My rats are hosed!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SnakeySnakeSnake

Im on city water in an old house, not sure what causes algae to grow, or initiates the growth, but so far nada, so we will see. My water in the bottles stays at most 3-4 days and never had any growth, Im setting these up to last 3-4 days between filling so who knows. :)

I couldnt find enough clear pipe locally so i bought 200' of black pipe just in case, and i will use that if things algae up too much

---

I fill water bottles on a daily basis, so I know it is not from water sitting in there too long. I am really starting to think it is a side effect of the water softener problem. We wash out the bottles every 2 weeks with a bottle scrubber and it always returns, we are going to fix the softener and run the lights when we are in there instead of the timer.

Bill,


Let a glass of water sit out on the counter for a day then bring it to a large chain petstore and ask them to test for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and Ph. If they are high you are going to get algae no matter what.

A water softener just removes calcium and magnesium and replaces it with sodium. If it was good for a lawn dont you think they would have your water spigots after the water softener rather than before it? ::grins::. Im not a fan of water softeners.

What type of lighting are you using? Flourescent is better for growing algae than regular incandescent.

And if you dont give the rodents a light cycle of at least 10 hrs it is going to cut into their breeding. 10 hrs or more replicates spring through summer (when they want to be breeding because of excess food, its the same reason you supplement light in chickens to keep them laying year round).

Bryan

At my buddies rat barn, he uses clear tubing and has no problems ... two small windows and no lights, unless someones in there working ... works great.

-adam

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

At my buddies rat barn, he uses clear tubing and has no problems ... two small windows and no lights, unless someones in there working ... works great.

-adam

---

Thanks for the input :sweeet:

I'm guessing it is one of those things where the water is either going to grow algae fast, slow, or almost not at all, and steps just need to be taken accordingly

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bdadawg

Bill,


Let a glass of water sit out on the counter for a day then bring it to a large chain petstore and ask them to test for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and Ph. If they are high you are going to get algae no matter what.

A water softener just removes calcium and magnesium and replaces it with sodium. If it was good for a lawn dont you think they would have your water spigots after the water softener rather than before it? ::grins::. Im not a fan of water softeners.

What type of lighting are you using? Flourescent is better for growing algae than regular incandescent.

And if you dont give the rodents a light cycle of at least 10 hrs it is going to cut into their breeding. 10 hrs or more replicates spring through summer (when they want to be breeding because of excess food, its the same reason you supplement light in chickens to keep them laying year round).

Bryan

---

I have the aquarium tests from when I had 60+ aquariums and the ph and nitrates are out of whack. But I said my softener needs to be replaced, so what you are saying it does is true, when it is working properly. Mine is not working properly and is going to be replaced. It is quite old and who knows what has gone through it over the years. On a working water softener you shouldnt have high ph. So when it is replaced I will test the water again and see if that helped.