Storing Freshwater

[KreativJustin]

Hey everyone

I was just curious if anyone stores their aquarium water for usage during water changes?

I could see it for maintaining a constant water condition before entering the aquarium, and any modifications can be made to the source water instead of directly to the aquarium. Plus, it would save the back from 5 gallon buckets filling up a 75g tank, I'm not getting any younger.

If I was to do it, I would house a good 55 gallon food grade plastic drum in the basement and pump it up to the main aquarium using a powerful pump.

This is all just a pipe idea, and may never come to fruition, I'm just curious.

Thanks in advance!

[Colin_T]

It depends on how long you need to store the water for but a few weeks is nothing. Just have the water in a food grade container and make sure nothing contaminates it. If you're going to keep water for months then seal it up to keep dust and other stuff out.

I had 3 tiers stands in my fish room and used the top row of tanks for holding water. I filled them with tap water, dechlorinated and aerated them, then added minerals if I needed to raise the hardness and pH, or peat if I wanted it for breeding blackwater fishes. The water sat in those tanks for a week before I did water changes.

I had a friend who kept Tropheus (African Rift Lake cichlid). He had a couple of 200 litre (50 gallon) plastic wine barrels in his fish room. He filled them with water and added Rift Lake water conditioner to increase the GH, KH and pH. Aerated it for a week before doing water changes.

Another friend used a 200 litre plastic wheelie bin. He brought it inside the day before he did water changes. filled it with water, dechlorinated and aerated it. The following day the water would have warmed up to room temperature and he did his water changes.

A lot of people with fish rooms have water holding facilities. I knew a guy that had a 20,000 litre rainwater tank for his fish room. Most people don't go to that extreme but many will have containers of water sitting around for a week or two so they have water ready for water changes.

[KreativJustin]

I would think that mine would be permanent. The barrel would be semi sealed if not fully to prevent contamination. Long term storage with the water being replenished, not emptied and refilled.


You do answer a lot of my questions, I may just need to get your number some day Colin lol

[Colin_T]

You need to wash the holding containers out every now and then otherwise they develop biofilm (slime) in them. You don't need to wash them with anything major, just wiping them out with a clean sponge, followed by a rinse is usually sufficient.

There's not many people on the forum currently so you're stuck with me or one of the others

[KreativJustin]

Well that is good to know about the film, thanks for the heads up. Like I said, I have a lot of pipe dreams, hopefully this one comes to fruition.

[Andy Sager]

Storing water is a good way to make sure you always have good water when it's time for doing your changes. It's also a better way to treat the water in there vs the tank directly. In smaller containers like a 55 gal drum, I like to use direct plumbing to through hole fittings for input and outflow. As Colin mentioned, you'll also want to have a removable top so that the tank can be inspected and occasionally cleaned. Having the lid will also help keep the water clean but allow you to run filter or pump lines ( if necessary) without exposing the whole container to the open air. For long term holding, I like to run an air stone in the water to keep it well oxygenated.
I also like to keep my containers high so the outflow is gravity fed but if you are going to keep the barrel in the basement, make sure you add a check valve into the return line to prevent any backflow should the power or pump go out during the service.

Also, in the basement, you have to be concerned about the temperature of the water especially in winter time. There are inline heaters that you can install if necessary.

Hope this helps.

[KreativJustin]

Yeah, I figured an aerator would be a good thing too.

There would be a pump on the outside of the tank that run up to my first floor where my aquarium is, and turned on by a switch that I would also have wired upstairs so I can turn on and off as needed.

The tank would actually sit nearly right under my aquarium in the basement, elevated to shorten the distance for the pump.

[Andy Sager]

Originally Posted by KreativJustin

Yeah, I figured an aerator would be a good thing too.

There would be a pump on the outside of the tank that run up to my first floor where my aquarium is, and turned on by a switch that I would also have wired upstairs so I can turn on and off as needed.

The tank would actually sit nearly right under my aquarium in the basement, elevated to shorten the distance for the pump.

Definitely use that check valve then.