Water

[dogday7]

I have been breeding fish for a while, and am thinking about getting into discus. I have a 90 gal tank that I want to use for 6 - 3 inch discus.
I read about everybody aging water, I have never done that, and was wondering if anybody have had any negative results from this.
I do not have much room to store water, and don't want to do it just because everybody else is doing it, unless there is a good reason.

ty, John

[AmberC]

John,
Welcome to Simply! I do not age my water.. just use straight tap (after prime of course) but I think aging the water is something some do because they have issues when they dont. Like some do it because if they dont, the fish get very skittish.. or they have other water issues. I think it all really depends on your water supply. I know there are many reasons some do it. If I were you.. I'd just give it a try with tap and if things dont look so great for you discus... then try aging it to see if it helps ya know?

What do you/did you breed?

Amber

[Greg Richardson]

John. Aged water gets all the gas out. Allows PH to stabilize.
Also allows u to get temperature the same.

Yes, it does take up room and more $$$ equipment.

But the benefits imo far out weigh the consequences some have that don't do it. Water is essential to the fish's health so that is where I'd spend my money and time when it comes to discus.

[Alight]

Just my opinion:
I've seen many threads by people who have never had problems with tap water changes, suddenly losing all of their fish, because something happens to the tap water. Line cleanings, new additives, etc. You can do a search on this forum, or on almost any other tropical fish forums and you will find a bunch of people who have had problems.

Also, have you made 75% changes with no problems? You may need to do that occasionally with Discus.

I always put it this way--a storage bin and heater, pump and airstone will cost you less than $50. Way less than replacing even one adult discus, and way way less than replacing a breeding pair. Add a pump for convenience to pump the water to your tank and your still under $100.

You may never have a problem with tap water, but you'll also probably never have problems with storage bin water.

The only justification I can see for not storing water is if you simply do not have the space for storage, which can happen in some urban situations.

[sleonard]

The purpose of ageing water is 3-fold. First, it allows the chlorine to dissipate naturally, without using chemicals (cuts down on the Prime bill). Second, it causes the exces CO2 to dissipate stabilizing the Ph. Third, it allows the water to be pre-heated to avoid shocking the fish with too cold water.

If you don't have a lot of dissolved CO2, you don't mind buying a lot of Prime, and you are very careful to get the temp right then fill straight from the tap.

Scott

[dogday7]

John,
Welcome to Simply! I do not age my water.. just use straight tap (after prime of course) but I think aging the water is something some do because they have issues when they dont. Like some do it because if they dont, the fish get very skittish.. or they have other water issues. I think it all really depends on your water supply. I know there are many reasons some do it. If I were you.. I'd just give it a try with tap and if things dont look so great for you discus... then try aging it to see if it helps ya know?

What do you/did you breed?

Amber
Ive breed angle fish, Bettas, blk trtras, panda catfish, Julii cat, bronzecat,
pepper cat, and albino cat.

[Cosmo]

IMO a must read..

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//showthread.php?t=48597

Call me paranoid.. which I am.. but I even age and add Prime to RO... just in case.

Jim

[discusfire4]

IMO a must read..

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//showthread.php?t=48597

Call me paranoid.. which I am.. but I even age and add Prime to RO... just in case.

Jim


Thats about what I do too. I have 4 96 gallon trash cans I fill, age, heat, and add prime to the water.

[bennyblanco]

i use tap water for my w/c's never had a problem,those who age there water its because they dont have a stable ph,dont get me wrong if i had to i will age my water!!!you have to test your ph!! put some tap water in a cup you have to do this at night before you go to bed,ok so test the water in the cup right it down on a paper and test again in the morning if the two test dont mach you have to age your water!!!

[Cosmo]

Just keep in mind tap water is not a constant. The parameters change with the seasons and they also change with the cities maintenance routine.

Jim

[BIGFOOT]

IMO a must read..

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//showthread.php?t=48597

Call me paranoid.. which I am.. but I even age and add Prime to RO... just in case.

Jim



This has to be a joke because I am laughing so hard I cant stop.lol

[Cosmo]

Actually Brian... no joke

My source water has chloramines, the carbon blocks break the chlorine/ammonia bond but if the chloramine content is too high the RO doesn't remove all the ammonia. Rather than constantly test, or put a sponge filter in my storage bins, I add Prime.. I think of it as cheap insurance.

After having watched my fish roll over on their sides and start shedding massive amounts of slime after a water change once, I age and treat all my water .. figured it was something I didn't want to watch again..

But then.. I admitted outright that I'm paranoid

Jim

[BIGFOOT]

Jim,


I was told by an Ro guy that after the carbon block if you put a Ac carbon on before the membrane that this will take care of the ammonia and save you money in prime. Check it with your Ro guy.


http://www.buckeyefieldsupply.com/showproducts.asp?Category=170&Sub=166

[Cosmo]

Hey Brian,

Thanks for the link.. added it my favorites list so I don't lose it.

I started adding Prime to my product water years ago on the advice of someone with impeccable water chemistry credentials ... much cheaper than the DI resins I was using at the time, and no dealing with the PITA of refilling cartridges either.

It does the job and when you buy it in the half gallon jugs it lasts long enough to make it relatively inexpensive to use.

Jim

[Timbo]

if you put a Ac carbon on before the membrane that this will take care of the ammonia

carbon removes ammonia? can anyone confirm this?

[lhforbes12]

Jim,
Chicago has chloramine? I live in Grayslake and we have chlorine. That's interesting.
I would like to note that Amber, I believe, lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Bay Area never freezes, and for that matter really only has two seasons, wet and dry. It can easily be, and often is, 70+ degrees in January
So seasonal differences do not apply. I spent most of my life in or just south of San Francisco and I can tell you with authority that the pH, GH, & KH never change at all, no matter what time of year it is.
However, now that I live in Chicagoland, I can also say that the water here is highly variable, and aging water is a very good idea here.
So <shrug> I guess what I am really trying to say is "It really depends where you live on whether or not you need to age your water".

Larry

[Tony_S]

carbon removes ammonia? can anyone confirm this?

Nope...To the best of my knowledge Activated Carbon DOESNT remove ammonia...

Tony

[Timbo]

I was told by an Ro guy that after the carbon block if you put a Ac carbon on before the membrane that this will take care of the ammonia
http://www.buckeyefieldsupply.com/showproducts.asp?Category=170&Sub=166
Brian, i wouldnt buy a thing from that guy.

Tony, thanks for the confirm buddy.

[AmberC]

Jim,
Chicago has chloramine? I live in Grayslake and we have chlorine. That's interesting.
I would like to note that Amber, I believe, lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Bay Area never freezes, and for that matter really only has two seasons, wet and dry. It can easily be, and often is, 70+ degrees in January
So seasonal differences do not apply. I spent most of my life in or just south of San Francisco and I can tell you with authority that the pH, GH, & KH never change at all, no matter what time of year it is.
However, now that I live in Chicagoland, I can also say that the water here is highly variable, and aging water is a very good idea here.
So <shrug> I guess what I am really trying to say is "It really depends where you live on whether or not you need to age your water".

Larry

Nope... I'm not in Cali. I'm not anywhere near Cali ;) I'm on the opposite coast in Virginia Beach :)

Amber

[BIGFOOT]

Opps sorry I ment Catalytic Carbon . According to this web site:


http://www.buckeyefieldsupply.com/showproducts.asp?Category=170&Sub=166

[Ryan]

At home I have well water that comes straight out of the aequifer, and at work we have city water which contains chloramines. I have done w/c several times on our work tank with pure tap that I added Amquel Plus to, and things were great. Then last week I did a w/c and after 4 days, all my fish were dead. I called the city and found out they disinfected their lines. Lesson learned.

At home with the well water, I do 100% changes everyday on my angelfish fry and 75% on pairs. I match up the temps as close as possible and everything's fine. My pH is the same from the tap as when it's aged. So I guess I'm lucky :)

Ryan

[Bainbridge Mike]

Water companies/utility districts almost always flush the water mains once a year--typically in late spring or early summer. This is to get out the accumulated stuff that settles out of the water and sits in the pipes. It is common for water companies to add extra chlorine or chloramine when they do the flushing to kill any bacteria or organisms that might reside in the sediment. Long story short--if you fill directly from tap there is always a chance you might get something unexpected so you are taking a risk.

Mike

[Tony_S]

Opps sorry I ment Catalytic Carbon

Brian....can you tell us more about your experiences with 'Catalytic Carbon'?
Truthfully....I wasnt aware that the stuff even existed till you mentioned it.
I went on a hunt for more info about it....all the info I could find was full of mumbo jumbo BS....very vague info actually, even by the manufacturers. Most sites claim Chloramine REDUCTION, but were vague as to HOW MUCH reduction. Some of the sites gave me the impression that it breaks the chloramine bond and removes chlorine....but say nothing about the ammonia factor? Other sites SUGGEST? there may be a "biological filtration" factor involved for ammonia removal as the incoming water needs adequate O2 levels (4 ppm min) to work properly. Very little info on life expectancy also....some mention recharging by backflushing as well?? Never heard of any type of carbon being 'rechargable' beyond being refired.

All said and done....at this stage, Im not convinced its a better solution than prime.

Tony

[Timbo]

im with tony on this. even the website doesnt claim that it removes ammonia. actually, it says "the CS5 also includes a Catalytic Carbon stage to split the chloramine".

and when you split the chlorimine bond, its a chemical fact that ammonia is actually produced as a bi-product!

[korbi_doc]

At home I have well water that comes straight out of the aequifer, and at work we have city water which contains chloramines. I have done w/c several times on our work tank with pure tap that I added Amquel Plus to, and things were great. Then last week I did a w/c and after 4 days, all my fish were dead. I called the city and found out they disinfected their lines. Lesson learned.

At home with the well water, I do 100% changes everyday on my angelfish fry and 75% on pairs. I match up the temps as close as possible and everything's fine. My pH is the same from the tap as when it's aged. So I guess I'm lucky :)

Ryan

:crazy: Hey Ryan, sorry you lost your fish this way; it really worries me when you say they "disinfected" the lines....do you know what was used? Do you know if storing the water would have made a difference? How can we prepare for such inevitabiities?? In Tn, (whenever I get there) the water is treated with chlorine, & the old man in charge seems very dubious to me, so I can't trust that he won't do such things & my fish will be at risk....any thoughts?? Dottie;)

[thang45]

Hi guys, I'm new to discus and would like to know if anyone here add Aqua plus to their age water?

Currently I have a heater and an air stone in my container. Every time I refill my container I use aqua plus to remove chlorine and chloramine. Is Aqua plus the right product to use or prime?

If I don’t use aqua plus or prime, can I use the age water after 24 hrs?

[yeomans]

I use strictly aged water, an r.o and tap water blend. Aging your water for 24 hours should be fine. I assume your talking about the hagen water conditoiner right?

[thang45]

I use strictly aged water, an r.o and tap water blend. Aging your water for 24 hours should be fine. I assume your talking about the hagen water conditoiner right?


Yes Hagen Aqua Plus.

So hagen aqua plus is not really needed right. Age the water for 24 hrs should remove most of the chlorine and chloramine?

[yeomans]

I'd say that you could skip adding the water conditioner if you age the water for 24 hours. But to be safe test the parameters of the water, both from agged water, and water that has had the conditioner added.
chlorine will evaporate after 24 hours, you should arreate your water storage container, also being in Canada in the winter, you might want to heat the storage as well.

[thang45]

Thank you for the info.

[BIGFOOT]

im with tony on this. even the website doesnt claim that it removes ammonia. actually, it says "the CS5 also includes a Catalytic Carbon stage to split the chloramine".

and when you split the chlorimine bond, its a chemical fact that ammonia is actually produced as a bi-product!
Brian....can you tell us more about your experiences with 'Catalytic Carbon'?

None I just read on the net the same as you.

This is true so you got two choices once you get rid of the chlorine one biological removal or ammonia absorbing resin also will work. In my case I just have chlorine in my water so buying a 30 dollar jug of declor is not cost effective when it only last two months verses 15 dollars on a sediment and carbon filter once a year. That if you use 60 gallons a day for a year with a 20,000 gallon block.