fresh water

[9 ER]

How often do you guys clean your galvanized water tanks?

 

[D.R. Cattle]

I clean them when I get around to it and they look like they need to be cleaned. Never had a preset time.

 

[9 ER]

So much is said about the importance of providing "fresh" water. What do you consider to be fresh water?

I had about 10 gold fish in the tank to help with the algae. The freeze killed them. Does anybody else do this?

 

[jkwilson]

So much is said about the importance of providing "fresh" water. What do you consider to be fresh water?

I had about 10 gold fish in the tank to help with the algae. The freeze killed them. Does anybody else do this?

I keep goldfish in the tank some years, but it never seems to help with the algae. Kids that visit get a kick out of watching for the fish. I've wanted to try one of the "algae eaters" you get for an aquarium, but not sure if they could stand the hot water in the summer. I rinse the tank spring and fall, and most years a float sticks and I get an unintentional rinse at some point too.

 

[milkmaid]

In the summer I usually clean about every week or so - the algae grows so fast! In the winter...it has to be really bad to clean a tank in the winter. The water tank for my cow and steer has a deicer/heater in it and the algae really thrives in that environment. Their tank needs to be cleaned now, but I'm not really in a hurry to dump all that water into my already-soggy-pens.

 

[Jake]

In the summer I usually clean about every week or so - the algae grows so fast! In the winter...it has to be really bad to clean a tank in the winter. The water tank for my cow and steer has a deicer/heater in it and the algae really thrives in that environment. Their tank needs to be cleaned now, but I'm not really in a hurry to dump all that water into my already-soggy-pens.

that's when you have to call on the use of a silage fork...

 

[houstoncutter]

Hey there,9ER. Make sure those gold fish are dead. I am a little futher north than you and all my goldfish made it. If there not floating on top of the water they may not be dead. I have seen em laying on the bottom early on a cold morning and I would swear their dead, only to come back in the afternoon and their swimming around.

 

[Craig-TX]

I hardly ever clean water troughs out. Usually it's only when I drain them to work on them for some other reason which hopefully is hardly ever. We've put those big gold fish in them from time to time. I think my wife calls them coy fish. I'm not sure how much they help but they don't hurt. They make it through the winters fine. When it gets cold enough that you have to break the ice they are pretty docile. The coons are a bigger threat than the cold.

Craig-TX

 

[9 ER]

I dont know what happened to goldfish. The freeze was a guess. Had our first freeze in 3 years at Christmas(I know you northeners hate to hear that). I had 12 goldfish in fall(had them for about 2 years) but when I drained and cleaned it in Jan. there were only 2 left and they just laid there or swam in circles sideways. Checked them a week later and they were dead. They were only about 4 inches long. Might try a couple of those big coy.

Is there anything else besides fish to add to the water to cut down on the algae that wont harm the cows?

 

[dun]

When we used to flood irrigate the crawfish would wash out into the pasture. I'ld pick them up and trhow them in the stock tanks. Don't know if it helped the algae, but they grew well and provided a meal or two every month or so.

dun

 

[PLR]

I have about a dozen or so Feeder goldfish in a 400 gallon oval tank and they keep it pretty clean. These fish are very hardy. One day I went down and the cows had drunk the tank down to less than a quarter inch of water and all the fish were motionless....So I started to fill the tank back up so I could scoop out the bodies and they started to move again. Every single one came back to life. They also keep it very clean in the summer but I do have to rinse the dirt and sand out of the bottom every couple of months. Galvanized tanks get a dark brown coating from the mineral content of the water around here that doesnt come off. So our tanks are never shiney again after we start using them.

shelby
http://www.promiselandranch.net/

 

[Scotty]

How often do you guys clean your galvanized water tanks?

I would think as often as you want. And can. I have seen cattle drink out of some preaty dirty looking things. I usually do it when the mesqito larva get to bad. I can't seem to keep gold fish alive long.


Scotty

 

[sidney411]

I have never cleaned out our tanks,they stay pretty clean, and they stay full year round. I have gold fish I bought at the bait shop in them. Freezing temps have never hurt them. They had babies last year in one of my tanks. There were about 30 little ones about a 1/2 inch long all of a sudden. The cranes have pretty much gotten all of the babies except about 10 though. I was quite suprized that they had babies.

 

[docgraybull]

I usually do it when the mesqito larva get to bad. Scotty

Have you ever put mineral oil in (on) the water in the summertime to prevent mosquito proliferation? I've heard it works, but have never thought to try it.

 

[MR3]

I put Mosquito fish in my stock tanks. They eat all the Mosquito larva. I never see any larva in the tanks. I get them at the local Vector Control. They don't get much bigger that 1 1/2" long. They make it through the winters ok too.

Rod