non-drought or vice versa is risky. Send enough water with the fish to allow for a gradual change, or send it in storebought bottled water.

Parasites seem to be more common, especially worms for some reason. I have never seen so many wormy fish as I have this last year.

reusing water is becoming more popular. Many betta breeders are finding fresh tapwater is causing chronic finmelt, and are putting their jar water into giant tubs or foodsafe 44gal drums where it cycles along happily and is dipped into for refilling jars. 2 tubs are a must, one to empty into, and one to take out of, switched every week. The whole lot goes in, mulm and all. If a diseased fish shows up, the emptying barrel/tub is rested. With no fish residing in them, the disease tends to disappear.



For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

You can always use denitrifying agents like tetrabalance and tetra nitrate minus, together with sensible feeding and plants you can reduce the need for water changes a little. In the uk we arent talking a desert here, hosepipe bans etc are really to stop people from hosing down their entire property every five minutes. A huge amount of water in the uk is wasted needlessly for really stupid things, so if I were you I should feel no guilt for performing your regular water changes. Lets be honest, if you wash your bits in a sink instead of taking a bath youve already saved enough water for those monthly water changes. That the authorities have problems storing water doesnt mean you have to. Its really not that desperate yet.

Weve had a dry year its true, but its not like we dont get rain, and weve had flooding for months in some areas of the country. Its the infrastructure to store water and reroute it thats lacking, not the water itself, and considering the amount of money we pay in the uk for such utilities youd really think the government and the water companies would address the situation a little better. Do as you would wih your fish unless of course you end up in a standpipe situation. Its not like you just want to wash your car or something, and rest assured the country is full of people who will sneakily be doing just that.

Having said that, stock up on denitrifying agents and maybe get a good RO filter, and your fish will survive much longer than others might even if water does run out!

In addition, if you collect water in a rain butt, you will be doing something our government seems unable to do, which is store water for when its needed.Simple really.You can do it for less than £30, and half an hour of your time. This is after all the uk, and it will rain, no matter how paranoid people get. If all else fails youll always be able to get bottled water, its not like french water companies wont enjoy exporting millions of bottles of water to us is it?

I'm living in Cambridge, atm. At this rate it is looking increasingly like we WILL end up in a standpipe situation!

I want to have a plan way before it comes to that and every fishkeeper in the South East is having a panic.

I dont know about you, aren't you in the North somewhere? No problems up there, it's just East Anglia that's getting less rainfall than Egypt!

Edit - no rain butt, I'm living rented. NOt allowed to change the guttering config!

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I like to think that whoever designed marine life was thinking of it as basically an entertainment medium. That would explain some of the things down there, some of the unearthly biological contraptions

lol, im a south-westerner, gloucestershire. It rained heavily last night and most of today. Sneaky tip, buy large rain butt, fill with tapwater. Be smug.Hosepipe bans mean that you can wash your patio down but not water your plants. Ironic laws we have here.

Funny really , we have one of the most diverse climates anywhere in the world. When it snows we panic. Not something canadians for example tend to do.We get sun, we all burn and old ladies expire in droves. Not something most of the equatorial countries of the world seen to have a lot of trouble with. 6 months of the year its dreary, cold,misty,windy, and it rains,and we get regional flooding to the tune of billions of gallons and we dont store water.

No wonder were not an empire any more

Get a decent RO unit and then its only a matter of finding a few litres to top up with every few months.You might also be able to use water used for cooking etc once its cooled and filtered. At worst well only have to wait until the summer storms in june/july. If you use biodegradable products like shampoos and washing up liquid its possible to let it stand, then filter out the sodium later. Then you can use a ph neutraliser, and you can use it on plants or fish. Failing that, have a negotiation with the landlord, given the circumstances he might be reasonable, especially if you pay for it. Given global warming, this IS going to happen more often.

Two words about RO.....waste water. In drought conditions I'd use DI, no waste water. With RO a good amount of waste water is about 4 times that which you collect as pure water. Sounds awful wasteful under drought conditions.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Pity Tiny Clanger can't run a pipe from my home ... just lately it's been lashing down where I live!

Mind you, our local rain has quite a bit of work to do washing all of the dioxins from the local chemical plants out of the air, so it's utility value for aquaria is somewhat moot


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002