Fish tank as water source

[Blowmax10]

Here is a noob scenario

you live in the desert and S just HTF. Your water resources have run out when you notice your 55 gallon fish tank and you wonder if you boil the water, is it safe to drink?

The fish are alive and due to your solar back up, the carbon filter is still in operation along with your aeration system

so what do you do to make the water safe to drink?

Is boiling enough?

[Matt In Oklahoma]

For safety yes, for taste, smell no. It will need to be filtered for that.
P.S. if SHTF it would be fish fry night or fish n rice if they are small:)

[BeckyinTX]

I think I would distill it. All that stuff we put in fish tanks to keep the water clear & the fish healthy would concern me. JMHO

[Triple-sod]

Yeah if I were going to have to drink the water from a fish tank I would defiantly go ‘belt and braces’, it’s not worth taking any risks.

It's like the old saying goes....'your a long time dead'

[Matt In Oklahoma]

That might be a little something to "practice" beforehand.

[runtothehills]

It could kill you......................just saying. Too much bacteria, fish tanks are a whole ecosystem. I'd rather drink motor oil out of my 4wheeler.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

What is it that is going to survive boiling? I don't know any bacteria that is harmful after boiling. I can't imagine it being any worse than the stagnent pools of desert water where things die in it. Crypto and them other suckers don't make it through the boiling.
I would still filter it for the chemicals, floaties etc as stated and the smell/taste if possible. Boiling doesnt help that, it still smells/tatse bad.

[runtothehills]

You could still have an allergic reaction to the floaties...........just saying. You need one of these when they are avialble. http://store.survivalcenter.com/prod...Distiller.html

[Benn Gleck]

YYYeeech!!! Fish feces!?!

Treat, boil, filter, In that order, or lather rinse repeat.:)

[monkeybird]

I would have to be really thirsty!

Also, beware of protozoal and parasitic infectious agents. These type of agents require more effort to kill. Also, they tend to collect in and around filters.

[2682nscovell]

Here is a noob scenario

you live in the desert and S just HTF. Your water resources have run out when you notice your 55 gallon fish tank and you wonder if you boil the water, is it safe to drink?

The fish are alive and due to your solar back up, the carbon filter is still in operation along with your aeration system

so what do you do to make the water safe to drink?

Is boiling enough?

I would first filter your water. This is actually an easy process...

Then boiling the water is great. I personally would also use water sterilizers as well. Never a bad thing to double.

But after you do that it would be good to run the water through a cotton cloth.

[Monel]

You have to be kidding me. If the fish are living and the water is not putrified. Treat it just as if it came from a pond. I would pre filter it through a cloth then treat it with bleach letting it sit over night and then run it through my Berkey. You could even just put it in plastic 2 liter coke bottles and put them in the sun for a day or so. The uv from the sun will kill off the bad all by its self. Yes, by all means the water can be used if treated correctly.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

I'm really confused as to why this water is supposed to be worse than pond water? It's just water and yes there are "things" in it. Just do the norm and go on. easy money

[Klayton]

Drain through a simple sand filter, then through a new or atleast not too old carbon filter (removes alot of the odor and taste), then boil for any remaining "baddies" you should then be able to safely drink fish tank water. As mentioned above its nothing more than just a stationary water source (pond).

[arcangel911]

Although fish feces is used in aquaponics and is a incredible fertilizing agent, it is not same for human consumption right out of the tank. In the tank, you do not have the natural elements working for you- wind, sun-heat, and most of all plants and aeration of the water.