Do I need to age my water?

[ilaizm]

Hi,

I tested my PH out of the tap and tested the same water after ageing it for 48 hours and after 4 days. The PH value remained the same. If I had to use Prime with every water change, would you still recommend ageing the water or can I use straight from the temp if I manage to get the right temp from the tap

[pcsb23]

You are probably good to go straight from the tap. I would always look to use some sort of dechlor / water conditioner /HMA though.

[ilaizm]

And its fine to just pour the water conditioner straight into the tank?

[rich_one]

And its fine to just pour the water conditioner straight into the tank?

That's what I've always done. I only age the water in my basement because of the inconvenience there is to trying to use my python down there.

-Rich

[Jhhnn]

Some people have trouble with a lot of dissolved gasses other than CO2 in their tapwater. In extreme instances, it can kill your fish. Letting the fill water splash strongly into the tank helps release dissolved gas before it can harm them...

Yassmeena posted a thread and discussion of her problems here-

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=77419

[tcyiu]

In my opinion, pH is not the only parameter to watch. As Jhhnn said, dissolved gases can be a concern if your water source is very cold and your water company applies a lot of water pressure. It's easy to tell because the water coming out of the tap will have lots of fine bubbles. The thread he pointed to has a lot of good insight.

However, I believe aquarists' main concern should be chlorine and/or chloramine. Water companies vary the amount they put into the water supply If after a water change, your discus act very distressed, it's because the chlorine/chloramine has not yet been neutralized and you will need to add more de-chlorinating agent (Prime, pure sodium thiosulphate ....).

Tim

[waters10]

From what I've been reading lately, specially on different forums, GH and KH are the important factors to compare between tap and tank water. PH does not matter as much, because if GH and KH are the same, the difference in PH will be due to CO2 dissolved in the water and that's harmless to fish at the levels found in tap water.

But yes, the bubbles are a problem. If you do fill from the tap, watch out for those and do what you can to avoid those: have water drop from up high and fill up slowly.

I have the same water that Yasmin has and I change water from tap, curiously after she told me that's how she did it. She is still changing from the tap for now. She's just changing less water, having water drop from up high and filling up slowly.

[diamond_discus]

Hi,

I tested my PH out of the tap and tested the same water after ageing it for 48 hours and after 4 days. The PH value remained the same. If I had to use Prime with every water change, would you still recommend ageing the water or can I use straight from the temp if I manage to get the right temp from the tap

Yes, you still need to age your water for around 4 to 5 hours to de-gas it ..

Read this thread : http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=77419

Highly recommended: http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showpost.php?p=617641&postcount=59

[waters10]

Highly recommended: http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showpost.php?p=617641&postcount=59
Very interesting read! I missed that in that original thread.

The thing is, I didn't see anything about nitrogen gas dissolved in water having any effect on PH! Can someone confirm if nitrogen gas has any affect on PH, KG or GH?

I still think we are used to measure PH values of our tap water to determine if it's required to age water or not, but I don't think PH is the relevant factor. I'm trying to find more info on nitrogen gas dissolved in water.