Water storage

[Gmantoon]

Might be a silly question but here goes am new be gentle Just curious how long can I store hma water if I keep the temp up and air rate it in a 200-litre barrel ie for water changes

[danotaylor]

G'day Gaz. I would say indefinitely, though most here age their water in the way you asked about for 24hrs to achieve a stable pH. The aerating allows gases (often CO2) from being pressurized in the process of delivering city water to you home to be released, causing some measure of pH swing to occur from when it first comes out of the faucet. Once the water is aged, it becomes stable and you can store & use it at your leisure.

[Shaun's Discus]

In my experiences with the water where I live, it is very soft, zero Kh and around 4 defrees GH, long term storage is not viable. The water from my rain tank has a ph of 5. It comes from the sky and the tap around 7.2, many days later it falls in a heap.

[LizStreithorst]

I was taught on the BIKA forum around 15 years ago that dehclorinated water picks up bacteria easily. Best to use it within 24 hrs if possible.

[jeep]

I was taught on the BIKA forum around 15 years ago that dehclorinated water picks up bacteria easily. Best to use it within 24 hrs if possible.

This is why I treat the water as it's being pumped into the tank rather than while it's in storage :)

[LizStreithorst]

But Brian, when the air has been bubbling in the container over night the chlorine gets gassed of as well as CO2.

[jeep]

Maybe I was too generalized. My water has chloramines that are not off gassed.

[LizStreithorst]

Got it.

[Megalodon]

I was taught on the BIKA forum around 15 years ago that dehclorinated water picks up bacteria easily. Best to use it within 24 hrs if possible.

Dechlorinated water has way less bacteria than water with fish living in it. There's an endless supply of food for bacteria there while levels of organics are very low in tap water.

I dechlorinate water immediately and have stored it for weeks.

[LizStreithorst]

I did to before I was told that I was doing wrong. Could be they were mistaken.

[Shaun's Discus]

Dechlorinated water has way less bacteria than water with fish living in it. There's an endless supply of food for bacteria there while levels of organics are very low in tap water.

I dechlorinate water immediately and have stored it for weeks.

Just keep an eye on the PH for swings and a drop before you go pumping into the tank.

[Megalodon]

Just keep an eye on the PH for swings and a drop before you go pumping into the tank.

I use a short cycle timer to fill my tank in stages so the fish can acclimate to any changes in pH and TDS, etc. I start the pump off at something like 2 min on/8 off, repeat.

[LizStreithorst]

I use a short cycle timer to fill my tank in stages so the fish can acclimate to any changes in pH and TDS, etc. I start the pump off at something like 2 min on/8 off, repeat.

Nice set up I'd like to see pics of how it's done in the DIY section. It's not what were talking about in this thread.

[cooper666]

I suppose id depends on what you are doing with the water. In a hatchery setting, best to use it up before it becomes alive but for larger fish I can see no harm in long term ageing, so long as there's no access for aquatic beasts.
Eg. if a diseased frog made it's home in your barrel it might cause grief.

[Megalodon]

Tap water isn't remotely close to being sterile. (https://news.umich.edu/bacteria-in-tap-water-can-be-traced-to-the-water-treatment-process/) There's even Mycobacterium living in there. (https://academic.oup.com/femsre/article/29/5/911/548356)

Still, the amount of bacteria that can grow in tap water pales in comparison to that living in aquarium water, in the filter, substrate, and the fish. Tap water contains relatively little food for bacteria but most people keep a huge amount of organic waste in their filters and substrate.

[Willie]

The advantage of keeping the water storage tanks NOT dechlorinated/dechloraminated is that there's no slime buildup.

Every morning, I change out all the discus tanks using conditioned water from storage. I add Chloram-X as the conditioned water (aeration and heating only) is added to the tank. The storage tanks get refilled with tap water and the process repeats itself 24 hours later. I've used these tanks for 3 - 4 years and the inside walls have zero bacterial buildup.

Willie

[Megalodon]

Those are probably nitrifying bacteria. Whatever it is it's nothing in comparison to the bacterial soup fish live in.

[bluelagoon]

I've left water in the aging barrel for a week, never have I had slime on the inside of my aging barrel. It has never been wiped down for at least 10 years. I would never put dechlor in the barrel and let it set there. We use chlorine and I usually don't even put dechlo in their aged water after being aged for a day; the chlorine evaperates out in that time, just like they did years ago before dechlor was invented.

[brewmaster15]

Might be a silly question but here goes am new be gentle Just curious how long can I store hma water if I keep the temp up and air rate it in a 200-litre barrel ie for water changes

Lol.. No such thing,
:)

I can't tell you the last time I cleaned my water storage barrels. Has to be years now and mines well water fairly hard and 7.8 pH aged. I have gone away a week and used the water when I returned. I age my water to remove CO2 and stabilize the pH. I'm really not concerned with bacteria in that water... Theres bacteria everywhere and probably the majority of what is in my barrel is harmless bacteria. My Barrels are Grey Rubbermaid garbage pails. I can't tell you what kind of bacterias are there but I know they are harmless to fry....of that I have no doubt!:) Granted that may not be the case for everyone else.


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