Aging water question

[crf50hugo]

What is aging water and how is done? Are there any benefits to doing that if you have hard water from tap?

[DonMD]

I don't know about the hard water issue. Aging water, especially if you use an air stone or a pump that splashed water, will help remove chlorine, but won't do anything about chloramines. My main reason to age water is to give it 24 hours to heat to the same temperature as my tanks, and also to have ready enough water for a 100% w/c if needed. -Don

[LizStreithorst]

There is another very important reason to age water. Water straight from the tap is often at a higher or lower pH that it is after 24 hours of aeration. PH swings on a constant basis (daily WC) is detremental to the fish. I have a .4 swing in my water so I age. Other people are lucky with their water and don't have to.

[bigjohnson]

Is there any issues in aging water too long as long as it's circulating? It seems like it won't be too long before it's used, I'm talking about maybe 48 hours +/-...I am thinking about using pond pumps instead of airstones to keep water moving, maybe a shower type attachment on the end of the hose to add some disturbance to aerate.

[jimg]

I don't let mine sit any more than 48 max. any type of circulation that breaks the surface is all that is important other than making sure it circulates enough to evenly heat.

[afriend]

Liz is right about aged water changing the PH of the water. This is due to the amount of carbon dioxide disolved in the water. When water is under pressure it absorbs CO2. This forms carbonic acid H2CO3. Note the chemical equation H2CO3 = H2O + CO2. When water pressure is decreased, it cannot contain as much carbon dioxide and thus the amount of H2CO3 is decreased. A decrease in carbonic acid increases the PH of the water. Aerating the water accelerates the release of carbon dioxide, but it will occur slowly if the water is not aerated. See my post under "Water Works" today.