Using the python with tap water

[ccmicklo]

Hello folks,
I am new to fish keeping so I've been reading a lot. One thing I've read is to use aged water and not to use the water from the hot water heater because of the copper tubes.
I have well water and livebear fish. They all seem happy. I have a python to drain the tank but I fill the tank with buckets of day old water.
I've read that fish can get the bends from gases in the new water. It is confusing.

 

[Jchillin]

*Post split from archived thread*

I split your post from the old one that you posted in as this is a revelation to me. I've never heard of what you speak of. Can you cite the sources of this information? FWIW, aging your water in buckets will not remove any metals. What kinds of gases are in new water other than Hydrogen and Oxygen?

 

[neilanh]

I fill directly from the tap with the python, and dose dechlorinator (prime) for the entire tanks volume. No issues.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I do the same as Neilanh. The only thing aging will remove is Chlorine. Since you are on a well you more than likely don't have chlorine. Aging will gas out the water and "settle" the pH but it will do that on its own in the tank. When you are filling the tank with the Python I hope you're not using solid hot water. The amount of copper that may enter the water with normal tank temp output would be minute.

 

[jsoong]

The only thing you might have to worry about with using your tap water directly is if you have a deep well. Gases in the water can be "supersaturated" due to the pressure in the aquafier, and when you bring that water to the surface, the gases will come out of solution <like opening a pop bottle>.

The only problem I know of from this is pH swing from CO2 out gassing. This is usually not a problem with small (say 10-20%) pwc, as the pH change will then be small & will normalize in a few hours. I would use the water as is unless you are doing a full tank exchange.

I don't think fish can get the bends from adding supersaturated water. For one, the gas has to be inside the fish's blood to cause problem <eg when you bring up a deep water fish to the surface.> The bulk of the supersaturated N2 (only gas in air that can cause bends) would be out of solution as it is being pumped up (see all the bubbles), and I can't see how it can get into the fish to cause problems. <We only have to worry about CO2 because it has high solubility so takes longer to come out of solution.>

 

[roka64]

I agree, don't use the hot water. I am also on well water and have had no problems. I do SW only and premix my water for at least 24 hours to let the salt, pH and heat match the temp of my tank. I know it is different for FW (at least the adding of water, with the exception of the hot water and copper pipes). The "Bends" at least in SCUBA diving terms is from nitrogen being built up in the body. This nitrogen comes from the air in our tanks. The body can naturally dissipate this if the correct decompression procedures are followed. This generally happens under 1 atmosphere of water (we consider 30 feet as one atmosphere of SW, but it is really more like 33 feet), depending on your time/depth under 30 feet. If the diver comes up too fast, the nitrogen bubbles do not dissipate, causing the "Bends". I have never done a dive in FW so the numbers might be a little different. I have never heard of a fish get the bend, probably since there is not enough nitrogen saturating their bodies, or they tend to stay at certain depths for long periods of time....Just my thoughts.

Welcome to AA!

 

[ccmicklo]

Hello folks,
I am new to fish keeping so I've been reading a lot. One thing I've read is to use aged water and not to use the water from the hot water heater because of the copper tubes.
I have well water and livebear fish. They all seem happy. I have a python to drain the tank but I fill the tank with buckets of day old water.
I've read that fish can get the bends from gases in the new water. It is confusing.

I just read my e-mail and I wanted to say I read about using aged water on the WetWebMedia site. I don'y understand a lot about aging the water but these folks seem to feel it's a good thing to do.

 

[src]

Aging the water _used_ to be a good way to dechlorinate. Chlorine is unstable and will detoxify within about 24 hours. That's why the water companies have switched to Chloramine - it's much more stable, and won't detoxify naturally in any reasonable time-period (weeks at least).

Other than that, there is no really good reason to let tap-water rest in a freshwater setup. For saltwater, yes, but for the most part freshwater doesn't benefit. Someone mentioned allowing deep well water to outgas, but that doesn't apply to most of us, and the same could mostly be accomplished by allowing the water to aerate well (i.e. use a spray bar or other dispersal tool when adding the water).

Aged water is an outdated practice in freshwater setups.