Ageing Water

[DiscusBob]

What is the difference between aging water in a drum, heating it, running a power head (to dissapate the chlorine/chloramine) and pouring it staight into a bucket and adding Amquel (at the right temp). Wouldn't this remove the chlorine/chloramine?

What is the difference between these two types of water? Why is one better than the other?

They're both the same temp and the chlorine/chloramine is gone in both.....

[CAGE-RATTLER]

I think it depends mostly on how much your PH changes after the water is aged.

Aging it for at least 24 hours will give you more stable water conditions.

My PH hardly changes at all but my fish are definately happier with aged water and i dont have to worry about them getting covered with co2 bubbles which ive noticed will pull off the slime coat easily.

Aging it is safer IMO in case your water company makes any changes.

[Timbo]

cage is right. also, aging allows the excess CO2 gas that is present in all municipal water systems to off-gas. it also allows you to set the temperature where you want (with a heater in the barrel) so you dont have mix hot/cold from the tap

i run a small power filter inside my storage barrel to move the water aroung and it also helps keep the container clean

[1977]

Aging is certainly better but I change so much water that I have to fill my storage tanks 2 times a day and so often times I have to fill with warm water and add conditioner for immediate use and haven't had problems at this point.Age if you can!

[thang45]

Maybe this is the thread that I was looking for. Do you guys think it is importance to use Aqua Plus for the aged water even if the aged water is in the barrel for 24 hrs?

Some people tell me that ageing the water without Aqua Plus will only remove chlorine but not chloramines. But using Aqua Plus will remove both.

Others said it is not good to add Aqua Plus chemical to the aged water.

Which statement is accurate?

[Ardan]

Hi,
It depends what is in your water.
If chlorine only, then it may be safe to use no chemicals,


but

this depends on how much chlorine is in there, how long you age it, and how much agitation is in there

I lost 19 discus due to chlorine in an aging barrel, now I use a dechlor agent. What happened was this
1. the city increased the chlorine from .3 ppm to 3.0 ppm because they were doing water tank repairs (as tested by me and confirmed by the city chemist)
2. my aeration/turbulence was not enough
3. it was not a full 24 hrs of aging
4. I did a 50% wc and went outside in a hurry, came back in a couple hrs later, they were laying on the bottom and gasping, some trying to swim, they all died that day
5. I now use a dechlor agent to be safe.:)

If chloramines in the water, this is chlorine + ammonia added by the water company. Then you must do something about the chlorine and the ammonia. I think Prime is best. Aging the water will stabalize the ph and may get rid of the chlorine, but not the ammonia. Use prime if you have chloramine is my recommendation. There are other ways too. Aqua Plus may work too.

hth
Ardan

[thang45]

Hi,
It depends what is in your water.
If chlorine only, then it may be safe to use no chemicals,


but

this depends on how much chlorine is in there, how long you age it, and how much agitation is in there

I lost 19 discus due to chlorine in an aging barrel, now I use a dechlor agent. What happened was this
1. the city increased the chlorine from .3 ppm to 3.0 ppm because they were doing water tank repairs (as tested by me and confirmed by the city chemist)
2. my aeration/turbulence was not enough
3. it was not a full 24 hrs of aging
4. I did a 50% wc and went outside in a hurry, came back in a couple hrs later, they were laying on the bottom and gasping, some trying to swim, they all died that day
5. I now use a dechlor agent to be safe.:)

If chloramines in the water, this is chlorine + ammonia added by the water company. Then you must do something about the chlorine and the ammonia. I think Prime is best. Aging the water will stabalize the ph and may get rid of the chlorine, but not the ammonia. Use prime if you have chloramine is my recommendation. There are other ways too. Aqua Plus may work too.

hth
Ardan

Thanks Ardan.

I guess it is better safe than sorry huh. Just to be safe I will continue to use Aqua Plus.

[DiscusBob]

Am I correct in assuming that if poured water from my tap into a bucket that was the same temp as my tank water, added the correct ammount of Amquel, Prime, whatever, the only difference between that water and water that's been aged for 24 hours.... is the bucket water has CO2 bubbles in it and that the pH might be unstable?

[DiscusStudent]

Carol Roberts talks about her water and the how the aeration changes her pH by 1.2 here:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//showthread.php?t=48324

[cobaltblue]

Aging water is definately preferable. Unfortunately i am not able to. I am lucky though, in that my water comes out of the tap at ph 6.8. When i leave it overnight, it drops to 6.5 by morning. My tanks have a ph of 6.4, so i am able to go straight into the tanks from the tap, with Prime of course. I dont know if the difference of 0.4 in ph is too drastic or not. My fish havnt gotten sick in the 8 months ive had them. They also spawn like crazy, so i think they are quite happy.

[dax29]

I am an associate professor with the University of Georgia and I have talked to my local water works people. My water comes straight from an aquifer. The water quality specialist says chloramines are only added to water coming from a treatment facility, which we don't have. What are your thoughts on this. I hope this is not hijacking someones thread.

[big bob]

Ageing your water wont get rid of the chloramine u need to use a chem to get rid of it.
mike

[Alight]

Big Bob is correct about the chloramine. It takes a week or so for chloramine to dissipate from your water on its own.

In addition to chlorine and chloramine changes by your water company when lines are being cleaned (its amazing how many people have lost fish due to this!--Ardan is not the only one by a long shot) and to the possibility of high CO2 present, your tap water can also be low in O2. As some have found out, high CO2 and low O2 is not a problem if you change small amounts of water (20-50% although 50% may be pushing it) if you change large amounts, 70-90%, you may suddenly find yourself with a bunch of dead fish.

Aging is the way to go if you can do it.