High Iron Content In Tap Water - Will This Cause Problems?

[wodesorel]

Found out the city has a monthly newsletter to inform people about the going-ons around here. One of the top stories is that there are higher than normal iron levels in the tap water. The newsletter said to take caution in washing clothes, especsially whites because they could be stained. My fiance has lived in this town all his life, and he already knew not to drink the water because it tastes horrible, so I never noticed the problem.

Moved two tanks over last week from my old house, and am hoping to set up a third in the next few days.

The water is hard with a high pH (pH 8.2 and the total hardness is 425+). (Changing from a PH of 7.2 and a hardness of around 300.) I'm going to take it slow with the tanks, changing over to the new water little by little, since we brought enough water from the old house to fill them up here, and I can go back anytime to get more, though don't want to have to keep doing that.

Is the iron content going to be a problem, though? Currently keeping a betta, black kuhli loaches, danios, and a white cloud minnow. I would love to set up the seven gallon with Dwarf Frogs! Everything I've read said they are extremely sensitive to metal ions, so now I'm really second-guessing.

Going to bottled water is not an option - we can't afford it. Dreaming of an RO set-up, but again, the cost is going to keep us from doing that as well. Have a water softener downstairs, but I can't use it in the house - I get chemical burns from the treated water, even at the lowest setting. I could probably set it up on one spigot for just tank water, but I'm not sure how safe it is use since it replaces iron with sodium and all the tanks are freshwater.

Ideas?
Thanks!

 

[Mikaila31]

Going to bottled water is not an option - we can't afford it. Dreaming of an RO set-up, but again, the cost is going to keep us from doing that as well. Have a water softener downstairs, but I can't use it in the house - I get chemical burns from the treated water, even at the lowest setting. I could probably set it up on one spigot for just tank water, but I'm not sure how safe it is use since it replaces iron with sodium and all the tanks are freshwater.

I would look into the water softener, I think it would be your best option. It sounds like something is wrong with it I would check the manual. The water that comes out of it should be safe to drink and safe for your tanks. I also have a water softener that uses salt and have never had a problem using the water for my tanks. You should get the water tested by a water company before you use it though.

cheers,
Mikaila31

 

[starrynightxxi]

high iron probably will not be a problem for your fish. Plenty of fish live around sunken ships etc. Also, people with planted tanks add fertilizers with iron in them, and poking around the internet, there is a theory that iron may improve the coloration of your fish. Don't know the truth of that, like i said, it's only a theory as far as I can tell.

 

[wodesorel]

Okay, so not going to worry about the fish then - never though about how iron is used for planted tanks. Still not sure about the frogs, so I think that'll just be on the back burner until (or if) the city switches suppliers. (The water bill is awful now, I can only imagine how much higher it will be if they purchase water from another city.)

I'll look into getting the water tested once it's been softened. I never thought about it. We hadn't even tested the water parameters with it on, since I tried showering in on two separate occasions (once with the settings as the previous owners had it, and once on the lowest setting available) and both times got chemical burns so bad I had run downstairs, bypass the softner manually, run back upstairs, let the cold water pipes run clean, and rinse off the residue in ice cold water, and still had to slather on the anti-inch cream. (I wouldn't use the hot water until my fiance drained the hot water tank byt taking a few showers.) He however, had absolutely no problems with the softened water whatsoever. I'm betting it's just sensitive skin, rather than something wrong with the softner, though. He's lived with one all his life, and I've always lived with plain hard water. Having it tested before using it on the fish is a great idea! I'm sure someone can give me a much better picture of what's in the water, although I'll have to run that past the pros here because I wouldn't be able to make gills or tails of how it would relate to the fish.

Thank you!

 

[Mikaila31]

I don't know how you plan on getting it tested, but we get a kit from the court house. I think it costs $35 it comes with a info sheet and a small glass container, in a prepaid ups box. It tells you how to get a accurate water sample and has a sheet that you fill out on what you want tested, some tests cost extra. The place we seen it to can do a iron test along with lots of other tests. Then they mail you back the results, this is the only way I can think of that would give you an accurate iron reading.

Here is their site but I think they only do Wisconsin

cheers,
mikaila31