questions on water

psychadelicdrea

AC Members
Oct 6, 2004
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Ok i had to move in to this basement cause of money job issues...so im down here with 3 tanks ....and i can get water down here but the hot water side is down so im left with useing a plastic trash can i bought new from walmart so theirs nothing else in it to mix my water or basically heat it up cause the water from the hose is like way cold.. I've seen a few threads about aged water i guess and im guessing its benifical this way? even tho it takes longer/more planing i guess what im askin is ....i treated the water with my conditoner and put a heater in it to warm it up...i put my rio pump in it to circulate the water is that good or pointless should i make sure its the same ph as the tank water or will the majority of the water in the tank change the new water....any suggestions?
 
I age and temper water in Rubbermaid (food safe) plastic trash cans. I use glass strips with a heater attached to them angled in the cans, a circukating pump and that is it. My water is chlorine-only much of the time, rarely chloramines. If chlorine only (I test), it is gone in 24-48 hours and the water matches the tank's temperature. If chloramine is present I add prime. I do not any other water modification. The pH in the aging vessels may not be similar to the tanks at first, but after aging it is very close.
 
How different is the temp from your aged water to your tank? If it is close you might be able to add it in segments and it won't effect the tank temp dramatically.

Hot water isn't all that great for fishies. It tends to have more stuff in it as far as minerals from the heater tank.

When I am not prepared, I heat my buckets in the bath tub. Cold in the bucket, steaming hot filling the tub. I don't know if you have access to a basement wash basin that migh accomodate a garbage can size thing. Otherwise you're on the money heating it with a heater.

My guess is the movement of the water would probably help if you have chlorine in your tap, exposing it to the air more readily. Though I don't know if that is true. It might just be the surface area exposed to air that is more important. Otherwise I there isn't really a need to keep the water moving.

depending on tank size, age, and inhabitants, as well as water change frequency, your aged water's conditions may be different from you tank's. You're best testing each for a while, to see how it behaves and compares.
 
well should i buffer down the ph to match the levels in the tank or will it matter?
 
Adding commercial buffer is futile. They are very short lived and for the fish stability is far more important the pH. If you are aging with circulatioon and heating, you do not need a commercial buffer..
 
they have chlorine tester? all i have really is ph and ammonia....i have a master kit around but i dont use it but i know it dosent have a chlorine test
 
I use doc wellfish's test kit - not made by them, but locally vailable under their brand. It is not a bad kit, I have tested it against standard solutions and it is fairly accurate. It tests both chloramine and chlorine-only, by separate tests in the same kit..
 
I have city water and know that there is chlorine/chloramine in it. If you have well water, you propably don't have chlorine.
 
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