Shelf life of water.

[seangee]

OK, OK I know the theoretical answer but is there a practical reason why I should not store it for extended periods in plastic jerry cans in a darkened room (to reduce algae).

For practical reasons I am switching from 25 litre containers to 10 litres. This will allow me to store 100 litres of "reserve water" in the existing containers in case I need water in a hurry for any reason. I typically take 2 days to collect the 130 litres I use for my weekly water change so I would find it useful to just have 100 litres lying around.

 

[Colin_T]

If the storage containers are "Food Safe" containers, then you can store water in them for months or even longer, assuming they don't get contaminated by something. "Food Safe" containers are containers that are safe to store food or beverages in and they don't leach anything into the water.

If the containers are not "Food Safe" containers, then chemicals can leach out of the plastic and possibly poison the fish. Red and blue containers seem to be more of an issue than white or semi transparent containers. However, companies do blue containers for water and these are safe to use.

If water has been sitting around in storage for months, you should aerate the water for 30 minutes before using it. But besides that, there's no major issue with storing water for long periods of time, as long as the containers are "Food Safe".

 

[Back in the fold]

That's exactly what I think. Colin said it perfectly.

 

[seangee]

Great - thanks guys that's what I assumed. Yes they are food grade containers.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I concur with @Colin_T, as long as the plastic containers are “food safe”, then they are safe for fish, and water. That is a pretty good idea to store some extra water, just Incase. Thanks @seangee for the tip/idea!