AGEING WATER

[fishhouse]

Hi All,

Im from Melbourne & would like some advice on the best way to age your water for discus.

for example do you add a heater, airstone, prime, how long do you age your water befor useing it? anything els you should add?

Thanks

[DIY]

I'm in melb also, we are lucky to have very soft water out of the tap and typically very low levels of chlorine. I call my water supplier every 6 months or so (South East water) to confirm they still don't use chloramines which they don't.

I keep a plastic 220 litre drum outside that I have insulated, I age the water in the drum for a minimum of 24 hours, but usually between 3 days to a week. Inside the drum I have a heater set 1-2 degrees lower than my tank temperature and an airstone.

I use a few drops of Prime as a safety precaution, chlorine at the levels in South East water will gas off in 24-48 hours and even quicker with aeration.

melbourne water is low in KH, mine tests to about 0.7 degrees typically so I also add bicarbonate to the water to raise this in my planted tank, but I don't bother in my other tanks as I change water often enough that I don't have pH crashes