Water aging/storage idea?

[TimboS]

Hi All,

Following a visit to a local Aquarium society meeting last night, I learnt of the chemicals that are being pumped into our water supply and have therefore thought a bit more about water aging.

I would need to age about 40 litres at a time and had the thought that a cheap, small glass tank would do the job rather than worrying about a plastic container and how to prepare it for the job, etc...

What I am thinking is packing my Eheim 2008 pick-up filter with carbon and zeolite and using this, together with Seachem prime, to "age" the water in the tank. The filter would turn the tank contents over at least 4 times an hour by the spec sheet and would be aged for 3 or 4 days before use.

Am I missing something in the process?

Also, when aging water this way, and given that my water changes are about a third of the tank twice a week, do I need to keep adding a product like Bio-booster to add bacteria or is this really unnecessary with good filtration? If yes, I do need to add it, I presume this does not go in with the water to be aged, i.e. that it's added to the big tank when a water change takes place.

Timbo

[ILLUSN]

Theres nothing wrong with a sparetank to age water in dad still uses a 3footer (110L).

carbon and zeolite is fine, just remember to change it once a month, you wont need any biofiltration as the tank wont have any fish, any stray ammonia will be taken care of by the prime and zeolite.

my only sugestion would be a cheep canister (2nd hand would do), that way you can put in a bit more carbon and zeolite, and add peat and/or sea almond leaves if you ever conciderd breeding down the track.

dont foget a heater to get them temp right. 48hrs will be plenty to age the water.

[TimboS]

So the idea is sound. That's good. Yes, I have a heater ready to go as well but forgot to mention it.

Ratiometrically, the Eheim would actually take more carbon and zeolite (by weight) per litre for the small tank than a cannister full of both (50/50 split) would for the big tank (124L) so I'll start that way but keep my eye out for something else that will also have room for peat.

I learnt about Allum (sp?) last night and was wondering why all the waste in my tank was gathering up and rolling around the sandy bottom. Now I know !!

BTW - I added a 24W AA-Aquatics UV steriliser to my tank coming up to a week ago and the water just looks healthier. Almost like free space, i.e. the fish are just floating mid-air.

About the bio booster product, is that really needed with water changes to replace the bacteria removed during the process or just a gimmick?

[tanzy]

I thought that you only needed an airstone, water conditioner and heater to age the water. I did not realise that you also were suppose to pre-filter the water.

Thanks

Kell

[ILLUSN]

the bacteria should be in your filter, not your water, so adding wont hurt, but it wont help either.

Tanzy, if your water is clean (ro ?rainwater) you wont need carbon to clean it up, if you've got copper, ammonia or heavy metals in your water the carbon will remove them.

with the filter turning the water over you could also get away with not using an airstone.

[zar]

If you're using a filter with carbon and air flow during your aging process whats the point of adding prime?
Carbon should take care of the metals,ammonia etc, airation will make sure chlorine evaporates, i dont see why you need to add prime...

[ILLUSN]

Prime detoxifies heavy metals and binds ammonia making them less harmfull to fish, carbon and zeolite remove them from the water column altogether. once saturated they will begin to be "leached" back into the water.

I still dechlorinate my water before aging, as all water bords now add ammonia to the water to make the chlorine more stable and longer lasting (chloroamine) i figure it cant hurt to add it.

[albatrozz]

what is zeolite & what does it look like? yes i know what it does but ive actually never heard of it and never seen it in the LFS. Also i only age my water for around 15mins after i add a 2x dose of prime. Is that bad? what does aging water achieve? my fish don't seem to mind me doing WC's with non-aged water :)

[ILLUSN]

zeolite is a naturally occuring compaced clay that has a high affinity for charged ions and ammonia.

aging your water is important if you are manipulating your water chemistry. after adding acid it takes several hours for the correct equilibrium to be reached and your water chemistry to stabilise, which is why adding a little acid can drop your ph to say 6.0 instantly, but 24hrs later its sprung back to it original value (say 7.2).

aging your water also give the conditoner time to do its job, once 24-48hrs has elapsed the conditioner should be inactive and wont destroy your trace elements and fertilizers you add to you plant tanks.

also having an aging barrel is a great way to preheat your water so its just right going back into your tank.

[albatrozz]

where can you buy zeolite from? and also since i don't age water anymore (tank started leaking), are my nitrifying bacteria still going to survive the WC's?

[ILLUSN]

Nitrifying bacteria are in the filter, they should be fine, so long as the new water has no chlorine in it.

ASA has zeolite on sale at the moment

http://www.aquariumsuppliesaustralia.com.au/store/cart.php?m=product_list&pageNumber=6&c=21&v=&sortBy=undefined&search=

at that price its a bargin

[tanzy]

So if you dont need to change the chemistry of your water, do you need to age it in a barrel? Is the process of adding prime and letting it sit for a while OK? My warm water comes from instant gas so does this have a less likely bad effect on the fish eg. no copper in the tank? Sorry about all the questions but I am very new to pre-water aging, appart from adding prime.

Cheers

Kell

[albatrozz]

Nitrifying bacteria are in the filter, they should be fine, so long as the new water has no chlorine in it.

ASA has zeolite on sale at the moment

http://www.aquariumsuppliesaustralia.com.au/store/cart.php?m=product_list&pageNumber=6&c=21&v=&sortBy=undefined&search=

at that price its a bargin

Hmmm so would prime added to the water, and about 15mins for it to settle be enough for the water to get de-chlorinated?

[ILLUSN]

Prime is extreamly good and should be fine.

I just like to age my water cause i adjust the ph, kh and temp, I'm a very fussy discus keeper :)

[StonX]

With rain water, can it go straight to the tank or does it still need treatment?

[ILLUSN]

depends on your roof, your rain water tank and your area, using rainwater at dads place with no treatment at all sent the fish a little shy for a few hours, adding a 1/2 dose of prime seemed to fix the problem