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  Discussion on Clean Water
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Posted on Tuesday, Apr 16, 2002 - 9:09 pm:

Dr. O. (or anyone else who might know)
At the farm where we board our gelding, there is a round concrete water tank that is spring fed and holds between 100 - 150 gallons. It is not drainable or "dumpable". The owner puts copper sulfate in the tank to control algae. Apparently no other cleaning is done and doesn't seem feasible.
Is using copper a safe practice and how effective is it supposed to be?
I can't find copper sulfate addressed in any of the articles or in the discussion of algae control from back in August of 2000.
I work for a horse trainer at a different farm where we have the same kind of water tank as well as RubberMaid tubs a little larger than the concrete one. Unlike the concrete tank, these tubs can be emptied and cleaned. We're wondering what we need to do for the concrete watering tank.
Thanks in advance.
Dan

Posted on Tuesday, Apr 16, 2002 - 9:22 pm:

I've heard of putting some catfish in the tank and they will eat the algae. Someone correct me if I'm wrong about the type of fish. Do be careful about the water. I used to use a spring fed pond to water the animals and my horse ended up with a nasty bladder infection. It was during a DrOught and I guess the concentration of gunk in the water was too high.

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 17, 2002 - 7:20 am:

Hello All,
Most commercially available native catfish are not algae eaters, but goldfish are. I know several people who find their tubs need much less care when goldfish are added. There must be enough algae and insects available to feed the goldfish however. Putting fish food in the water tanks sort of defeats the purpose.

When CuSO4 is placed in the water it dissolves to copper and sulfate ions. The upper safe level of copper ingestion is published at 800 ppm dry matter of diet. In a average horse that translates to about 8 grams a day. So to know if you are at a safe level we have to know how much copper is in the water (concentration) and how much water the horse is consuming from the tub, and how much copper is in the rest of the diet.
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 17, 2002 - 3:15 pm:

Hi there,
I've used catfish,(or Hornpout as they're called here in the North East), with good results. I don't know about commercially grown. When my boys were younger they would go catch me a couple in the spring at the river. I would leave them in all summer and let them go, much bigger that before, in the fall. My horses got used to them pretty quickly.
Hope this helps.
Jeanne

Posted on Thursday, Apr 18, 2002 - 7:42 am:

Hello Jeanne,
The hornpout (Ameiurus Melas) is both scavenger and predator so will clean up insects that fall in but are not typically algae eaters, lacking the mouth parts for removing it from the sides of the tank. If there is free strands of algae in the water they will eat these however.
DrO
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