I'll have to test both the aged water in the tank and the water coming out of the tap for ph fluctuations. I'm thinking it may just be the traffic while changing the water.ShadowStryder;3297950; said:
Aged Water.
- Thread starter DavidW
- Start date
Anyone using water direct from an urban water supply is playing russian roulette.
All urban water supplies are pressurized and also much colder than your tank. Straight from the tap there will be a surfeit of dissolved CO2 ( and other gasses) and a deficit of dissolved O2, along with a rich dose of chlorine in most cases, chloramine in others and also usually fluoride.
This colder water will go immediately to the bottom of your tank ( convection) and on the way release the CO2. You will often see little bubbles of it on plants or glass or even on the fish's skin. CO2 is also acidic and pH goes up when it gasses out.
Chlorine is unstable in water and will naturally 'gas out' in about 12 hours without any need for conditioners etc.
It would be interesting to watch a dissolved gas meter bouncing around in most of your tanks.
Urban water supplies will occasionally put a 'bullet' of chemicals into the system to manage seasonal microfauna blooms, but they won;t tell you about it.
Adding any water conditioner to the tank directly is imo crazy.
Doing the above means essentially you are putting your ray in the middle of an active chemical reaction involving bounces in temperature, pressure, pH etc.
Even people with Well water are susceptible, athough the chlorine/chloramine issue is not there.
I learned all this the hard way.
I predict that within the next 12 months at least 1 of you here that does not age/condition your water outside the tank will have a major catastrophe.
Folks that use a direct drip constant flow system through prefilters have a much lesser chance of this problem, although not even R/O will remove chloramines if your water company suddenly decides to change its treatment protocols.
If you have chloramines then you have no real choice but to use a conditioner to neutralize it but you really should do this in a tub , even if it is only an hour before you add the water to your tank. I find it contradictory for anyone to recommend mixing simple salt with water before adding it to the tank but no problem to add a noxious chemical like prime etc
All urban water supplies are pressurized and also much colder than your tank. Straight from the tap there will be a surfeit of dissolved CO2 ( and other gasses) and a deficit of dissolved O2, along with a rich dose of chlorine in most cases, chloramine in others and also usually fluoride.
This colder water will go immediately to the bottom of your tank ( convection) and on the way release the CO2. You will often see little bubbles of it on plants or glass or even on the fish's skin. CO2 is also acidic and pH goes up when it gasses out.
Chlorine is unstable in water and will naturally 'gas out' in about 12 hours without any need for conditioners etc.
It would be interesting to watch a dissolved gas meter bouncing around in most of your tanks.
Urban water supplies will occasionally put a 'bullet' of chemicals into the system to manage seasonal microfauna blooms, but they won;t tell you about it.
Adding any water conditioner to the tank directly is imo crazy.
Doing the above means essentially you are putting your ray in the middle of an active chemical reaction involving bounces in temperature, pressure, pH etc.
Even people with Well water are susceptible, athough the chlorine/chloramine issue is not there.
I learned all this the hard way.
I predict that within the next 12 months at least 1 of you here that does not age/condition your water outside the tank will have a major catastrophe.
Folks that use a direct drip constant flow system through prefilters have a much lesser chance of this problem, although not even R/O will remove chloramines if your water company suddenly decides to change its treatment protocols.
If you have chloramines then you have no real choice but to use a conditioner to neutralize it but you really should do this in a tub , even if it is only an hour before you add the water to your tank. I find it contradictory for anyone to recommend mixing simple salt with water before adding it to the tank but no problem to add a noxious chemical like prime etc
Steve_89;3301031; said:
Hi Steve. Most of the breeders I know (fish breeders that is lol) use big holding tanks to age their water in. Not throwing a naysay comment at ya, just thought I'd mention that as a strange contrast. Probably has to do with what kind of fish people breed. Tough fish don't need the extra love. I age water because I breed plecos & killis. I think that Hans does this for his discus too.
my hma filter will be filling a 75 uk gallon barrel in my back yard for waterchanges very soon, but for now it fills the tank direct at a flow rate of 2 ltrs per min.
it was running slower then this but i have had information from RO-MAN and they have stated that there hma filter can handle a flow rate of 10 GALLON PER MIN! but remends to run it at 5 gpm. i dont think my house tap would fill a 5 gallon drum in 1 minute! when its flat out.
even though they have told me this im still not happy to run the system much faster then it is now.
this is what im using for anyone who dosent know,
http://www.ro-man.com/shop/product_info.php/products_id/134?osCsid=173e2d4d6231f7d33b8c085801e525d4
strips everything nasty from the water, anyfurter it will be ro water.
i always used to fill my big tank direct from the tap, turn off the filters, leave the powerheads running and the air stones and fill the tank adding conditioner as it goes. after filling give it 15mins then turn all the filters back on. never had a problem.
it was running slower then this but i have had information from RO-MAN and they have stated that there hma filter can handle a flow rate of 10 GALLON PER MIN! but remends to run it at 5 gpm. i dont think my house tap would fill a 5 gallon drum in 1 minute! when its flat out.
even though they have told me this im still not happy to run the system much faster then it is now.
this is what im using for anyone who dosent know,
http://www.ro-man.com/shop/product_info.php/products_id/134?osCsid=173e2d4d6231f7d33b8c085801e525d4
strips everything nasty from the water, anyfurter it will be ro water.
i always used to fill my big tank direct from the tap, turn off the filters, leave the powerheads running and the air stones and fill the tank adding conditioner as it goes. after filling give it 15mins then turn all the filters back on. never had a problem.
