My pH increased after switching to aged water. Is this a problem?

[jc102]

Hey guys,

So I started using aged water from my tap to do my water changes. I store it in a plastic tub with a lid and a heater. I've been using this method for about 2.5 weeks now, and I've noticed that my pH in my tanks has gone up from 7.4 to between 7.8 and 8.2.

I tested my water straight out of the tap and it is 7.4.
I tested my aged water and it is between 7.8 and 8.2. Its hard to tell the color difference with the API master test kit.

I've had these aquariums cycled for about a year with pH remaining at a stable 7.4 until now. Should I be concerned about using the aged water?


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10g GloFish (2 tetras, danio, and barb)
5g Betta
5g Betta

 

[i3k]

I don't think pH of 7.8-8.0 will affect your fish as long as it's not a sudden and drastic shift.

 

[coralbandit]

I would add air or take the lid off while aging water. Aged water should be the real ph of your water after outgassing .

 

[Fresh2o]

I bet dissolved gassed such as CO2 are present in your tap water. As it gasses off, the pH will increase (decrease in carbonic acid).

 

[jc102]

Okay, so I will add an airstone into my tub to let the pH stabilize. Once my fish are used to the new pH levels, I should be good, right?

 

[Fresh2o]

It should be fine. It’s not like you are doing 90-100% water changes.
To put things in perspective, in a high tech Planted tank with CO2 injection, it is not unusual to have pH fluctuations of 1.0 or more in a given day. Brutal.

 

[BBradbury]

Hello jc...

Fish need as much room as possible. The larger the tank, the more water it holds and this doesn't just dilute fish waste, but slows the affect that oxygen has on the water. This is called "oxidation". Aging water will remove some of the trace elements the fish need for good health and older water doesn't hold oxygen as well. The smaller the tank, the greater the need for frequent water changes. Small tanks up to 20-30 gallons need most of the water removed and replaced every few days. Twice weekly is best. Larger tanks can go as much as 10 days before a large change. By changing the water often, you maintain steady mineral levels and a steady pH. This is all the fish need to be healthy.

B

 

[jc102]

Hello jc...

Fish need as much room as possible. The larger the tank, the more water it holds and this doesn't just dilute fish waste, but slows the affect that oxygen has on the water. This is called "oxidation". Aging water will remove some of the trace elements the fish need for good health and older water doesn't hold oxygen as well. The smaller the tank, the greater the need for frequent water changes. Small tanks up to 20-30 gallons need most of the water removed and replaced every few days. Twice weekly is best. Larger tanks can go as much as 10 days before a large change. By changing the water often, you maintain steady mineral levels and a steady pH. This is all the fish need to be healthy.

B

Thanks for the advice! Perhaps I need to stop aging my water then and go straight from the tap to the tank.

 

[Fresh2o]

... Aging water will remove some of the trace elements the fish need for good health and older water doesn't hold oxygen as well...

Please expand on these points. What trace elements are being removed? How does aging water affect oxygen capacity?

 

[BBradbury]

Aged Water vs Fresh

Please expand on these points. What trace elements are being removed? How does aging water affect oxygen capacity?

Hello Fresh...

As I recall in my chemistry classes, minerals like iron, manganese, copper and some others I can't recall, change in the presence of oxygen and hydrogen. You have a lot of both of these in water. Nitrogen is in tap water, as much as 10 parts per million and even more in the air, a little more than 20 percent. Nitrogen does reduce oxygen. And, when you fertilize your plants, feed your fish you're adding more nitrogen to the water and then the fish do their business in the water and more oxygen is lost. This is why aged water isn't as good as water straight from the tap, because the oxygen in aged water is more affected by nitrogen in the air than the oxygen in the tap.

Hope this helps.

B

 

[Fresh2o]

Hello Fresh...



As I recall in my chemistry classes, minerals like iron, manganese, copper and some others I can't recall, change in the presence of oxygen and hydrogen. You have a lot of both of these in water. Nitrogen is in tap water, as much as 10 parts per million and even more in the air, a little more than 20 percent. Nitrogen does reduce oxygen. And, when you fertilize your plants, feed your fish you're adding more nitrogen to the water and then the fish do their business in the water and more oxygen is lost. This is why aged water isn't as good as water straight from the tap, because the oxygen in aged water is more affected by nitrogen in the air than the oxygen in the tap.



Hope this helps.



B

I understand the effects of oxygen on the elements you listed above. Since oxygen and hydrogen are already present in tap water long before it even makes it to the consumer’s faucet, then shouldn’t those minerals become oxidized regardless if the water is aged or not? That part I don’t understand.
I agree that oxygen may be less in aged water than in tap (I’ve speculated this as I’ve seen my plants pearl O2 after a water change using tap water). But if stability is the goal, then aged water will more closely resemble tank water both in pH and gas content when compared to water out of the tap. Off gassing will allow the pH to shift to its true value (as mentioned by CB). If the OP runs an air stone in the holding vessel, then low oxygen should not be an issue.

 

[jc102]

I ended up going back to filling my tanks straight from the tap, just to be sure. My pH has remained at about 8.0 - 8.2 ever since I made this post. The fish seem to be okay, except for my tiger barb who either has developed dropsy or has something else going on.

 

[Delapool]

Not quite sure why your tank ph is going up tbh. It looked like before you were ‘aging’ the water in the tank.

If nothing had changed in tank or water change volume is the same, it may be the source water has changed. Ours does vary here with seasons.