Masha
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I'm getting confused.
I've set up a big container to age my tank water before I add it to the tank. One reason is simply because it makes my bucket driven water change a bit easier - I can split the task over two days, instead of doing all the water carrying on one day (and no, I can't get a python, have you seen the rand / dollar exchange rate lately? ) Also, it's much easier to match temperatures this way. I don't trust my "mixing skills"
Anyway. What I'm wondering about is this. I can see that the ph drops a bit over time as the water ages, which is good, since then new water will be closer to my tank ph, which is just a touch more acidic than the tap ph.
But why does this happen, this ph drop? Chlorine out-gassing will do it, I think? What about CO2 - that's acidic, right? So having an air-stone in there, and letting the water stand for a bit, will that cause CO2 to rise, or to fall? Or is CO2 just not relevant at all?
I've set up a big container to age my tank water before I add it to the tank. One reason is simply because it makes my bucket driven water change a bit easier - I can split the task over two days, instead of doing all the water carrying on one day (and no, I can't get a python, have you seen the rand / dollar exchange rate lately? ) Also, it's much easier to match temperatures this way. I don't trust my "mixing skills"
Anyway. What I'm wondering about is this. I can see that the ph drops a bit over time as the water ages, which is good, since then new water will be closer to my tank ph, which is just a touch more acidic than the tap ph.
But why does this happen, this ph drop? Chlorine out-gassing will do it, I think? What about CO2 - that's acidic, right? So having an air-stone in there, and letting the water stand for a bit, will that cause CO2 to rise, or to fall? Or is CO2 just not relevant at all?