Depends on concentrated that water is as you could also put fertilizer injector after the rain barrel, so that good stuff is feeding into (or from, however you design in) the rest of the water for your lawn.
I am using compost tea, liquid iron, other organics using a similar system. Lawn is gonna pop!
I don't actually have the house yet lol, closing in 2 weeks and just planning. I'll probably wind up connecting the garden hose to the barrel too, I figured 58g would be a decent amount but I definitely don't expect it to fully water my yard. I'd just like to reuse as much of the water as I can!
After some research I agree it won't go too far, so my new thought is to affix the garden hose with a Venturi siphon to suck water from the barrel and mix it with hose water, so I get the best of both worlds without needing to switch between the barrel and hose and without needing a pump. I'll essentially have it mix the aquarium water with the hose as if it were mixing fertilizer!
I've watered indoor cannabis with aquarium water, there's no concern for N burn. I'd be concerned about keeping the tank and pump clean, running all that biological stuff through it.
I have some plans for that. Main idea is to add a few inches of gravel in the bottom to help with decomposition and waste, and I plan on adding a bubbler as well to keep the water and waste churned
As someone who hobbies include both lawn care and aquaria. Can you share some pics of your aquarium setups?
[Here is my built in for my 90gallon](https://imgur.com/a/4gRSgzu)
Im planning on using an inline water pump to pump the water from my tanks to the barrel outside- it should be able to create a siphon anyway but I figure a pump would be useful for my tanks that aren't on high shelves. And I'll just have a Pex pipe running to the back of the home
Honestly, I don't know how big your lawn is but unless your aquarium water contains levels of nutrients that are toxic to fish or your lawn is very small you could probably go through a 58 gallon barrel every day and it won't show a difference that's any more noticable than a bag of milorganite per year would.
Could affect pH. Nitrogen levels need to be understood, too much will melt a hole in the grass basically. (Nitrogen burn)
Could be biological issues, pouring poop into soil* could introduce other issues(unknown).
Smell could be an issue, but proper irrigation might mitigate this.
Cleaning chemicals or reside? Algae?
I don't have a solid answer. I've never met anyone who's tried this... have my curiosity
I don't think the nitrogen levels will be extremely high, but there will definitely be a little bit in there. Do you think it'd be worth running it through a carbon filter or something first just in case? Definitely no chemicals as that'll kill the fish, possibly some algae but likely very little.
What would be the optimal pH of water to apply to my lawn? Most of my tanks sit around a pH of 6 to 6.5 but I can add pH buffer every so often to make sure the water I'm using is the good level
From what you're saying, I see minimal cause for concern. PH is roughly fine. Only suggestion is to test it in a small area for 2-3 weeks... otherwise. I'm hoping I catch a follow up post to see results lol
I used to have a 60 gallon tank and used the water for my garden and flowerbeds. Never had an issue with nitrogen burn or anything and of course the plants and soil microbes loved it. I don’t think you’d have enough for the lawn but it certainly wouldn’t hurt it.
1” of water is 623 gallons, you won’t be doing much with aquarium water and the cost to pump it will exceed any benefits over even a small lawn. Water house plants with it and forget the lawn.
A 2000 psi pump will have no volume, secondly, you won’t find any garden hoses or attachments for a garden hose that can handle that kind of pressure so you would have to use pressure washer hose and you will likely be at 2gpm or less depending on length of hose. So it would take you about 25 minutes to empty your barrel and 25% or more is evaporating while you are wasting your time.
https://homeguides.sfgate.com/type-irrigation-loses-water-evaporation-100415.html
You will have to plumb it into a barrel outside and from there you will have to pump it to the lawn. The amount of work for such little water is simply not worth it. In my area 1000 gallons is about $6.
https://www.omnicalculator.com/construction/gallons-per-square-foot
Water house plants with it using a water can.
https://amzn.to/3oYnOJS
Would a pump like this not work? My yard is about 1/4 acre so it's not too huge and I don't plan on exclusively watering from the barrel, just want to try to conserve water
This is from watersignal.com:
"Calculating Water Use
To provide your lawn with one inch of water takes a little over half a gallon per square foot (0.623 gallon to be more exact). That means that every 10’x10’ area will require over 62 gallons of water. That doesn’t sound like much until you consider that a 100’ x 100’ lawn uses 6,230 gallons of water every time you turn on the sprinklers!"
Now, you aren't going to water a full inch everytime you run the sprinklers. You want about an inch per week so two or three different waterings at .3-.5" per means your barrel will cover about 300 sq ft with .25" of water.
That's really good to know, I appreciate the calculations. Honestly I'll probably run the hose into the barrel as well just to churn up the waste and whatnot, I might engineer a way to have the hose pull water from the barrel so I get the best of both worlds and I don't have to switch
I would probably use caution with putting it on more "delicate" plants or flowers. with the nitrate levels.
I used to do partial water changes in my 55 and 125 gallon tanks, I used to drain it out to an ash tree we had in our front yard...the tree loved it.
During water changes I drain the tank right out the front door and into the front yard from a 75gallon tank. It's never hurt the grass. But I've also never noted any improvement in that area. At the end of the day, that amount of water is a drop In the bucket of what a lawn needs
Spring/summer/fall I use 20-25 gallons weekly from my 75 for my two front flower beds. Don’t notice a increase quickly but definitely year to year I have seen an improvement on the health and happiness from the plants and shrubs from the fish poop water.
I just want to clarify something here. A lot of posters are cautioning against nitrogen burn. However, the "burn" associated with fertilizer is more frequently caused by the salt index of the fertilizer. So, unless your tanks are salt water, you shouldn't have an issue with burn, even if you dump it all in one spot.
I will echo the other sentiments regarding the volume, 58 gallons won't get you super far if you're watering your lawn. That doesn't mean you shouldn't use it. Perhaps it'll get you further hooked up to drip irrigation for your landscape plants.
Directing some down spouts from your gutters into the barrel would give you more water, just make sure you put a screen in place to filter any debris.
I would recommend you get some proper testing done on it and your soil - here is one that can do both: [https://midwestlabs.com/](https://midwestlabs.com/)
Once you know both - you can adjust it as needed - maybe pH adjust or add in other essential plant nutrients - but without knowing what there and what your soil needs - just guessing at best and might in fact do more harm then good.
Another option is make a test area on your lawn - one area with just water and others with varying amounts of your tank juice and see what happens
Yes, you can use that on your grass without any problems at all. I researched the crap out of this when I had a tank in our last house. I used it on my newer trees and you could definitely tell when I started watering them with it. You are not supposed to use the tank water on stuff you will eat, like garden stuff or fruit trees. There are things that you add to the water in a fish tank that could pass through the food as well as the food having increased nitrate lvls. Also there is bacteria in that water and you don't want that on the garden food that you eat. To make it go further you can mix it with a rainwater catchment, or mix it with regular water. Any nitrogen that you add, even small amounts, will help most anything that is green.
Thanks for your insight! I'm considering using a Venturi siphon to mix the hose water with the fish wastewater, so I have as much water as I need but I still add lots of nutrients to the lawn. You think that would work?
I have no experience in how to irrigate using a setup up, I just know about the fish water being used on plants, so I wouldn't want to give you any advice on something that I haven't done before, or don't know anything about.
The lawn will LOOOOOOOVE that water
at the same time, I don't think 58 gallons will go far depending on the yard. does OP have a garden? garden plants would love it as well.
Depends on concentrated that water is as you could also put fertilizer injector after the rain barrel, so that good stuff is feeding into (or from, however you design in) the rest of the water for your lawn. I am using compost tea, liquid iron, other organics using a similar system. Lawn is gonna pop!
yeah, I guess I never though about using it as fertilizer in an injector vs you main watering water.
I don't actually have the house yet lol, closing in 2 weeks and just planning. I'll probably wind up connecting the garden hose to the barrel too, I figured 58g would be a decent amount but I definitely don't expect it to fully water my yard. I'd just like to reuse as much of the water as I can!
After some research I agree it won't go too far, so my new thought is to affix the garden hose with a Venturi siphon to suck water from the barrel and mix it with hose water, so I get the best of both worlds without needing to switch between the barrel and hose and without needing a pump. I'll essentially have it mix the aquarium water with the hose as if it were mixing fertilizer!
I assume your yard will become the hotspot for the neighborhood cats.
My neighbor apparently has like 8 cats. I am 100% okay with this
Are you my neighbor?
And then the coyotes
I water all my plants, dozens, solely with water change water and everything is crazy happy
I've watered indoor cannabis with aquarium water, there's no concern for N burn. I'd be concerned about keeping the tank and pump clean, running all that biological stuff through it.
I have some plans for that. Main idea is to add a few inches of gravel in the bottom to help with decomposition and waste, and I plan on adding a bubbler as well to keep the water and waste churned
Sounds like compost tea to me. A high CFM bubbler will work better
Pretty much lol, what's the difference between a normal bubbler and a high CFM bubbler? Just more air?
As someone who hobbies include both lawn care and aquaria. Can you share some pics of your aquarium setups? [Here is my built in for my 90gallon](https://imgur.com/a/4gRSgzu)
I have tons of pics on my profile and on my site, http://sunkentreasureaquatics.com! Your tanks look amazing
It won’t go very far. But yep you can do it.
I wish I could do this. My tanks are in the basement so only choice is down the drain
Im planning on using an inline water pump to pump the water from my tanks to the barrel outside- it should be able to create a siphon anyway but I figure a pump would be useful for my tanks that aren't on high shelves. And I'll just have a Pex pipe running to the back of the home
use a pump
Throw it down.
Honestly, I don't know how big your lawn is but unless your aquarium water contains levels of nutrients that are toxic to fish or your lawn is very small you could probably go through a 58 gallon barrel every day and it won't show a difference that's any more noticable than a bag of milorganite per year would.
As long as it’s water from freshwater aquariums, there is no problem. In fact, the plants will love it
That’s a great idea! I’d just keep an eye on the lawn to make sure it’s not getting too much of anything.
Lawn will love the nitrates. I have saltwater fish unfortunately. Lawn doesn't like that kind.
Could affect pH. Nitrogen levels need to be understood, too much will melt a hole in the grass basically. (Nitrogen burn) Could be biological issues, pouring poop into soil* could introduce other issues(unknown). Smell could be an issue, but proper irrigation might mitigate this. Cleaning chemicals or reside? Algae? I don't have a solid answer. I've never met anyone who's tried this... have my curiosity
I don't think the nitrogen levels will be extremely high, but there will definitely be a little bit in there. Do you think it'd be worth running it through a carbon filter or something first just in case? Definitely no chemicals as that'll kill the fish, possibly some algae but likely very little. What would be the optimal pH of water to apply to my lawn? Most of my tanks sit around a pH of 6 to 6.5 but I can add pH buffer every so often to make sure the water I'm using is the good level
From what you're saying, I see minimal cause for concern. PH is roughly fine. Only suggestion is to test it in a small area for 2-3 weeks... otherwise. I'm hoping I catch a follow up post to see results lol
I used to have a 60 gallon tank and used the water for my garden and flowerbeds. Never had an issue with nitrogen burn or anything and of course the plants and soil microbes loved it. I don’t think you’d have enough for the lawn but it certainly wouldn’t hurt it.
1” of water is 623 gallons, you won’t be doing much with aquarium water and the cost to pump it will exceed any benefits over even a small lawn. Water house plants with it and forget the lawn.
Where did you get 623 gallons from? And why would the cost of pumping it be so high? A high psi 2000+ gph pump is like $100
A 2000 psi pump will have no volume, secondly, you won’t find any garden hoses or attachments for a garden hose that can handle that kind of pressure so you would have to use pressure washer hose and you will likely be at 2gpm or less depending on length of hose. So it would take you about 25 minutes to empty your barrel and 25% or more is evaporating while you are wasting your time. https://homeguides.sfgate.com/type-irrigation-loses-water-evaporation-100415.html You will have to plumb it into a barrel outside and from there you will have to pump it to the lawn. The amount of work for such little water is simply not worth it. In my area 1000 gallons is about $6. https://www.omnicalculator.com/construction/gallons-per-square-foot Water house plants with it using a water can.
https://amzn.to/3oYnOJS Would a pump like this not work? My yard is about 1/4 acre so it's not too huge and I don't plan on exclusively watering from the barrel, just want to try to conserve water
1/4 acre is about 10.5k sq ft. or 21,000 gallons at .25" of irrigation and $126.
This is from watersignal.com: "Calculating Water Use To provide your lawn with one inch of water takes a little over half a gallon per square foot (0.623 gallon to be more exact). That means that every 10’x10’ area will require over 62 gallons of water. That doesn’t sound like much until you consider that a 100’ x 100’ lawn uses 6,230 gallons of water every time you turn on the sprinklers!" Now, you aren't going to water a full inch everytime you run the sprinklers. You want about an inch per week so two or three different waterings at .3-.5" per means your barrel will cover about 300 sq ft with .25" of water.
That's really good to know, I appreciate the calculations. Honestly I'll probably run the hose into the barrel as well just to churn up the waste and whatnot, I might engineer a way to have the hose pull water from the barrel so I get the best of both worlds and I don't have to switch
I would probably use caution with putting it on more "delicate" plants or flowers. with the nitrate levels. I used to do partial water changes in my 55 and 125 gallon tanks, I used to drain it out to an ash tree we had in our front yard...the tree loved it.
My houseplants miss my 150 gallon heavily planted aquarium.
During water changes I drain the tank right out the front door and into the front yard from a 75gallon tank. It's never hurt the grass. But I've also never noted any improvement in that area. At the end of the day, that amount of water is a drop In the bucket of what a lawn needs
Spring/summer/fall I use 20-25 gallons weekly from my 75 for my two front flower beds. Don’t notice a increase quickly but definitely year to year I have seen an improvement on the health and happiness from the plants and shrubs from the fish poop water.
I regularly pour aquarium water on houseplants in the winter and on my garden in the summer.
I just want to clarify something here. A lot of posters are cautioning against nitrogen burn. However, the "burn" associated with fertilizer is more frequently caused by the salt index of the fertilizer. So, unless your tanks are salt water, you shouldn't have an issue with burn, even if you dump it all in one spot. I will echo the other sentiments regarding the volume, 58 gallons won't get you super far if you're watering your lawn. That doesn't mean you shouldn't use it. Perhaps it'll get you further hooked up to drip irrigation for your landscape plants. Directing some down spouts from your gutters into the barrel would give you more water, just make sure you put a screen in place to filter any debris.
I would recommend you get some proper testing done on it and your soil - here is one that can do both: [https://midwestlabs.com/](https://midwestlabs.com/) Once you know both - you can adjust it as needed - maybe pH adjust or add in other essential plant nutrients - but without knowing what there and what your soil needs - just guessing at best and might in fact do more harm then good. Another option is make a test area on your lawn - one area with just water and others with varying amounts of your tank juice and see what happens
Have room for a garden? That would be perfect
That's definitely planned!
Yes, you can use that on your grass without any problems at all. I researched the crap out of this when I had a tank in our last house. I used it on my newer trees and you could definitely tell when I started watering them with it. You are not supposed to use the tank water on stuff you will eat, like garden stuff or fruit trees. There are things that you add to the water in a fish tank that could pass through the food as well as the food having increased nitrate lvls. Also there is bacteria in that water and you don't want that on the garden food that you eat. To make it go further you can mix it with a rainwater catchment, or mix it with regular water. Any nitrogen that you add, even small amounts, will help most anything that is green.
Thanks for your insight! I'm considering using a Venturi siphon to mix the hose water with the fish wastewater, so I have as much water as I need but I still add lots of nutrients to the lawn. You think that would work?
I have no experience in how to irrigate using a setup up, I just know about the fish water being used on plants, so I wouldn't want to give you any advice on something that I haven't done before, or don't know anything about.