rain barrell &goldfish

[Meesh]

I think PC meant not to feed it to chickens only if I added chlorine bleach to it as he was suggesting.

I must be even slower than usual tonight. It still reads to me as 'add chlorine, then use it in the garden'. I can't figure out why you'd use chlorine in the garden. Or use chlorine for chickens.

Maybe the non-chlorinated possibly frog infested well water that I've been drinking is blowing my mind.

Certainly no 'diss intended to PC, and sincere apologies if my post came across that way.

Cheers,
Michelle​

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Quote:
I wouldn't use it for chicken water, only for the garden. Chlorine just evaporates
so quickly and is so effective. It's one of the only chemicals I'll keep in my house.
I believe chlorine is illegal in Germany due to it being a know carcinogen. I love
my fresh well water.

You don't add chlorine right before watering the chickens or the garden. LOL

This post was on page 2, where they were discussing using chlorine.

-Kim

 

[PurpleChicken]

No diss taken here. This is a good thread and now I wanna go out and buy a few
barrells and put minnows or goldfish in them.

Chlorine bleach was just a suggestion responding to concerns about skeeters.
It is an affective solution if you want close to sterile water in your barrels but I like
the idea of a natural solution like fish more.

Dogs, chickens, and gardens can handle most of the parasites that can grow in
a barrel of water. It's too bad our(human) systems would probably get sick
if we consumed water from an organic source, be it a barrel or pond.

 

[PAChickenChick]

Just wanted to let ya all know that I have a survival book that says in a pinch you can sterilize rain water for drinking by adding 8 drops of regular bleach per gallon to the water.

Now before you go and do this...let me add it also says if you are collecting rain from your roof gutters you need to let it rain for about 20 mins first so that any debris gets washed off your roof BEFORE you start collecting it in your barrel.

But my point was drinking small amounts of diluted bleach will not hurt you at all.

The book also says if you want to drink your collected water without waiting for the 20 mins. to wash off the roof you can filter the collected water thru a pillow case that has a sheet of denim down on the bottom and then either boil the water or use the bleach. (don't use scented bleach though) Boiling is best.

 

[Meesh]

If you just use up the water in your barrel every couple of weeks by watering it all out into your garden - there won't be mosquitoes hatching out of it (the life cycle is 14+ days).

You can drink bleach or iodine (used in water purification tablets for backpacking). I always just drank the water when I backpacked. That 'splains some things.

Thanks for being cool, PC.

Cheers,
Michelle

 

[MelissaTXRn]

We have put goldfish in our cow's water troughs forever. They keep it crystal clear!

 

[RachelJG]

Those of you saying your fish never get too hot (if you're still here)... Do any of you live in a climate comparable to east Texas? I'm guessing not. I like the idea of getting fish that would reproduce and double as chicken treats, but closely monitoring the temp of my rain barrel for 6 months out of the year is not an option. My barrel is also in full sun (next to the garden... logically).

 

[cassie]

I used to keep goldfish in my stock tanks to keep the water clean. I lived in the San Joaquin Valley of California and summer temperatures were very hot. I put water plants such as anacharis for the fish to hide in and to give them shade in the bottom of the tanks. I would plant the plants in a small container with soil. I put gravel on the top of the dirt so it wouldn't float out when the pots were lowered in the tank. Worked for me.

 

[SavageDestiny]

I used to keep goldfish in my stock tanks to keep the water clean. I lived in the San Joaquin Valley of California and summer temperatures were very hot. I put water plants such as anacharis for the fish to hide in and to give them shade in the bottom of the tanks. I would plant the plants in a small container with soil. I put gravel on the top of the dirt so it wouldn't float out when the pots were lowered in the tank. Worked for me.

I find it kind of funny that people are using goldfish to keep water clean. Goldfish are some of the dirtiest fish out there- HUGE ammonia producers! They require double filtration in a tank unless the tank is absolutely huge.

Out of curiosity, how big were your stock tanks and how many goldfish did you keep in them?

 

[RachelJG]

I used to keep goldfish in my stock tanks to keep the water clean. I lived in the San Joaquin Valley of California and summer temperatures were very hot. I put water plants such as anacharis for the fish to hide in and to give them shade in the bottom of the tanks. I would plant the plants in a small container with soil. I put gravel on the top of the dirt so it wouldn't float out when the pots were lowered in the tank. Worked for me.

Thanks Cassie! I was also wondering... Did you have to feed them in addition to the mosquito larvae they cleaned up?