# Removing iron from well water



## somefish (Sep 2, 2012)

Hi all - First post here :~)

I asked about this on another forum , but never got an answer . Maybe you guys can help .
I live in rural NW Florida , and I'd like to use the water from our well for a new 90 gal m'buna tank .
The problem is the water has a very high IRON content - So much so , that a tank full of it has a yellow color .
It's some kind of dissolved form of iron , and it won't filter out .

I've found , that if I dose the water with chlorine (regular bleach) , at a rate of 1.3 oz / gal , it will precipitate the iron out , leaving a red-brown floc on the container bottom , and clear water .
I've tried it with lesser amounts of chlorine , but this seems to be the threshold where it will actually work .
If I then neutralize/remove the chlorine , the water tests as follows with a fresh API kit :
Ph - 8.3
GH - 10
KH - 10

So , my question is this - Is treating the water this way , and using it OK ? 
OR , is my home-brew chlorinating technique going to cause or create some other unforeseen problem /toxic compound ?
Because of the large water changes needed for these fish , being able to use a cheap technique like this might make the difference , whether I can easily keep them , or not .

Thanks for any input .
And , BTW , this is an excellent forum !
Tom


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Are you filtering the well water at all before it reaches your faucets, toilets, etc? I have well water and its just as you descried, but its ran thru 2 filters.


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## somefish (Sep 2, 2012)

Sorry , I should have said : The house plumbing is on a water softener , so I don't want to use that .
Even after the softener , the water still has some iron in it , enough to look yellow . For drinking water , we have an RO system .

When I said it won't filter out , I should have qualified that by saying I don't think it would filter EASILY .
I'm pretty sure that if I used enough carbon or some kind of chemical media , long enough , it might do it . But I think that might get expensive in a hurry .
The same , if I used the RO water - I'd have to buffer it back up = $$ , and I already have to replace the RO filters often enough as it is :~)

I think what it comes down to , is that I'm just a cheapskate , I guess .
We have a small , crude , rainwater catchment set up , and I've been using that to keep soft water tropicals for years . I was even breeding South American Dwarfs for a while .
I just used that with a coarse sediment filter , and the fish bred like rats !
Some years though , the rainwater is barely enough for the other tanks' needs - Certainly not enough for big weekly changes on a 90 .

I guess I'm looking/hoping for a similar low-tech solution here , as well . 
Anyway , thanks for the response .

Tom


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## fusion (Jun 21, 2012)

Sounds to me like your on the right track, what would ask myself is, is there any bleach still in the water, if there is a easy way to test for that i would try it.

good luck with it


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

That's a tough one. With limited piping knowledge, you could tee off before your softener and install a simple cartridge type filter and finish off with a hose fitting. The filter wouldn't need to be changed very often since you'd only be using it for your Africans. Just a thought...


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

I should add...

I personally wouldn't be comfortable using bleach to remove anything from water I intend to put in a tank. I would likely miss something and kill everything.


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## fusion (Jun 21, 2012)

How about a sock type filter the salt water guys use? i know some of them will filter down to 1 micron, just a thought


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## somefish (Sep 2, 2012)

Iggy Newcastle said:


> I would likely miss something and kill everything.


Well , that's really why I'm asking - I don't know either :~)

There are MANY archived posts on the forum , where folks are advised to bleach rocks , wood , equipment , etc , before putting these things in a tank .
The difference is that I'm proposing using the chlorine to react with , and precipitate out , something in the water .
There may not be an easy answer to my question , unless I could spring for some pretty expensive laboratory testing .

I'm confident that I can remove/neutralize all the chlorine afterwards , and the idea of TESTING for chlorine , that was proposed , is a good one .
I guess what I don't know , is if the chlorine has reacted with something else in the water , that is then left behind , and that I can't test for .
It may be fine , and I just have an over-active imagination ;~)

What I'm doing here is nothing more than municipal water treatment does , maybe with a bit higher chlorine level . The difference is that they have a fancy lab , and can test for all kinds of things .
Actually , I'm actually being kinder/gentler than that , because they mostly put in chloramines these days - REALLY nasty stuff .

Probably what I should do , is set up a test tank with a pet store cichlid , using the water .
But then if he died , did he die from the water ? .................... Or just because he was a Petsmart cichlid ?
I may have to try it , anyway .

Tom


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## Storiwyr (Apr 24, 2012)

If you dechlorinate afterward with Prime, it might be okay? I'm trying to do chemistry with my head and think about the reaction that's making the iron precipitate out, and what it would leave behind. I think it should be okay for fish to chlorinate to remove the iron, then Prime to remove Chlorine. If you're worried about the higher levels of chlorine, you can let the water sit to off-gas some of the chlorine and let more of the iron precipitate, and then prime it after 48 hours or so? I'd try it with a small setup and a goldfish or something before you use it in a big tank though, just to make sure.


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## Storiwyr (Apr 24, 2012)

Calcium hypochlorite will oxidize Iron to Iron(III) oxide: 
3 Ca(ClO)2 + 4 Fe ----> 3 CaCl2 + 2 Fe2O3

This should be the reaction of bleach and iron in the water. CaCl2 is calcium chloride, and is often used in aquariums--particularly marine aquariums. It should be okay.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

I still think bypassing your softener and utilizing a filter for your water would be much better than adding chlorine. I mean, treating and storing water for a weekly change would be too much work for me.


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## somefish (Sep 2, 2012)

Storiwyr said:


> Calcium hypochlorite will oxidize Iron to Iron(III) oxide:
> 3 Ca(ClO)2 + 4 Fe ----> 3 CaCl2 + 2 Fe2O3 .


Thank you ! This is most excellent and useful knowledge !

This also might actually be confirmed by something I noticed when I was testing the water .
When I tested for hardness , I got a slightly higher result AFTER I treated the water .
Now I'm thinking it might be the result of the extra calcium chloride left by the chlorine , after reacting with the iron .

Iggy - I'm with you 100% ! I also don't like to do more work than I have to .
I just wish it was that simple - I don't believe the form of iron in my water can be filtered by any mechanical means , other than RO .
It has to be chemically removed somehow , either by something like what I'm trying , or maybe a lot of carbon .
I think I'd be going through carbon like it was popcorn , trying to get it out that way .

Treating and storing water is not so bad for me - I have several plastic trash cans on the deck , with a hose spigot right next to them .
I have a submersible pond pump and hose that I can use for the transfer .
Since I live in Florida , during a large part of the year , the temperature of the water from outside would be fine . 
During the short winter , I can pump it into a can inside the house , the day before . Not too big of a deal - I've had to do much worse in the past .
I'm fortunate enough to work at home , so I usually don't have to do this stuff in the middle of the night after I get home from work . MOST of the time ;~)

I must say , y'all have been very helpful! I told you this was an excellent forum :~)
Tom


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Hi Tom and Welcome to C-F!

Do you know how much iron in ppm is in your well water before the softener? Also, do you know if it is clear (ferrous) iron?


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## somefish (Sep 2, 2012)

Hi Dee - Thank you !
I believe that what I have is "ferrous" iron- Fe+2 , which is why I can't filter it .
I had to look that up , to be sure :~)

http://www.watertechonline.com/filtrati ... water-0507

The water isn't clear, though . It's definitely yellow . Yellow , but not cloudy , if you know what mean .

The chlorine in the bleach obviously oxidizes it to "ferric" iron - Fe+3 (rust) , which is the precipitate I see .
And , no , I don't know the ppm . Although I should - My bad .
We also have , in the water , "iron bacteria" , which feeds on the iron and forms a brown slimy film on any container left standing with the well water in it .
This kind of thing is not uncommon around here , and some of my neighbors have gone to GREAT expense (newer , deeper wells , etc) to try to get around it .

Tom ............ thinking about what we go through , just to keep a couple fish .


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