aging water?

[bon243]

two questions:
how do you do it, i mean like i know you let it sit out, but is there any other requirments?
do you have to age your water?

[alan j t]

what i do to age water is, i have a 55 gallon barrel with an aquarium heater and a pond pump. both are on. i also i a digital thermometer to monitor the temp.
or you could have an airstone instead of a pump.

[BODYDUB]

Here's a pic of my aged water "system". I use a two 3" round air stones, a submersible heater and a floating thermometer. The air stones are used to aerate the water to bring up the PH to a stable level, faster. The heater is used to heat the water, that way the new water is that same temp as the water being replaced. Not everybody ages their water, but I'd rather take very little chance to have anything go wrong with my fish............
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g94/my_little_srt/Tanks/1201101926-00.jpg

[LizStreithorst]

It ain't no biggie. You put water in a food safe container, put in a heater set to the temps of your tanks or a couple of degrees lower, toss in an air stone or power head for surface turbulance, wait 24 hrs and you're good to change water.

[Jhhnn]

Some people need to age, aerate, detoxify and heat their water. Some, like myself, do it because we can, for whatever reason.

Does your tapwater have chloramines, rather than chlorine? If so, you'll probably want to use something like Prime to detoxify it. If it's just chlorine, then you can use sodium thiosulfate.

Set out a bucket of tapwater. Check the PH. Stick in an airstone, aerate it for 24 hours. Check the PH again. If it rises much at all, say .5, you need to age your water to let CO2 escape.

If your tapwater gives lots of microbubbles in the tank when filling, it has a lot of trapped gasses, air, and either needs to be aged or to be splashed into the tank one way or another to avoid microbubbles forming on the wrong side of the fishes' skin and gills. One of our former members, Yasmeena, had very bad problems with that last year. She may still be a member, but i think she's inactive ATM.

I age my water for a lot of reasons, but first and foremost because I think it's safer for the fish. That's just me, and my opinion isn't very scientific. Everybody's water is different from place to place, so what I need to do can be entirely different from what you need.

Liz is right, of course- it's not hard to age water, but can be inconvenient depending on tank placement and so forth. A submersible pump to get it out of the aging container and into the tank is a very good idea, as is insulating the aging vessel, particularly if it's on a concrete floor... styrofoam works well between the vessel and the floor, and hobbyists use water heater jackets, reflectix, or even bubble wrap around an aging vessel... saves money on electricity, keeps the house cooler in hot weather...

[bon243]

thanks!

[bon243]

would it be bad for my fish if i didnt age the water?

[ZX10R]

would it be bad for my fish if i didnt age the water?

Just really depends on your water. A lot of people on here just change there water straight from the tap and some age. I personally age my water not sure what is up with my water. But when I don't age my water my fish would always be stressed out for a day or two.

[CrazyAngels]

IMO it only depends on what your water source and quality is. In my setup I'm able to collect my RO H2O, but do not mix my warm tap H2O until I'm ready for WC, at this point I add PRIME to detox and perform the WC. I've had no issues doing it this way for years.

[bon243]

thanks

[kent1963]

I'm curious as to a good source for a "food grade container" I was planing to use a large rubbermade storage container as their very cheap. Is that not a good idea?

[PAR23]

I'm curious as to a good source for a "food grade container" I was planing to use a large rubbermade storage container as their very cheap. Is that not a good idea?

That's what I use.

[Jhhnn]

I'm curious as to a good source for a "food grade container" I was planing to use a large rubbermade storage container as their very cheap. Is that not a good idea?

Rubbermaid containers are apparently safe and widely used. Some plastic containers have added anti- microbial chemistry, so avoiding those is a good idea.

I use recycled 55gal plastic drums, which are nearly indestructible. I found a good local source on Craigslist- a medical supply manufacturing outfit. It's extremely important that the original contents be fish safe, as all kinds of stuff is shipped in 'em. Drums that contained vinegar, soft drink syrup, fruit juice concentrate & etc are good choices. The ones I get contained propylene glycol. It's a non-toxic antifreeze used in winterizing mobile homes, as a food additive, and also in the manufacture of medical adhesives. Know your source if you go in that direction.

Closed head plastic drums are easily altered with a jigsaw.