Water quality in Fenton

[WES]

Hi everyone, My wife and I may be buying a house in Fenton. I have heard that the water quality in Fenton is not the best and I am worried about my fish making the transition. Anyone on here from the Fenton area that keeps African cichlids?

[Ron]

Is this city water or well water? If well water, I would suspect it's alright, just potentially hard/high pH which might make is less desirable for some new world species, but not African cichlids.

[Marty]

If it's city water, you should be able to contact the city and get a report with the water parameters.

If it's well water, see if the water is on when you do a walk through and bring a bottle to collect a sample.  Or if there's a neighbor close by, ask for a sample of theirs.

[GrizzlysDad]

If it's city water, you should be able to contact the city and get a report with the water parameters.

If it's well water, see if the water is on when you do a walk through and bring a bottle to collect a sample.  Or if there's a neighbor close by, ask for a sample of theirs.

If it's a well, you cannot rely on the neighbors' water. Even though water tables may be similar with a neighbor, each well can be different.  Even drilling a new well on the same property doesn't guarantee the same water quality.

You also have to consider if it is a community well such as  is the case in Waterford. Even though that is a well, they treat their water and frequently it has more chlorine in it that Detroit City water.

[African cichlid Keeper]

Hi everyone, My wife and I may be buying a house in Fenton. I have heard that the water quality in Fenton is not the best and I am worried about my fish making the transition. Anyone on here from the Fenton area that keeps African cichlids?

There a breeder i know in fenton that breeds african cichlid with no problem.

[WES]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the help. It is well water and I realize that normally my Africans should do better in it than they do in the city water I have now. When the realtor (who lives in Fenton ) said "don't drink the water" because we have "bad water" here in Fenton I began to worry that it may be more than just high PH or mineral content. It sounds like my best option may be to get a bucket of this "bad water" so I can test it for myself. I hope it works out, my wife absolutely loves the house..... I'm sure gonna miss her if that water doesn't work out

[mightieskeeper]

Hey Wes if your new well comes up with to much unwanted minerals, you can buy an RO unit to filter it.  It will make your wife's drinking water better too!

[WES]

Hey Wes if your new well comes up with to much unwanted minerals, you can buy an RO unit to filter it.  It will make your wife's drinking water better too!

I thought of that but I have about 50 tanks that total over 2000 gallons. Do you think an RO unit will be able to produce enough water for me to do my weekly water changes?

[Ron]

Not sure how much googling you've done, but here's an article only a year old that might help shed some light on the water situation up there: http://fenton.patch.com/articles/fenton-water-could-improve-with-better-source

[Marty]

Based on that article, it sounds like you're going to have to budget a whole lot more for your water bill if you're getting it from the city.  If not, you might just be able to filter your water as opposed to an ro unit.

[bob terp]

Curious,how did the water turn out?

[WES]

Thanks again everyone. I managed to get about 25 gallons of water from the current residents. Tested it and it came back with the PH just a touch over 8.0, the GH at about 240ppm, and the KH came in around 320 ppm. These levels are all much higher than the city water I have now but should be fine for africans I believe.
 After testing I filled 2 ten gallon tanks and added cultured sponge filters to them for a quick cycle. A few days later I added fish to each tank. One large phenochilus female in one, and a few 1" hybrid peacock fry in the other. It has been about a week now and they all seem to be doing great!  Assuming that there will not be any negative "long term" effects I should be good to go