Amnagrla

Okay. My latest kick is trying my hand at green living. I'm riding my bike more, using only eco-friendly cleaners... all sorts of stuff. But I thought about it.... Fishtanks really aren't "Green"...

We take animals out of their habitat, have them flown all over the world, put them in our own houses and feed them artificially made food and treat their homes with chemicals. AND use tons of water just keeping them.

I love my fish and I will not get rid of them. That being said... it's not exactly a "green" hobby. Here are some ways I was thinking making it a little better but I definitely need some help.

Looking for more locally produced food.
Feeding them more cucumbers and peas, all from local farms.
Rinsing the filter out in dechlorinated water to extend it's life. Possibly looking for a better filter idea that isn't disposable? or as disposable?
What about not using dechlorinator? I know if you let water stand for 24 hours that does it. Would that work?
Using a timer for your light so it's not on all the time.

Any other ideas?

Lonely Angel

I just use plain filter pads instead of the pre-made filters with carbon. They're a permanent (or nearly permanent) replacement to regular filters. When I perform water changes I'll put it in the bucket of "old" water and swish it around to dislodge most of the waste and it's ready to use again.

Sitting water overnight gets rid of the chlorine, but not the chloramine. i would strongly suggest you keep using dechlorinator (especially if you're using city water)

Only my planted tanks have the light on all day; the others get enough indirect sunlight for several hours a day that I can turn off the light at that time. If you take note of these times on a wekend or holiday when you're home all day, you can set a timer to turn the light off during that period.

I pour the old tank water onto my lawn or in my flower pots, so the water doesn't really go to waste as this saves me from turning on the sprinklers so often.

Good luck with your green fishtank!

Dino

As about a third of the fish species we keep are endangered species and we network with other hobbyist to keep the species alive and geneticly viable, I think Ross and I are doing our part to be green.
We use no water conditioners ( we are on a well), use live food we raise here on our property as part of their food and use the sun for 90% of our lighting.

I would NOT recommend skipping the dechlor.
Chlorine, which does disapate, is no longer being used by most cities.
It has been replaced by chloroamine, which DOES NOT disapate if left sitting.

joy613

Start a garden and use the water from the water changes for irrigation or get house plants that are easy to grow. Use fluorescent lights they are cooler and use less power. About setting the water out to declorinate the problem with that is a lot of the water treatments actually take out the heavy metals. You can make your own fish food as well if you want to.

Amnagrla

Thanks. :-)

I won't stop using my Prime.

Would the water be okay for gardens? I would think that it would be bad for it...

Butterfly

The water is great for gardens- both flower and veg. Think of it as liquid fertilizer
Carol

angelfish220

Well, it already has the nitrates in it for plant growth. It is really a great thing for gardens. My tank water is used to water my garden, which has peas and cucumbers that I feed to my fish Its just a circle going round.

COBettaCouple

The nitrogen cycle is like a compost pile in a way.. end result = nitrates and fertilizing for plants.