Tap Water to Tank?

[cjvdhx]

Greetings! I am fairly new to keeping discus I have a 65 gallon planted tank with 4 stendker discus with plans to add 2 more in the upcoming weeks. I've been keeping fish now for awhile and I've always just used a python and refilled with it directly from my tap however some people warned me about doing this with discus thus I am seeking advice from people that have first hand experience. I know some claim water conditioners like microbe lift extreme and prime work instantly but I'm hesitant about it. I've also noticed that after filling my tank directly from the tap I get these little gas bubbles that stick along side the tank however disappear 45 minutes later. Whats everyone's advice? Thx

[alron2]

Welcome CJ. How much difference is there between yor tap water PH and your aquarium, don't guess measure it and report back. Do you have any form of chlorine in your water? If so, do you have a carbon filter on it? The bubbles are probable co2
Realizing from the water, if so I suspect your tap ph is lower than your aquarium ph. I am sure you will get plenty of advise on this.
Ron

[cjvdhx]

Welcome CJ. How much difference is there between yor tap water PH and your aquarium, don't guess measure it and report back. Do you have any form of chlorine in your water? If so, do you have a carbon filter on it? The bubbles are probable co2
Realizing from the water, if so I suspect your tap ph is lower than your aquarium ph. I am sure you will get plenty of advise on this.
Ron

Ron thanks for your help! there is not much difference in the PH from the tap and my tank maybe .2-.4 at the very most. Yes I am pretty sure the water has chloramine in it and no I do not have a carbon filter. I found this in a thread on here I was searching and was wondering if this would work?
https://www.amazon.com/INLINE-GARDEN-HOSE-ACTIVE-CARBON/dp/B00U1OQ02M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488163791&sr=8-1&keywords=carbon+spa+filter

[Mark N]

I use a similar water filter I get from Walmart. That is a good idea. Micro bubbles are not good for your fish. They are more common in the colder months. From my experience these filters will not remove the micro bubbles, however will help remove other things. If at all possible age your water. It has been my experience that the fish do respond better to aged water. I have done it both ways though. If not aging your water, smaller water changes more often may be better. From my understanding splashing the water when adding the water helps as well to remove the co2 before it enters the aquarium water.

There are others here that are far more experienced than me. Just thought I would share my thoughts and experiences.

[Filip]

Hi CJ and welcome .

Aging water is good for equalizing PH values, for outgassing the microbubbles and for chlorine evaporization .

If you can manage to age at least the half of your changed water it would be great . If not , go with small but more frequent changes I.e. instead of 80% WC do 2x 40% twice a day .
Use a prefilter sponge of floss at the end of your hose to trap microbubbles and dechlorinator such as Prime or Safe from Seachem is a must , prior the water changes .
Good luck and do post pics and and tank introduction if you can CJ.

[Ryan925]

Hi CJ and welcome .

Aging water is good for equalizing PH values, for outgassing the microbubbles and for chlorine evaporization .

If you can manage to age at least the half of your changed water it would be great . If not , go with small but more frequent changes I.e. instead of 80% WC do 2x 40% twice a day .
Use a prefilter sponge of floss at the end of your hose to trap microbubbles and dechlorinator such as Prime or Safe from Seachem is a must , prior the water changes .
Good luck and do post pics and and tank introduction if you can CJ.

+1

I do wc straight from tap in my 75. I do about 80% every other day. I use a 200 micron sock at the end of my python for micro bubbles. I dose two caps of prime below python before filling. No issues. My fish actually like to hang out in the incoming flow of water

[Clawhammer]

I recommend doing a test. Aerate your tap water for 24 hours in a bucket and retest the pH to get a true measure of how much it fluctuates. Just testing the tank could give you an idea, but there are other things in a tank that effect pH. Doing this test will allow you to know how stable your water is, all variables removed. If the pH changes by > .4, you will want to age (especially if your tap is lower pH than aged tank water).

In regard to microbubbles, here is a video of the device I use (a tank-vac siphon stuff with filter sponges, capped with a filter sock).


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHT8KcpVwf8

[DISCUS STU]

I do direct tap water changes about 50% every 3-4 days directly double dosing with Prime. The micro bubbles which occur in the winter months, at least in my local water supply, due to differences between the oxygen carrying capacity of the cold to the warm water when mixed can be a problem as they attack the slime coat of the Discus and large portions of this tend to slough off.

I've tried various things to remove microbubbles but the best thing I've found is sticking some filter floss into the end of the Python tube so the bubbles collect together as much larger bubbles. This was suggested to me on this site and it works well. I just need to be careful not to run the water pressure too high because it will dislodge the filter floss.

Differences in ph swings upward have never stressed my fish, though sudden downward ph swings can be a problem.

[gunnerschh2]

Iuse aqua pure ap117 to filter straight from tap. Alittle pricey to start but i change every 2 months & have about1000 gals water so the filter lasts pretty long time. Micron socks for bubbles. There no good.

[gunnerschh2]

Iuse aqua pure ap117 to filter straight from tap. Alittle pricey to start but i change every 2 months & have about1000 gals water so the filter lasts pretty long time. Micron socks for bubbles. There no good.

the bubbles are no good.

[DISCUS STU]

Iuse aqua pure ap117 to filter straight from tap. Alittle pricey to start but i change every 2 months & have about1000 gals water so the filter lasts pretty long time. Micron socks for bubbles. There no good.

But filter floss for micro bubbles does work and I'm glad I found it that solution courtesy of this forum. A little bit of reusable filer floss works very well. When the weather gets warmer I won't have to deal with this issue for another six months as I live in the northeast and our tap water is subject to wild swings in temp. when combining the cold with the warmer water.

[Ryan925]

But filter floss for micro bubbles does work and I'm glad I found it that solution courtesy of this forum. A little bit of reusable filer floss works very well. When the weather gets warmer I won't have to deal with this issue for another six months as I live in the northeast and our tap water is subject to wild swings in temp. when combining the cold with the warmer water.

+1. I've had my discus since April. Never had a problem with bubbles until the winter

[DISCUS STU]

+1. I've had my discus since April. Never had a problem with bubbles until the winter

You're lucky in that respect living in the more temperate Bay Area where you're not dealing with mixing combinations of ice cold winter water with warm tap water to get it to the right temperature. This problem will abate for me shortly now that the weather is changing, but before I found this solution I was doing water changes and occasionally looking at huge amounts of slime coat sloughing off my Discus to the point that it almost looked like they were melting.

I can only assume this wasn't very healthy for them, I know it wasn't healthy for me to see it, lol.

[Ryan925]

You're lucky in that respect living in the more temperate Bay Area where you're not dealing with mixing combinations of ice cold winter water with warm tap water to get it to the right temperature. This problem will abate for me shortly now that the weather is changing, but before I found this solution I was doing water changes and occasionally looking at huge amounts of slime coat sloughing off my Discus to the point that it almost looked like they were melting.

I can only assume this wasn't very healthy for them, I know it wasn't healthy for me to see it, lol.

I actually do need to mix in the winter. In the summer it comes out pretty close to temp. I am on the eastern side of the bay where we get more or a temperature swing than the areas further West. I actually get hundred degree temps here and 30s and 40s in the winter. This winter we had some record lows along with insane rains.

I use a digital temp gauge in the bottom of my homemade python fill valve. Once I get to temp I close valve and fill away

[DISCUS STU]

I actually do need to mix in the winter. In the summer it comes out pretty close to temp. I am on the eastern side of the bay where we get more or a temperature swing than the areas further West. I actually get hundred degree temps here and 30s and 40s in the winter. This winter we had some record lows along with insane rains.

I use a digital temp gauge in the bottom of my homemade python fill valve. Once I get to temp I close valve and fill away

Sounds like a good idea. I just do it by feel though I'm usually pretty close.

[cjvdhx]

Thank you everyone who has responded the help is much appreciated. In the end I've decided to age my water. My plan is 32 gallon brute fill it de chlorinate, aerate and bring to temp. I'm going to be buying a pump to then pump it from the brute to the tank. I feel this is the safest way because I don't want to cause harm to my poor fishes. I would love to post some pictures of my 4 stendker discus but have to fiddle with that. Thanks

[Filip]

Thank you everyone who has responded the help is much appreciated. In the end I've decided to age my water. My plan is 32 gallon brute fill it de chlorinate, aerate and bring to temp. I'm going to be buying a pump to then pump it from the brute to the tank. I feel this is the safest way because I don't want to cause harm to my poor fishes. I would love to post some pictures of my 4 stendker discus but have to fiddle with that. Thanks

Youve choose the best option. 32 G. is small but even if you want to do a large WC its much better for discus to have at least a half of the water aged.
Don't put the dechlor in the aging barrel but straight in to the tank or right before you do the water change . You don't want any bacteria to form in the aging barrel but only a sterile environment and chlorine helps you prevent any bacteria.
If you have problems uploading photos send me a PM here and I can help you uploading it .

[cjvdhx]

Youve choose the best option. 32 G. is small but even if you want to do a large WC its much better for discus to have at least a half of the water aged.
Don't put the dechlor in the aging barrel but straight in to the tank or right before you do the water change . You don't want any bacteria to form in the aging barrel but only a sterile environment and chlorine helps you prevent any bacteria.
If you have problems uploading photos send me a
PM here and I can help you uploading it .

I guess aging was the wrong term to maybe use LOL my plan here is to fill the 32G bucket and add extreme or prime and let it sit for maybe 30-45 minutes with an air stone and heater and then start pumping into the tank. The problem is that I can't have this huge bucket sitting around full of water for any length of time.