Drinking water

[Dizzy]

Which is the better drinking water,out of a tap or from a rain water tank.
I am a bit worried what's inside the tank even if the water looks crystal clear. Cheers Dizzy

[Buzzard-1]

If the algae wasn't growing in the tank that's when I'd be worried, The chemical in the water is more of a concern,

[Craig52]

Dizzy Hi,I prefer tap water,but a lot of people might not agree with me for reasons of thier own.I did install a 2 thousand litre water tank for the garden and the birds and also for a large fish pond.The birds became ill and fish became covered in white cysts and most died.I was lead to believe that wild bird droppings from seagulls,crows,starlings etc was the problem as they were washed into the tank and multiplied then passed on to the birds/fish.Tap water is treated for most bugs but i still worry about the fluride in our water.So far there's no apparent problems yet. Cheers Craig

[jusdeb]

I think water tanks take time to establish the floaties , greenies and unseen micro whatsits that keep the water clean and safe to drink .

[Tintola]

Me thinks that everyone is a little too concerned about the drinking water. Wild birds drink from roof gutters full of wrigglers, muddy puddles, green dams, fish ponds, running creeks, etc, all to no ill effect. All of my birds get tank water or water pumped directly from a running creek with cows and horses drinking upstream, with out any problems. They do have an immune system and covered tanks with no sunlight are pretty safe. Of course clean water is important and either tap or tank water is fine for birds as long as it is clean. A word of warning, tank water can be fatal to fish as it is too pure. Fish need a certain amount of dissolved salts and calcium otherwise their mucus membrane on their skin breaks down. Tap water can also be fatal to fish because of the "purifying" chemicals added to it.

[Pete Sara]

Dam if you do dam if you don't , I am pretty much with tintola on this one , I personally use scheme water as I dont have tanks set up yet , but if your giving fresh water everyday it shouldnt be a problem .
I have read somewhere that rain water is better for gouldians than scheme water, but the other debate is , do you scrub the water dishes or let them be. Personally I let the algae grow on the side , wild birds drink from worse and with no side effects. The only time I ever scrub the dish is if its new , just had wormer in it or its once a year clean . But I also use the glazed terracotta dishes , they are less porus and the algae spores find it harder to hide .. pete

[Tintola]

I believe that algae is really quite good for the purity of the water and like Pete I don't meticulously scrub the water containers clean. Algae is a living plant and as such absorbs ammonia, nitrogen and other impurities in the water. It is used in water purification plants for that very purpose. Having said that I do change the water daily.

[spanna]

I believe that algae is really quite good for the purity of the water and like Pete I don't meticulously scrub the water containers clean. Algae is a living plant and as such absorbs ammonia, nitrogen and other impurities in the water. It is used in water purification plants for that very purpose. Having said that I do change the water daily.

Spot on. Sewage treatment plants?? Algae. Removes all the c*** from the water, quite literally!!

I had a couple of my younger cousins over one day, who I gave some young finches to years and years ago (all males, as they didn't want to actually breed them). When one of them saw the water bowls, he said "Geez Luke, your water bowls are gross, my Mum would kill me if we let ours get that green!!"
I then proceeded to tell him how algae acts as a natural filter and absorbs some of the excess nasties. His response?
"Can you tell Mum?"

Back on topic though, I use scheme water with no ill effects, but have been meaning to see how the birds like bore water for a while now, just don't have any outlets near the aviaries at present, so haven't got around to it. As long as it is changed daily, I think most water sources are fine for our finches! You can get decent filtration systems for rainwater tanks as well.

[Craig52]

Excuse my ignorence Spanna,what is scheme water.Is it water with all the additives or what.

[Pete Sara]

define additives ? yes he means out of the tap water. I would rather drink that than some of the bottled water available....pete