My pines and conifers LOVE old aquarium water

[penumbra]

Recycled dehumidifier water has concentrated contaminates, not sure it would be the best.

I've been doing this for over 10 years and my trees look and grow great.

I also did this for many years with no issues. Now I have a sump that keeps the humidity lower and have no need for one.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Let's see pics of those tanks.

Tough to get FTS where mine is located, but here are a few close ups.

 

[johng]

For those of you with Koi or Goldfish ponds you can get the same benefits. I just drop a sump pump connected to a garden hose in my koi pond and water from the pond. Good on both ends...forces water changes for the benefit of the fish in the pond and of course the trees love the poop water!

 

[ShadyStump]

LOL.
Are the fish trying to jump out of the water Shady?
My mate let his tank water get so bad all his fish were trying to jump out of his tank.
I helped him do a 50% water change and then 2 days later, another 50% which helped to bring his water parameters back down to acceptable levels.
If the filter's not up to it, all sorts of bad things can happen to your water.
If thats the case, increase how often you do your water changes and change larger volumes too because this is the only way to keep your water reasonable when your filter isnt up to the job
Hope that helps you and the kids out

Not yet!
It's just a bunch of 25¢ goldfish my daughters brought home one day, and then the snail I got their little brother because he felt left out. Plenty hardy enough to handle it.
The tank has only been going about 6 weeks, so we're still getting established, but beats the hell out of the pickle jars they were in for the first month. Problem really is that I was too broke to get a proper filter at the time, so I improvised one with some coffee cans and a pond pump I had lying around. Does a great job polishing the water, but that's about it.

 

[GGB]

been highly considering getting a nice fancy ranchu goldfish just for this reason. I switched from rain water to hose water last year and the trees are visibly annoyed, didn't expect it to be that noticeable. I took the patch off my gutter and am back to using rain water but it's not reliable and I always end up with a bunch of pollen and roof silt in the bucket

 

[Gabler]

Not yet!
It's just a bunch of 25¢ goldfish my daughters brought home one day, and then the snail I got their little brother because he felt left out. Plenty hardy enough to handle it.
The tank has only been going about 6 weeks, so we're still getting established, but beats the hell out of the pickle jars they were in for the first month. Problem really is that I was too broke to get a proper filter at the time, so I improvised one with some coffee cans and a pond pump I had lying around. Does a great job polishing the water, but that's about it.

That explains the water quality issues. You need to build up the bacteria population on the filter media to break down the ammonia and nitrites. Six weeks isn’t much time for that to happen. It’s generally a good idea to run the tank for six weeks before introducing fish, putting food in the tank as though there were fish. The food decomposes and feeds the bacteria so they can properly colonize the tank. If you use a public water supply, be sure to use a fish tank water conditioner to neutralize the chlorine and chloramines from the water. They’re harmless to fish, but kill the bacteria. The water conditioner comes in a yellow bottle at the pet store.

 

[ShadyStump]

That explains the water quality issues. You need to build up the bacteria population on the filter media to break down the ammonia and nitrites. Six weeks isn’t much time for that to happen. It’s generally a good idea to run the tank for six weeks before introducing fish, putting food in the tank as though there were fish. The food decomposes and feeds the bacteria so they can properly colonize the tank. If you use a public water supply, be sure to use a fish tank water conditioner to neutralize the chlorine and chloramines from the water. They’re harmless to fish, but kill the bacteria. The water conditioner comes in a yellow bottle at the pet store.

Yeah, we've been doing the water conditioner from day one, even when they were in the pickle jars, and I just added the water from those to the tank along with the gravel from them. I thought that would be enough to inoculation the tank, but over time those measures were still out paced.
Doesn't help that it's 10 fish to a 20 gallon long.

My dad isn't getting around so great recently, so I'm trying to motivate my kids to help him out by caring for his garden in exchange for housing some of their fish in his little ponds.
Until then, I need to find some activated charcoal.

 

[Gabler]

Your readout makes my kids'goldfish tank look like a stagnant swamp. I'm virtually maxed out on everything, though the pH is staying neutral.
I water with the fish water routinely. Helps with water changes; just top it off now and then. My 11yo's lucky bamboo isn't looking great, so I'm hanging them in the tank until the color comes back.
I really need to sort out the filtration.

I hate to rain on your parade, but pH doesn’t matter much for goldfish. Those pH adjusting kits do more harm than good. It’s more important to have a stable, consistent pH than to get it within a specific range. For goldfish, as long as its not below a 5.5 or above an 8.5, you’re probably fine. If your pH is a 6 and it’s always a 6, that’s better than fluctuating between a 6.5 and 7.5.

If you decide to start keeping discus, then you’ll want to buffer the pH to keep it consistently low. Driftwood is good for that. If it’s still too high with driftwood, add some oak leaves. If the water doesn’t look like tea, then it’s not acidic enough for discus. I guess you could say they’re the azaleas of the fish world.

 

[ShadyStump]

been highly considering getting a nice fancy ranchu goldfish just for this reason. I switched from rain water to hose water last year and the trees are visibly annoyed, didn't expect it to be that noticeable. I took the patch off my gutter and am back to using rain water but it's not reliable and I always end up with a bunch of pollen and roof silt in the bucket

I have a couple rain barrels too, and they certainly aren't enough around here. They still help. Effectively, though, I only have one. The rain gutters in my front yard always get clogged with tree litter, so nothing ever collects. Still trying to solve that.

In your case, though, you might do alright with just a screen over the bucket.
I'm the end, the roof silt will settle to the bottom, and I don't imagine the pollen will do much harm, so maybe just a net to skim the surface before you water.

 

[Gabler]

… housing some of their fish in his little ponds.

Ponds are ideal for goldfish, koi, and other cold-hardy species. Keeping fish indoors in tanks poses similar problems problems to keeping bonsai trees indoors under lights. It’s doable. I did it for over twenty years. Then I saw firsthand how much better pond fish fared than tank fish and gave up on tropical fishkeeping. Its just that much easier to keep the fish healthy outdoors.

 

[ShadyStump]

I hate to rain on your parade, but pH doesn’t matter much for goldfish. Those pH adjusting kits do more harm than good. It’s more important to have a stable, consistent pH than to get it within a specific range. For goldfish, as long as its not below a 5.5 or above an 8.5, you’re probably fine. If your pH is a 6 and it’s always a 6, that’s better than fluctuating between a 6.5 and 7.5.

If you decide to start keeping discus, then you’ll want to buffer the pH to keep it consistently low. Driftwood is good for that. If it’s still too high with driftwood, add some oak leaves. If the water doesn’t look like tea, then it’s not acidic enough for discus. I guess you could say they’re the azaleas of the fish world.

The pH has been fairly stable on it's own actually. I've done nothing to adjust it.
Hardness is through the roof, but they don't seem to mind. Nitrites are also on the extreme end, but nitrates have been going down fairly steadily, so I think our culture is finally getting established.

The past few weeks the fish have been staying away from the surface, and looking healthy and active, so I'm no longer panicking.
Just tested again, the 5 in 1 test strips is all: GH maxed at 180, KH around 120, pH 6.5 to 7, NO² maxed at 10, NO³ about 80.
Nitrates are about where they were last weekend. Realized I was over watering for the sake of the fish, so the water hasn't been changed much the past week. Think I'll dip a couple buckets out to water my outdoor trees now that the buds are swelling.

 

[penumbra]

Doesn't help that it's 10 fish to a 20 gallon long.

That will not end well my friend. I have three 3-4 inch goldfish in a 65 gallon tank with two small pleco and two dojo. I would not add one more fish.

 

[ShadyStump]

That will not end well my friend. I have three 3-4 inch goldfish in a 65 gallon tank with two small pleco and two dojo. I would not add one more fish.

I am well aware, hence the plan to move some to mi my dad's pond.

 

[Emeraldtarpon]

Let's see pics of those

My smaller low tech...yet to place some taller plants along the back.
The driftwood on the left is fake...the brown piece on the right is Bogwood.
9 x Anubias plants (Left side of tank - you can see the roots extending towards the gravel)...they will all do this eventually : )
15 Neons
6 Scissortail Rasboras

and a partridge in a pear tree!

 

[cockroach]

Various hillstream and rheophilic fish. Then some guppy kine breeding