Aging can getting funky, fast!

[jssquared]

I have a 32 gallon brute trash can that I age my water in. About a week ago (probably less) I noticed the water in the can was starting to get noticeably cloudy and had white, what looked like slime floating around in it. I cleaned it very good before using it and everything that went into it.

I originally had this plumbed into my spray bar from a rena xp3 with a ball valve to avoid any of the tank water from getting into the can. I thought maybe some tank water may have slipped into the can by mistake so I took everything out, cleaned it all again and made a spray bar just for it so this would not happen again. When I filled it the first time the water was crystal clear, so I am also sure it is not from the water supply. Like I said it has been a little under a week now and it is back again.

I leave the water in the can no more than 24 hours due to daily water changes. I have a air pump rated for a 40 gallon tank with a 3" disk airstone for circulation. In the picture below I was using a 5/8" hose on the pump but have recently switched it with a white hose I got at walmart (said it was safe for drinking water) so I didn't have to worry about the other hose under pressure. I don't think it is the hose due to the fact that this happened before and after the new hose was added. I have a 75g tank and always need more than 32 gallons because I do about 55g water changes daily. So I end up refilling the can with a warm/cold tap water mix so I can fill the rest of the tank. Tonight I added a aquaclear 30 powerhead with a quick filter attachment to see if it may have not had a enough circulation.

I was thinking if it is not getting enough circulation and the water was staying to still it could develop a film inside the can. Is this a good assumption?

I am hoping that someone else has dealt with this before and can help me.

Here is a pic before the new hose and powerhead.

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p22/livejive6363/IMAG0110.jpg

Thanks,

John

[Eddie]

Are you adding dechlor to the tub immediately after filling?

[jssquared]

Thanks for the fast reply, I can always count on you Eddie!!! I add prime while refilling. If there is still water in the can from the last refill I add for the whole can anyways.

[Eddie]

Thanks for the fast reply, I can always count you Eddie!!! I add prime while refilling. If there is still water in the can from the last refill I add for the whole can anyways.

Thats the problem, add prime just before filling the tank. Having it set in the tub daily causes the bacteria build-up. ;)

[jssquared]

Good news for me!!! I don't have to replace anything. Thanks again for the info bro!

[Eddie]

Anytime!

[jssquared]

WOW!!! I must say, that power head with the quick filter is a BEAST! It has been less than an hour since installing it in the can and all the debris is gone. I know they call it a quick filter but I did not expect that at all.

[saltydog]

hope you do not mind if i cut in here. but let me ask this. i use an ATO with about a 20 gallon container underneath my tank. once the water is made in my trash can i then pump it into my ATO holding container under my tank where it is slowly pumped into the sump as needed. Fairly new to adding prime so i wanted to make sure i am adding it in the right place and stage. do i add it to the ATO container or just to my tank. will the amount i add in my tank hold enough to treat the water that is added over about a weeks time from my ATO or just add to my ATO which just holds a pump that adds the water from the holding container to my sump? of course thsi is not compensating for WC's. whcih i also do through my ATO. i just take water out of my display and the ATo fills up the tank at the same time i am filling up my ATO from my larger holding container. of course my WC's are not as frequent as BB sicne i have a planted tank.

Hope that makes sense.
TIA for the help

[jssquared]

hope you do not mind if i cut in here. but let me ask this. i use an ATO with about a 20 gallon container underneath my tank. once the water is made in my trash can i then pump it into my ATO holding container under my tank where it is slowly pumped into the sump as needed. Fairly new to adding prime so i wanted to make sure i am adding it in the right place and stage. do i add it to the ATO container or just to my tank. will the amount i add in my tank hold enough to treat the water that is added over about a weeks time from my ATO or just add to my ATO which just holds a pump that adds the water from the holding container to my sump? of course thsi is not compensating for WC's. whcih i also do through my ATO. i just take water out of my display and the ATo fills up the tank at the same time i am filling up my ATO from my larger holding container. of course my WC's are not as frequent as BB sicne i have a planted tank.

Hope that makes sense.
TIA for the help

Not cutting in at all... From what I gathered out of this, add the prime in at stage one, the trash can. But add it before filling with water to avoid the issue I was dealing with, bacteria build up. I hope I took in this info correctly, if not I am sure Eddie will be here soon to correct me. ;)

[Fishish]

im a bit confused, so you added the prime in the aging water can, right? what i wanna know ( i personally dont age my water right now) but would it be better to add the prime in the tank just before adding the water or in the water before adding it in the tank (if there is even a difference), and for aging water as well, before you add it or after? i guess if that makes sense to you guys.. ive only had discus for a month or so, still learning a lot.

just wanted to know the most effective way for water changes, ex. aging, prime usage, and stuff like that, i do about a 40% WC on my tank and i add the prime in the water that im putting in the tank (not aged water). i hope im not confusing you, because im already starting to get a little confused myself lol...

[jssquared]

I think I may have misunderstood Eddie at first.... I thought what he was saying was to add the prime before I fill my aging can. But after looking over this again he said "add prime just before filling the tank. Having it set in the tub daily causes the bacteria build-up". I thought he meant add the prime to the can before filling with new water that would sit over night.

I think I kinda confused myself with this thinking. A lot of tap water has chlorine, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, etc like mine does. My original thinking was if bacteria is going to build up it would be because of the previously mentioned additives to the water and start the nitrogen cycle. I do get the fact that there is chlorine in the water to prevent bacteria from growing but this will dissipate rather quickly. So what is left? Ammonia and Nitrites.. My thought was if I add the prime to the aging tank that it would neutralize the bad stuff in the water and prevent the bacteria vs provoke it.

So apparently I misunderstood Eddies advice and confused a couple of people including myself in the process. Sorry :)

I am however glad that there were other replies because I would have probably continued having the same problem!

[rave 2468]

I age my water, and I add prime to the tank before I refill, not the tub.

[Eddie]

I age my water, and I add prime to the tank before I refill, not the tub.

Like this

[scottthomas]

Like this

Yes. LOl strikes me as funny for some reason that there is confusion about this. Eddie is correct as usual. I too, add prime to my water storage container right before it gets pumped into the tank in order to avoid the "funky" water you are making.. (If I am going to use all of the water.) Otherwise I add Prime/Safe straight into the tank)

[saltydog]

I guess the confusion for me is that I have never really had to use prime before being I had used an RO unit with DI. Now without my DI i do use it. But i guess my confusion is more with my water sits mostly in my ATO container and is slowly pumped over a weeks time into my display / sump as needed.

[jssquared]

Thanks for the clarification! But I do have one more question. When I am adding the water to my tank I have to do it in two doses considering I only have the 32 gallon can and I do 75% water changes. When I add the water to the tank do I add prime for only what I am adding at that moment?

Here's my new water change scenario, I drain 75% out of the tank. I will add prime to the tank for the 32 gallons I am about to refill it with. I refill my can and let the gases dissipate, normally takes a good 20 - 30 minutes. Add prime to the tank again for the amount it will take to top it off. I would have gotten a 55 gallon brute but I don't have the little bit of extra space it would have taken were I planned on keeping it.

Do you think I could get away with just doing 32 gallons a day vs 75%? I have 8 discus and 4 rams. Most of the discus are still in the 4" range so I do feed quite a bit.

[Eddie]

Thanks for the clarification! But I do have one more question. When I am adding the water to my tank I have to do it in two doses considering I only have the 32 gallon can and I do 75% water changes. When I add the water to the tank do I add prime for only what I am adding at that moment?

Here's my new water change scenario, I drain 75% out of the tank. I will add prime to the tank for the 32 gallons I am about to refill it with. I refill my can and let the gases dissipate, normally takes a good 20 - 30 minutes. Add prime to the tank again for the amount it will take to top it off. I would have gotten a 55 gallon brute but I don't have the little bit of extra space it would have taken were I planned on keeping it.

Do you think I could get away with just doing 32 gallons a day vs 75%? I have 8 discus and 4 rams. Most of the discus are still in the 4" range so I do feed quite a bit.

Just add the amount required for amount you are filling each time. As far as the water change amount, I go big, always....so its not a good question to ask me. LOL

[scottthomas]

I guess the confusion for me is that I have never really had to use prime before being I had used an RO unit with DI. Now without my DI i do use it. But i guess my confusion is more with my water sits mostly in my ATO container and is slowly pumped over a weeks time into my display / sump as needed.

I see your dilemma. Maybe someone else has a better solution but I suspect you must add decholrinater in your ATO container as it slowly drips into your tank. If it takes a week I wonder how much you would really need? is the water in the ATO agitated or airated?

[jssquared]

Just add the amount required for amount you are filling each time. As far as the water change amount, I go big, always....so its not a good question to ask me. LOL

lol... maybe I will just have to find room for the 55 brute!!

Thanks again!

[jball1125]

Not sure if it makes since to add water to a can and then to the tank without letting it age for at least 24 hours. I would just go straight from tap to tank and make your life easier. You can get the same effect as from can to tank by just making sure the water is sprayed into the tank creating lots of bubbles which degasses the water. Or you can just get a bigger drum :)

[Jhhnn]

I have a bit of a difference of opinion with some people regarding bacteria in aging vessels. I see it as natural and good, a biological pre-filter of sorts. The bacteria are converting organic material into nitrate, and that can't be bad. They wouldn't be there if they didn't have food, oxygen and warmth.

I'm sure it can seem a bother for people who have more organic material dissolved in their water than I have here in Denver, where tap water is collected at high altitude, above most sources of pollution. For the most part, I don't even look into the aging barrels unless the delivery rate from the pumps seems slow, at which point I clean the sponge filters on the pump intakes and siphon off any accumulated gook I find. I always add prime to the aging barrels before filling, because I want the bacteria growing in the barrels.

Just my own POV.

[saltydog]

Thanks Scott, Not in my ATO except by the venturi valve on the maxi jet that pumps the water from the ATO to the sump. But prior to going into the ATO it is aerated with a mag 5 in my holding barrel. So i guess my biggest question is if i out prime in the ATO or main tank will it hold it effectiveness the length of time it takes the water to be pumped from my ATO into my sump over the period of the week. The main reason i am questioning this is it seems here of late i have have had a slight haze in the tank where it does not look as crystal clear as it use to. All params check out great and fish are as active as ever. In fact i have wigglers as we speak from a two different pairs. So it leads me to think the haze is not caused by the params being off taking my test results and fish behaviors into consideration. The haze is not bad but i notice it even if no one else does so when i saw this thread it prompted me to jump in.


I see your dilemma. Maybe someone else has a better solution but I suspect you must add decholrinater in your ATO container as it slowly drips into your tank. If it takes a week I wonder how much you would really need? is the water in the ATO agitated or airated?

[Fishish]

im glad i found this thread,

i need a quick question answered regarding this,
i dont age my water, when i do my water changes i add the prime in just before adding the water, but today i noticed what seemed to be the same problem this thread was started for, i saw some slime or w/e developing on my heater, so i scratched a little at it to inspect it and see what it was. why do you think this is developing in my tank? did i overdose on prime? or what else do you think could be the problem? i dont want this to become a bigger problem in my tank. i do 50% water changes every other day if it helps to know.

[jball1125]

I have always gotten the white slime on the rubber from the heaters suction cups. Nothing to worry about.

[Fishish]

k, i was just wondering if i was doing anything wrong or if it was normal, i didnt want it to get too extensive to the point in which i would have a big problem. thanks for the info!

[Bud]

I cant help it either.lol.I add prime to a 30 gal tank before I fill it,to change out about 70 gals of water(about 43%w/c).My water supply only has chlorine,I have a carbon/sediment filter on house and I wonder if I still should even be addind prime!!I age my water for 24 hrs unless I do 2 w/c's in 1 day,so it would still sit for 12 hrs.hmmmm any insite?Maybe just break down and get a chlor. test kit?

[Jhhnn]

I wouldn't forego dechlorinating the water. If you're very, very sure it has no chloramines, then sodium thiosulfate will work to neutralize the chlorine.

The problem with that is that more suppliers switch to chloramines all the time, and it's not like they make big announcements when they do...