"Properly Aged Water"

[Polardbear]

Can someone please explain what "properly aged water" means? How long should it be aged for, what types of setups do people use for storing and aging water? And with all the water conditioners available (dechlorinators etc.) is it really necessary?

Thanks

 

[glolite]

I'm not sure either. When I do my water changes the new water stands just for the time the tank is cleaned with the vaccuum. I use aquasafe and it doesn't say on the bottle that the water has to stand. Do you know what temp the new water should be? I've been adding cold through the filter and it doesn't seem to alter the temp at a 20% change.

 

[Polardbear]

I've been using water that is pretty much the same temperature that the tank is. I've been letting it sit in a couple of 5 gallon buckets so that it's at room temperature which is what my tanks have been at. I haven't had to turn my heaters on until this week but now I've had to add a little warm water to bring the tempurature up to reasonably close.

Keeping a couple of 5 gallon buckets sitting around wasn't to bad for (2) 10 gallon tanks, a 5 gallon and (4) 2 gallons (Bettas), but I've just added a new 55 gallon tank and was just offered a 65 gallon tank tonight. Keeping an adequate amount of aged water around for water changes is quickly getting out of hand. I'm curious how other people deal with this for large amounts of water.

West Nile virus is a major concern where I live and since it's transmitted by mosquitos having standing water sitting around is a health concern.

 

[glolite]

Hi
Sounds like there's more risk from Nile virus than fresh, treated water. Touch wood my fish are ok after 4 weeks now and they've had about 5 water changes.
Good luck!

 

[Slyspy]

No need to let it standl. This just lets the chlorine evaporate and doesn't get rid of the chloramines (sp?). Just use a chemical product like Stress Coat or Aquasafe to make the water safe instantly. I suspect it is best to use water at roughly the same temperature though. I just use a touch test and it seems close enough.

 

[blue_ram]

Can someone please explain what "properly aged water" means? How long should it be aged for, what types of setups do people use for storing and aging water?

"Properly aged water" depends on what it's going to be used for. If it's going to be used for most fish, then to properly "age" the water, you simply add tap water conditioner and make sure that the temperature of the "aged" water is about the same as the temperature of the aquarium.

For fish and invertebrates that are highly sensitive to heavy metals and dissolved organic compounds, you can:

1) add a fast growing plant, and let it sit in the sun for a day or two, or
2) add a surface skimmer, add lots of plants and wait 3 to 4 days, or
3) add tap water conditioner that also neutralizes heavy metals (e.g. Aquasafe) and increase the frequency of water change).

Only fish (that are widely available) that you (may) need do this are elephant nose and baby whale.

And with all the water conditioners available (dechlorinators etc.) is it really necessary?

No. I've never had an elephant nose or a baby whale, but I've had rams and discus with only tap water conditioner (with frequent water changes). They did just fine.