Can you age water too long

[Makko]

I am setting up a discus tank. I want to make water changes as easy as possible, it seems that is the key to victory. I plan to have a 55 plastic barrel with lid ( not sealed ) in my closet for doing water changes. It will have air and a heater. ( and a pump for putting water into tank) I will fill from tap water through a sediment filter that I attach to a nearby bathroom, then i will put that tubing back in closet.

My question is I would like to fill the barrel after a water change and let it sit till next water change. I hope to eventually do only 1 change a week. ( depending on testing )

Can water go bad sitting in a plastic drum with bubbles+heat if I leave it for 7 days to 14 days ?

I also plan to add prime just before I put it in tank just to be careful, is there any downside to adding prime other that cost.

[jeep]

Welcome to the forum!! You shouldn't have issues with aged water going bad unless there's contaminants in the air. Being in a closet shouldn't be an issue. Using Prime at the time of the water change is the correct thing to do. I add it to the tank and not the barrel.

How many are you getting? If you're new to discus, I would suggest planning on more water changes than once per week at least until you get comfortable with them and how well they're doing with your setup...

[Megalodon]

It could take on ammonia from the air but you would have to put it next to a litter box or something...

I dechlorinate as soon as the barrel is filled. This method gives the most thorough dechlorination for the least amount of dechlorinator.

Nothing dangerous to fish will grow in dechlorinated tap water.

but don't heat until before use. Keeping water heated costs money and if I'm not going to use it within 24 hours I don't heat it.

I've always found that stored water has high oxygen levels even if left stagnant for a long time.

But I've found that water heats faster if I have a pump in the barrel providing flow. So it gets mixed and heated before use.

[Makko]

Thanks! I def plan to do more than 1 change a week. That's why I want to create a system to do a water change super easy. IF I miss a couple I didn't want to worry that the water is bad.
I have been reading a good bit and if there is one big diff to reefing it is the number of water changes. Im have a plan to make that as quick as possible so I will do them.

My current water change plan is much harder and smaller as I have to mix salt and RO/DI water. roll it around a bit.
Im creating a new plan to use 55 gal drum 300tds tap water, pumps to move the water in, and still use a python for water out.
Im hoping 30 mins excluding refill of drum which has a float valve so I don't need to watch that.

I am looking at getting 8-10 discus + 20-30 rummy nose tetras and 6-8 cori.

I have had a reef tank for many years with decent success. I have RedSea 525 it is 110 display + 30 sump. I am in the process of tearing that down, cleaning, changing some equipment.
I know discus are not "easier" that reefing, but if the main issue is water changes I good with that. Reefing has a lot of variables that started wearing on me.

current pic of my tank
https://i.imgur.com/ZoCS08d.jpg?1

[jeep]

Sounds like you have a good plan!

[Willie]

Sounds like you're off to a great start! The key to success with discus is the ease of doing water changes.

You may be doing this already, but the water storage tank should have an air stone running. That avoids stagnation and will remove much of the chlorine, though not chloramine, from the tap water. Depending on your room temperature, a heater set to 84F would mean no temperature shock. Not adding Prime/Safe/Amquel means no slime buildup. The storage tanks I set up 4 - 5 years ago for water treatment remain slime free today because they only get straight tap and no water treatment. I just add Prime/Safe/Amquel to the discus tank right before refilling.

You're going to have a great time with discus!

[Makko]

Thanks for the advice I have been looking at that. I plan to have an air pump, heater running all the time. A main pump only for moving water to tank. I have a little 4 socket wifi plug i can control from my phone to turn them each on and off. I have a jager true temp on the way because I read its pretty good as not dying if its ran dry. I don't plan to run it dry, but it can happen. I am going to hang the heater in the barrel so if gets hot it wont touch the barrel. that's kinda my biggest concern, forget to turn off heater when i pump out water. ( esp after a few cocktails lol )

interesting i thought the prime went in drum, but tank sounds better. Do you dose for tank amount or water change amount ?

[Megalodon]

Thanks for the advice I have been looking at that. I plan to have an air pump, heater running all the time. A main pump only for moving water to tank. I have a little 4 socket wifi plug i can control from my phone to turn them each on and off. I have a jager true temp on the way because I read its pretty good as not dying if its ran dry. I don't plan to run it dry, but it can happen. I am going to hang the heater in the barrel so if gets hot it wont touch the barrel. that's kinda my biggest concern, forget to turn off heater when i pump out water. ( esp after a few cocktails lol )

interesting i thought the prime went in drum, but tank sounds better. Do you dose for tank amount or water change amount ?

I put one of these in my barrel to cut power to the pump before it drains below the level of the heaters.

Dechlorinator in the barrel as soon as it's filled is better. In-the-tank dilutes both reactants so you have to try to make it up by using more dechlorinator. There's also less time for the reaction to take place.

[Makko]

I looked at that sensor and the reviews where not good. So its working fine for you ?

[Megalodon]

I looked at that sensor and the reviews where not good. So its working fine for you ?

Yeah, I have had two of them for over a year now. But reef people may be using them differently and/or more often.

[Makko]

Yeah, I have had two of them for over a year now. But reef people may be using them differently and/or more often.

Those damn reef people lol... I think I will give it a try.

[Willie]

Thanks for the advice I have been looking at that. I plan to have an air pump, heater running all the time. A main pump only for moving water to tank. I have a little 4 socket wifi plug i can control from my phone to turn them each on and off. I have a jager true temp on the way because I read its pretty good as not dying if its ran dry. I don't plan to run it dry, but it can happen. I am going to hang the heater in the barrel so if gets hot it wont touch the barrel. that's kinda my biggest concern, forget to turn off heater when i pump out water. ( esp after a few cocktails lol )

interesting i thought the prime went in drum, but tank sounds better. Do you dose for tank amount or water change amount ?

I just put the heater flat on the bottom. Actually, no pump can get all the water out of the tank. Depending on pump design, you'll end up with 1/2" to 1" of water that cannot be pumped out. So the heater never gets exposed if it's flat on the bottom. It will get exposed if you hang it vertically.

As for Prime/Safe, I make 100% water changes so the dose for the water change is the same as the dose for the tank.

[Shan_Evolved]

If your water has chloramines in it, remember PRIME will only keep the ammonia atoms harmless for 24-48hrs. So if you plan on using the water later that week, it will become obsolete. I myself have a very similar setup to yours as my barrel is in the closet 8 ft from my tank of which I use pumps and hoses to make water changes easy with amazon alexa plugs and buttons on my phone; a monkey could change 90% of the water in 20 minutes.

But backing up, I wish you the best. Stable PH is hugeeee

[bluelagoon]

I put one of these in my barrel to cut power to the pump before it drains below the level of the heaters.

Dechlorinator in the barrel as soon as it's filled is better. In-the-tank dilutes both reactants so you have to try to make it up by using more dechlorinator. There's also less time for the reaction to take place.

I'm like Willie. I never put dechlor in my barrel and let it sit there. You will get slime in many cases. I've never cleaned my barrel in about 10 years since I started using aged water. If it's just chlorine and a few days have gone by before use, the water in the barrel will have no chlorine left in it any way. Aging was a way to condition chlorinated water before a dechlor was developed. Sometimes I don't use conditioner at all because we only have chlorine in the water supply and is aired off by the time it's ready me to use. I just use a very cheap conditioner. Sodium Thiosulfate when I need some from the tap.. Seachem will tell you that Prime and Safe neutralize heavy metals; from what I've read on line it can't be done.

[Megalodon]

I just put the heater flat on the bottom. Actually, no pump can get all the water out of the tank. Depending on pump design, you'll end up with 1/2" to 1" of water that cannot be pumped out. So the heater never gets exposed if it's flat on the bottom. It will get exposed if you hang it vertically.

It's funny that you should mention that. I put a random elbow fitting on my pump and it just happened to extend the same depth as the pump. It can drain down to the last few millimeters of water though it's undesirable because the pump starts getting warm.

I have 6 heaters in my barrel and due them tangling with each other and the cords not really being long enough, I need several inches of water to cover them. The shutoff sensor is placed accordingly. When I'm done I sometimes want to drain the rest of the water to another holding tank. I disable the shutoff, unplug the heaters, and then allow the pump to nearly empty the barrel.