FishProfiles.com Message Forums

hi,
I have to prepare my water,with peat before adding to tank & it takes a couple of days to be ready.I have water in a 5 gallon container,with a fluval 4 running with peat in,what i wondered is how long does water keep.There is plenty of movement in the water as filter moves it around alot.

I always prepare spare water after a tank water change,incase needed in an emergency,but wondered if there is a time limit,once the water has left the tap.What makes water go stagnent,and would plenty of movement keep it fresh.

Many thanks
Tracy

Hi,
Welcome to Fish Profiles!!

I gather that you are running the water with peat in it
and preparing to replace the water in the tank with the
acidic peat water (alone) and not the peat itself.

"Stagnant" water is the result of water that sits exposed
to the elements, with no circulation and no aeration.
The water then layers into sections that become devoid
of Oxygen (the bottom) and anaerobic bacteria is
formed while the upper layer becomes filled with
algae and gradually increasing amounts of oxygen.

To avoid this process you should have circulation,
and, a functioning air-stone in the bottom of the bucket.
When the water is "ripe" (has the qualities you want,
pH, color, etc.) then siphon off the water, filter it
with a good filter, (IMO a diatom filter) and put the processed
water into the new tank.

Sounds like allot of work, what are you doing/keeping in
the new tank?

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

my tapwater ph is 8.4 & my fish where dying alot.someone suggested adding eheim peat to my tank filter,and since i have done this,i haven,t lost any fish.
I have been using peat now for 6 months,and my tank has been a stable 7.4.

I also peat treat,the water before adding to tank,so it matches at 7.4 also.I found if i did this the peat in tank filter lasts longer.

but preparing the water,does take couple of days,waiting for ph drop.I was just concerned that if i did have problem in the tank,& didn,t have any water ready,what i would do.

My tank is a juwel vision 180..cherry barbs,neons,glwlights,platies,corys.

I also meant to say,when you mentioned about adding an airstone to spare water,i cant actually do that,as i find if i do use airstone the ph climbs even higher,hitting 8.6.

The fluval 4 does move the water alot,would this be enough to keep it fresh.what would be the maximum time i could leave before adding to tank.

I do wish there was an easier way,but i do have control of the peat,knowing how much & how long it lasts etc.
Thought it was the safest option as didn,t fancy adding anything chemical,incase it all goes wrong.

I am only a novice at fish keeping & it all has got abit complicated to be honest.

Hi Tracy,
For now, I'd continue doing what you are doing.

That being said, I'm concerned that you are not getting
accurate results with your test kit. 8.4 is really high
and unless you are getting water from a well dug through
limestone, or the city is, I find that result way "outta
wack."

What type of test kit are you using to get those results?
Are they test strips (pieces of paper that you stick in the
water and then read the color). Or, is the test kit a
series of liquids that you drop into a small vial of sample
water? In either case, what is the date of expiration for
the kit? Could it be out of date?

Have you taken your water to your LFS and had them test it?
What were their results. If your water really does have
a pH of 8+, I would suspect that the GH and KH were also
very high. Have you tested those values too?

Have you taken a sample of treated water out of the
bucket, let it sit out on a counter for 24 hours
(don't let a cat, or dog drink out of the glass) and
then test the pH?
Once that water has had a chance to degas it may read
something different.

As you can see, I'm a little skeptical of the pH reading.

As long as the water is circulating, and you clean the
filter as well as the bucket between uses, I would
think that a week, possibly two, would be safe.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Hi,
I use api liquid test kit,i bought another new kit,just to make sure & had same result at 8.4.Also took sample to lfs & they had same result.

I tested gh/kh using api kit,results 19gh 9kh.

The peat is holding it stable at 7.4,but there really is alot of work involved,with water changes.
I seem to be stressed all the time worrying about the water,and not enjoying my fish.

Did consider removing the peat & let water do what it wants to,but its not fair on fish.must be doing something right as fish are all ok,even my neons have been in tank for 6 months & not lost any.

Thanks very much,for advice

How many gallons is the tank? Ive never heard of it....

If in any case, you can buy a RO unit, but for a more cheaper way, i would suggest using Distilled water for a quick change. It would definatey ease up the process a bit, but it is costly in the long run.

Good luck!

><> ~=!Vote Today!=~ <><
-----> View My Dragons <-----

Hi Tracy
Sounds like you are doing what you can to maintain
that pH. Goby's suggestion to use a mix of either RO
or Distilled Water is probably the better idea.
However, how inexpensive it is would depend upon how big
your aquarium is and how much a "dent" in the pH a gallon
of Distilled Water would make. Try allowing a gallon's
worth of water to evaporate out of the tank and then add
a gallon of distilled water, allow it to mix for 24 hours
and then test the pH again. See what, if any the
difference is. If you have a large tank it would take
several gallons of distilled water, mixed with your tap
water to lower the pH to where you are currently keeping
it.

Over time and water changes, you will arrive at some ratio
of gallons (distilled water) + gallons (tap water) will
give you the pH in the tank that you want to maintain.
I don't know where you live and what they charge /gallon
of distilled water in the larger grocery stores. This
might be an alternative.

You cannot use 100% distilled water in the aquarium. It is
devoid of minerals that are necessary for fish and plant
life to thrive. You will have to mix it with tap water.

The other thing is to go back to the LFS and ask them what
they do to treat their water, if they do. Most of our
fish today are supplied by fish farms rather than caught
and removed from their home streams. That means that many
of our fish today would be able to thrive in your water as
they are generations removed from that 6.5 pH, stream.

If you trust your LFS and they say that they don't treat
their water, then you should not have to either. If that
is the case slowly, over a period of a month or two, allow
the water in the tank through water changes to creep back
up to the normal tap values.

BTW that is a good water test kit and one many of our
members, including myself, use.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Thank you frank,for your advice.

My lfs use ph up/down in their tanks,and tried to talk me into buying the stuff,but after reading so many bad things about it,i thought peat was the safest option.

I think i will gradually remove the peat from tank & also stop treating spare water.will still not be able to use water straight away from tap though,as it reads 7.4 for 3/4 days...then climb to 8.4.

My only concern was with my ph being so high,i was worried about if i ever had any ammonia in tank,how lethal it would be.
My tapwater normally reads at 0.25 ammonia,i found out my water company uses chloramine.I use Prime water conditioner,to make sure everythings safe.

My tank is a juwel vision 180 (40 uk gallons)Dont know if i mentioned,i am from Lowestoft in the uk.

I also have high pH. My API test only goes to 7.6 and my tap water is well over that. I started using Seachem acid buffer and pH reducer when I setup my 75 a few weeks ago. my pH has been steady at 7.2 in the tank after I figured out how much I needed for my water. I prepare 20 gallons the night before my changes by adding 3/4 tsp which is 3 times the amount printed on the container. After 24 hrs the pH is 6.8. I think it is actually still buffered a bit higher than that as my tank pH is 7.2.

What are the pros/cons with this method?

Hi,
Perhaps THE most important thing when it comes to the fish
and pH, is that it be stable.

You each are achieving that differently.
Messing with chemicals, or brewing peat can
be a royal pain and can get expensive over the long term
but honestly its working for you and the options are not
much better.

The easiest thing to do is to not fight "Mother Nature"
and limit your fish collection to fish that love the higher
pH. That way you don't have to mess with anything and
simply enjoy the fish. African Rift fish and others
appreciate a pH in the 8's are colorful, and can provide
quite a bit of entertainment. A substrate of crushed
dolomite, crushed limestone, or even crushed coral combined
with crushed oyster shells will clamp the pH in the 8's and
is easily obtained. Many plants appreciate the higher pH
as well so a colorful, planted tank can be a "cinch."
One would use pieces of limestone or sandstone for the
hard-scape and caves.

To keep the fish you already have, you have two easy,
well sort of, options you can use RO water or Distilled
Water to dilute your tap water. You could fill a gallon
container with tap water, let it degas for 24 hours, and
then measure your pH. Then drain off, say a 1/4 of a
gallon and refill it with distilled or RO water, mix, and
then measure pH again. See how much, per gallon, it takes
to drop the original gallon of water down to the desired
pH. Then use that ratio for the tank. IE if it takes 1/4
gallon of RO/DW to lower the gallon to the desired pH,
the you could drain off 4 gallons from the main tank and
replace it with 3 gallons of tap water and one gallon of
RO/DW water, and so on.

One can purchase an RO setup from nearly any hardware
store, install it at the kitchen sink, and use it for
months before any maintenance is necessary. When you
purchase the RO filter, you get a filter membrane and
that is what eventually needs to be replaced.
The biggest complaint with RO filtering, nowadays, is
that it wastes water. To get a gallon of pure water, you
would need to run up to several gallons of water down the
drain. In the drought contitions that some of us are
living in, that would be wrong.

OR, you can use the chemicals such as pH UP or pH DOWN.
Be sure to follow the instructions carefully, and as I
mentioned, try to keep the pH within a point or two.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--