What are some options for fish keeping in a drought?

I'm from Southern California, so I'm in a predicament for fish keeping.

I'd like to give my fish more frequent water changes, but I fear a large water bill and I'm environmentally aware, so I try my best not to spend too much water for any activity.

I love my fishies and I'm willing to compromise a lot to make their environment as nice as possible while still being within budget. I've already cut out sprinklers and I now water my lawn with the water I change out, but I'm not sure what else I can do.

Nitrates really keep my grass greener than anyone else's lawn, though!

 

If you're concerned about future costs, I guess you could give them away. Maybe getting water shipped to you in bottles is a cheaper option than the water bill, but I don't live in California so I don't know

 

You could do light stockings with lots of plants to minimize nitrates and do minimal water changes, other than that, I don't know. I'm sure there are some ingenious ways to keep aquariums on a tight water budget.

 

Thank you for the replies! I'll look around for prices on water (since I'm pretty sure California has to import most of its own water, haha). My fish might be happier with bottled water since I don't need to add more chemicals to treat it.

I can't seem to find any frogbit around this area, so I'll have to use some anacharis even though we're in a heat wave (poor anacharis). But now that you mentioned it, I could do minimal water changes if I could slow down the nitrate build up and buy some of the nutrients you replenish when you change out the water. Great thing I heard about the walstad method!

 

Maybe a 50 gallon drum from a local hardware store made for catching rainwater would get you some extra water for water changes.

 

Maybe a 50 gallon drum from a local hardware store made for catching rainwater would get you some extra water for water changes.

I'm in southern California too and it doesn't rain! LOL

But seriously, I do 50% water changes on a 55 gallon and a 10 gallon every week and haven't noticed a large increase in my water bill.

One idea - You could catch shower water with an aquarium safe bucket while waiting for the water to warm up then save that?

 

Not helpful but funny story,
I live in southern California too. In the last 6 months I've gone from two betta tanks to 7 tanks of various sizes and am planning a 135 gal tank for the near future. We had previously shut down our pool and turned off all our irrigation to conserve water. Last month we got a notice from the water company saying "we noticed you've been using a lot more water, maybe you have a leak in your line"... LOL No it's just fish.
But anyway I did realize something since I started rearing some molly fry. I use a turkey baster to daily clean the fry tank. Why not use the same method for my other tanks? so I got a couple turkey basters ($1.75 at vons) and use them to clear out extra food and noticeable poops. Then I don't need to do as heavy water changes as often because there isn't a bunch of mess collecting on the bottom. Also adding cleaners like shrimp help with that also.
Use that with the previously mentioned shower water collecting and adding plants.
Also maybe beef up filtration so the water is getting more clean?
I love researching and have been figuring out how to improve my current filtration; like adding ceramic filter media to my HOB filters. It seems to be working great.

 

I don't live in an area with a water shortage but I still hate to waste water. What I do is save the buckets of "used" water and use it to flush the toilet or water the plants. If I have to empty buckets right away I dump it in a garbage can (or rain barrel) so that it's there when I need it

 

I live in CA. I do what Aquaphobia does! I siphon the tank water with a gravel vac into buckets and then water my yard. Plants LOVE fish water and it's not just going down the drain as with the python sink hook-up water changer.

I do have a python changer also but I've found it works just as well for me personally and seems faster to fill up from the sink with pitchers and fill my tank that way. Doing water changes on my 72 gallon is my exercise for the week

 

How many gallons do you end up taking out of your tanks each week? Not exactly sure how it might work, but if you end up having a decent regular amount, maybe find someone who needs water for their work or business. If we were in such a severe situation, I would be happy to take someone's tank water.
Also, just a tip- in a drought, if you are still watering your lawn, cut down on or cease cutting it, if you haven't already. Shorter grass is more fragile and sensitive. I can in no way compare my environment with yours, but when we have a drought or dry summer, the brownest, crispiest lawns always belong to the people who insist on keeping to their mowing schedule.

 

To add to what Jnx said, the greenest lawns are also the ones with weeds in. Grasses naturally go dormant in dry spells but if you've got other kinds of plants, especially taprooted ones, they'll likely keep the lawn looking green even when the grass is out of commission

 

Wow, thanks for the replies on such an old post, haha!

I actually do water my lawn with nitrate water and it's greener than the other yards, haha. I wish I could do the rainwater/bucket idea, but there's currently a ban + inspection on that sort of stuff. Any still water gets a huge mess of mosquito larvae!

Unfortunately I recently cut my grass before reading your posts! Gosh darn it. I guess I'll have to wait it out and feed them more nitrates, haha.

I do a total of about 80% of 55 gallons every week, plus a slider turtle's small pond outside (I frequently change that water because of mosquitoes). Fish water goes straight to lawn, turtle water goes to my backyard's plants and trees.

I'd like to have shrimp, but my cichlids go after everything. I can't even find my bristlenose pleco, so I'm assuming they ate the poor fella. @____@

Having a thick mat of anacharis was helpful in cutting nitrates by about 20%, but I'll still need to grab some frogbit and some other fast growing plant. My cichlids are happily digging nests again, so I don't want to disturb them and put in rooted plants again. They hit their heads on my lucky bamboo, so I don't think I should add more of those!

What are some plants that can be left floating, but doesn't emerse and isn't a stem plant? I'd like something to use bicarbonates since my Southern California water is so hard, haha.

 

Hornwort floats and doesn't emerse I think - but I'm no plant expert! You can leave anubias free floating, too, I believe.

 

Hornwort floats and doesn't emerse I think - but I'm no plant expert! You can leave anubias free floating, too, I believe.

Hornwort takes nutrients through its spikes. If those are above water, it'll dry up and just die. Anubias can be free floating but the stems might get twisted in odd shapes from being turned upside down and such in any current

 

Not helpful but funny story,
I live in southern California too. In the last 6 months I've gone from two betta tanks to 7 tanks of various sizes and am planning a 135 gal tank for the near future. We had previously shut down our pool and turned off all our irrigation to conserve water. Last month we got a notice from the water company saying "we noticed you've been using a lot more water, maybe you have a leak in your line"... LOL No it's just fish.
But anyway I did realize something since I started rearing some molly fry. I use a turkey baster to daily clean the fry tank. Why not use the same method for my other tanks? so I got a couple turkey basters ($1.75 at vons) and use them to clear out extra food and noticeable poops. Then I don't need to do as heavy water changes as often because there isn't a bunch of mess collecting on the bottom. Also adding cleaners like shrimp help with that also.
Use that with the previously mentioned shower water collecting and adding plants.
Also maybe beef up filtration so the water is getting more clean?
I love researching and have been figuring out how to improve my current filtration; like adding ceramic filter media to my HOB filters. It seems to be working great.

I use a turkey baster too, especially for the small betta tank. It's very convenient

 

Bottled water has more chemicals and bad stuff in it than tap water. Don't know how they would effect fish? Watch "tapped" on netflix. You will think twice about bottled water for yourself let alone your fish! I never tried using a rv water filter with used water. Hmm. Wonder if I can invent something to use it to clean old water. I use a rv water filter to fill my tanks. It cuts down on all the additives. Removes the heavy metals and most of the chlorine.