Why aerate before W/C?

[Tin Pusher]

I see that most people age and aerate there water before adding it to the aquarium. Does tap water have CO2 in it? Is that why aerating raises Ph?

[keno]

Hey Tim, I aerate my water to drive off the chlorine. My tap water comes out at about 9 and settles at about 8.5 after 24 hours.

Ken

[Tin Pusher]

Chlorine affects Ph? I use a chlorine remover, is that as good?

[ronrca]

Tin, you were correct before! It is to dissapate C02 and C02 effects ph! Chlorine will also be dissapated unless you have chloramines. Another reason is because we also pre-heat the water!

It is not neccessary that aerating will cause ph to rise! I have heard of it actually dropping instead.

[heavyp83]

Yep, aeration for 24 hours drops my pH from 8 to about 7.2 ::)

[Carol_Roberts]

. . . . and heavy agitation of my well water for 3 hours raises the pH from 6.8 to 7.8.

Aeration or agitation stabilizes the water by off gassing CO2 or oxygen. The water will settle to a certain pH (either higher or lower) and match your tank water. This makes for happy discus ;D
Carol :heart1:

[Al_M.]

I'm with you Carol my well water goes from 7.5 to 8.5 in 24hrs. Al M.

[Tin Pusher]

There has to be another option. I do not have the room for a 40 gallon heated aging tank. My tap Ph is 6.6 and after a day it is 7.0. Not a big swing but big enough. I tried an aerating power head in the new water for 90 minutes and it did'nt raise the Ph at all. I don't have another heater to spare to keep it warm even if I did have the room. Any options short of "maybe you should try guppies". The only thing that comes to mind is smaller W/Cs more often. A 25% change won't hit them as hard as a 50% change.

[Carol_Roberts]

I've heard "I don't have room" before. It's funny how you can suddenly find room for more water storage and more tanks. I never thought I'd have a 45 gallon plastic barrel in my kitchen and two in the master bath.

You start getting a bunch of tanks and you'll need water storage, water pumps, etc. It's the only way to clean and fill 8 tanks in an hour.

Some folks are blessed with fairly stable water. Most of us aren't. The only way to do big, quick water changes is with aged water. Other wise the discus are too stressed.

Carol :heart1:

[Tin Pusher]

Fair enough Carol but there are always other options (are'nt there?). How about Seachem neutral regulator? Other than algae from the phosphate what are the others downsides to "chemical dependency"? I hate additives as much as the next guy but is it the lesser of two evils?
Thanks

[April]

Carol. tin has the same water as me. i do aerate some..but alot i dont. right out of the tap at work. andthey are spawning and getting wigglers.
at home i do as my new pipes. i add prime and aerate and use a carbon block which removes chlorine im told.

[DarkDiscus]

I have as little space as anyone and I have a nice storage bin that takes up minimal space and doesn't look too bad. My pH swing is minimal - drops from 7.8 to 7.4 or so - but it gets rid of the chlorine and lets any particulate matter in the water settle.

John

[Francisco_Borrero]

My opinnion is that there are very many options, but some are not good options. Chemical dependancy is bottom of the list with me. I do add Prime because I am blessed with chloramine additions. Space can be found with some creativity, even in the absence of it.
Don't have a spare heater ? start saving those pennies. One must have one.
Even being blessed with the best of tap waters does not save us from the charming tricks the water suppliers do from time to time (such as "seasonal cleaning" giving you nasty water for a few hours every now and then, non-scheduled chloramine additions, variable levels of any of chorine, chloramine, fluoride, etc.). We all have read the horror tales: everything is going smoothly for days and months, and then, there is fish gasping and dying everywhere. The water company never acknowledges having done anything different. Even well-water sources exhibit seasonal variations in composition, disolved solids, etc.
Having a storage tank does not save you from all risks, but it does give you a one-stage insurance against many problems. Some of these problems evaporate/stabilize under agitation. A powerhead which does not break the water surface does not do it for my water, no matter how powerful. I agitate with a strong powerhead sitting at the bottom of my center bin (system of 3 connected 55 gal bins) that outflows 4-5 inches above the water surface, and runs constantly.
Cheers, Francisco.

[ronrca]

Agree Frans 100%! As with you, chemicals additions are not even on my list except from dechlors and detoxifiers!

For the space limited folks, is there not a closest you could clean out all the old clothes or other 'stuff' and set a 45G barrel? You can pretty use a barrel anywhere in the house, just put a lid on it! Believe me, a barrel helps relieve stress and I do not mean the fish!

If there is no possibility at all, then small water changes are best however by far not ideal! A small test to check the frequency of these small water changes is to see how long your tap water will actually stablize with aertion or surface turbulance similar to your tank (I believe my tap water de-gasses in about an hour with aeration! Some take longer!). If this be the case (less than 8 hours), you can do water changes once in the morning and once in the evening! Just a thought! ;)