Water aging

[elvip]

Hi guys,
Just wanted to get a feel for how many of you out there age their water before using it for water changes? Do you think that this is an important part of the water changing process, or is using a water conditioner sufficient enough? Has anyone had any good or bad experiences?

Recently I lost what seemed like an otherwise healthy (& beautiful) discus within a space of less than 24hours after I did a 25-30% water change :cry: :cry: :cry:
All water parameters were normal (pH=6.8, ammonia & nitrites = 0, nitrates=0-5ppm) and there were no visible signs of any illness, and all other discus in the same tank seem OK. This was a sudden an unexpected loss- so I am just wondering if any of you out there may be able to shed some light on this.
Could it be the fact that I don't age my water, and if so why???? Otherwise what could it have been???
Any help would be much appreciated :D
Cheers
Elvip

[Ben]

Sorry to hear about the loss Elvip.

First of all when the discus passed away was it bloated, have lumps or any peculiar markings on its body?

I always age the water for my discus, with a minimum of 24 hours, its heated and well air rated.

I used to run the water through a reverse osmosis unit but found it was unnecessary as the water here in Melbourne is very good.

I believe the water in Sydney is very poor? It could be possible that there were some other type of contaminant in the water but this does not explain why just only one discus died.

I have lost a discus for no apparent reason, if all your other discus look fine it could simply be an organ failure or the likes.

Ben

[elvip]

Thanks Ben,
The hardest thing of all is not knowing why it happened :!: :!:
The fish had no visible signs of illness,it seemed perfectly healthy - no bloating, good colour, normal poo, healthy gills (I checked the gills for inflamation, flukes etc).
I suppose all I can put it down to is the water change - I think I will have to start aging the water.
I thought Sydney had rel good water quality :?: but I believe now that it may be a little unstable wrt pH etc - so water aging should hopefully eliminate these factors.
Cheers
Elvip

[Proteus]

Sydney water is horrible...

Loads of Chlorine, Chloromine, Copper, etc etc (makes it safe for us, but not good for fish).

Personally I have a 200L barrel which I age the water in for at least 3-4 days (have a heater in there plus airstone) I still treat with Prime first as well.

I just find things are a lot more stable in the tank, and after losing several of my favourite fish 2 years ago due to a Copper spike in the local water (confirmed later with Sydney Water Board), I wont take any risks.

(even though the Prime fully treats the water, I find it best to allow more time for the metals in the water to chelate, any remaining chlorine to gas off, and the chloromines to be neatralised)

[elvip]

Thanks Proteus,
I guess I've learnt the hard way too - too bad for my poor fish :( !!
Can you tell me where is a good place to get these water barrels from - and how much should they approx cost?
Cheers
Elvip

[Proteus]

I got mine from Bunnings... I think I paid about $75 for the barrell, lid, stand and tap fitting