Aging water?

[Talon242]

I tried to search for an answer but I haven't been able to find one. Someone I know says you can age water to remove chlorine by letting it stand 48 hours. I personally haven't ever tried it but I was wondering if this does indeed work?

 

[theotheragentm]

Yes, chlorine evaporates out of water within 24 hours normally. It does depend on your volume of water If you had 100 gallons of cold water, some of the chlorine may stay in the water still. Agitation helps evaporate it from the water. Boiling or microwaving does this instantly.

This does not remove chloramines though. Not all city water uses this, so you would have to check with your water department, but as far as I know, using some sort of product to neutralize it is the only way to get rid of chloramines in the water.

 

[rich311k]

Yes it will work. It will not remove chloramines however, so be sure to check with your water department.

 

[bs6749]

I believe that if you place the water near a window or in direct sunlight the prococess will be much greater. Sunlight acts as a catalyst to make the Cl- ions into Cl2 which will leave the water as Cl2 gas.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

As Rich and theotheragentm stated, it does work. But it's easier to use a dechlorinator. Instant removal and you don't have to keep buckets of standing water around.

 

[Talon242]

Thanks for the answers they were very helpful

 

[theotheragentm]

If you do decide to go with the water that stands around, I'd lean towards 48 hours and smaller gallon amounts to be sure. I know I don't have chloramines in my water, but when I filled up a 100 gallon barrel in the backyard, expecting it to remove all the chlorine in a day, it didn't and I had some dead goldfish.

 

[jsoong]

If you ar ageing water, esp. large amounts, you need to keep it circulating (a small PH or at least a bubble wand) to get the stuff out from the bottom of the barrel. Bright light will hasten things as well.

Chlorine will be outgassed in 24-48 hrs. Chloramines will eventually breakdown too. Standard treatment for ponds is 2 weeks under bright sunlight. But unless you are treating thousands of gals like in a pond (the dechlor bill would be substantial), it would be easier just to buy the dechlor.

 

[vfc]

I see you have New York listed as your location. If you are using public water you have chloramine. Be careful! You have two issues:

1 - Dechlors (like Prime, Aqua Safe, et al) do not instantly render chloramine water safe. I would suggest you premix the dechlor & water in a large bucket (I used a 35G plastic trash can) and use an air stone or water pump to circulate for at least a few hours before using it.

2 - Water quality is seriously degraded in the winter months for all NE states. It's a combination of road salts, side walk de-icers, etc that all are washed into the same rivers and streams the public water company use. You also have to be concerned about the oxygen content of the cold winter water. You'll notice that your tank has bubbles every where when you change water during the winter months. While high oxygen content is generally a good thing; if it gets too high it can be fatal to fish (especially small or weak fish). You'll also notice a reduction in the quantity and quality of fish spawns during winter.

I suggest you find the web site for your local water company and check out the water quality report. Just might scare you into drinking bottled water!

 

[Burks]

I like to make my water up 2-3 days in advance of a water change, or just whenever my 3g jug is empty. Water is always aging in my room!

Our water company, the last I knew, used both chlorine and chloramine in the water. I use my dechlorinator as I'm mixing the water and then let it sit at room temp for a while. Every so often I'll give it a good shake just to stir things up (my air pump burnt up).

 

[tropicfishman]

yep it works, I would rather just use my chlor out and be done with it lol

 

[Donna]

if you use a dechlorinator solution, how long should you leave the water to rest? I usually leave mine for ten mins or so whilst i'm finishing up the cleaning but it doesn't say anything on the bottle about leaving it to act. I've always wondered about that! i only change out 10 litres so we're not talking huge amounts here but any advice would be welcome

 

[CaptainAhab]

you don't need to leave it rest at all. Actually you can put the water in the tank then add the dechlor immed. after if you wanted.

 

[Donna]

thanks CaptainAhab! that's one of thse nagging worries off my mind! *fishies simultaneously sigh with relief*