Hi guys, long time no talk!


Im in Minnesota now and I noticed once the water sits a bit, it turns brown. This doesnt happen all the time. Also my parents have soft water here. Will this brown tint or the soft water hurt my fish? Im sure it has to be some kind of metal or something in the water. Im already seeing my tanks brown and ugly. Is there anything I can add during waterchanges to help this? Thanks guys!

Erin,
I couldn't help you w/ this area but I am sorry for what you are facing now. Why don't you come back to NYC? lol I know...

It might be rust I believe...Can you bring a sample to a LFS and have them test it? When I lived in Astoria I always had to turn my water on for a few minutes before taking a shower and when I asked my Dad he said it was prolly rust.

I don't know about MN, but when I lived in upper MI, we had a lot of iron in our water, which sounds similar to what you're seeing. I remember going to my aunt's house out in the boonies and cringing at her brown ice cubes I'm not sure about water conditioners for this - doesn't Prime detox heavy metals? Sure it doesn't get rid of the brown tint, but it should be safe. Maybe one of those water clarifiers would help - the ones that are supposed to make your water crystal clear? Never used them myself, so I don't know if they work.

As previously stated this could be either Iron in the water or Rust from your water pipes. A couple of things to try and determine what your particular issue is.

1st - Fill a gallon container with water from your tap and poor it through a tight knit cloth. If its rust particles, you should catch them in the cloth. 1 Gallon is the minimum you should use to ensure enough material is in the water to be visable.

2nd - if your on city water, find the closest outside faucet and repeat the above procedure. This will tell you if its comming from your house pipes. If you have a well system, do this at the well head or the closest outlet to the well head you have. Normally well systems have pvc (sch40) pipe so there shouldnt be rust particles unless the pump itself is rusty.

3rd - Get a cheap faucet filter from your local home improvement center. Fill a container with water from this filter and see if it still turns brown.

Also, do you have a sprinkler system? If so, are there areas around the house that the water hits that are turning brown? If so this is probably Iron and a Iron filter will take care of the problem.

Its a bit puzzling though that your water is clear then turns brown. If you let the water sit for a couple of days with no agitation does sediment form in the bottom of the container? also the fact that it doesnt happen all the time initially makes me think a pipe is rusting out. Is it only from the same faucet?

As for soft water, it is usually acidic. I would test the PH and make sure that its safe for your gf.

Thanks guys! Dad said that the iron is probably high here. A filter wont help me as I am taking the water from a downstairs spicket, not the kitchen sink. I use Prime on the tanks now in NY and plan to use it here too. I guess its better to be brown and healthy rather than brown and deadly.

Fred, I havent moved yet! Im just here till June 4.


This is a new house and we are not on city water, I think its a private well of some sort, we're out in the country. I dont think the pipes can be rusting as the house is less than a year old.

I filled up a gallon milk container and let it sit overnight and there was no sediment on the bottom. However, it covers my cat's water dish in a brown layer which easily washes off.

Ok then your pop is probably right. Iron is common in well water. btw, you can still add a filter onto whatever faucet you use to fill the tanks.

I would recommend an inline whole house iron filter though. They are not that expensive and the increased quality of water is worth it in my opinion. No stains in tubs, washing machine, dish washer, etc.

Its actually supprising to me that since your house is new, code didnt require the iron filter with as bad as what it is.

Mabie do they have well water when our water turns brown it means that the well is low in water

Can anyone recommend a good product to lower the amount of iron in the water? Im not sure if Prime is enough. I am going to try to talk dad into getting an iron filter but if he doesnt Im going to need something!