# Is it OK to use old water?



## Stinky (Jun 18, 2009)

I never used to do this before, but I'm keeping the left over water that I treat with tap conditioner. After a while it starts to smell funny. It's not kept in sunlight or even any light, but in darkness. Is it fine to add this water to a tank?


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## Summer (Oct 3, 2011)

some people gas their water out for a few days to a week before adding it to the tank, so i imagine it's alright


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## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

Stinky said:


> I never used to do this before, but I'm keeping the left over water that I treat with tap conditioner. After a while it starts to smell funny. It's not kept in sunlight or even any light, but in darkness. Is it fine to add this water to a tank?


Hello s...

I use the old "bucket" method to change the water in my tanks and keep left over water all the time, don't want to waste the conditioner. As long as the water is treated for ammonia, chlorine and chloramine, it's fine to put into the tank. It can safely sit for days, just add it to the new stuff and it will be fine. The funny smell is just the water conditioner.

I don't age my tank water. Once treated, I put it into the tank.

B


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

Stinky said:


> I never used to do this before, but I'm keeping the left over water that I treat with tap conditioner. After a while it starts to smell funny. It's not kept in sunlight or even any light, but in darkness. Is it fine to add this water to a tank?


IMHO if you're gonna keep water in a bucket for some time don't use the tap conditioner. The chlorine/chlorimine will dissappate with time.

Additionally, the tap water conditioners are sulfur compounds that are toxic to fish. So overdoing those compounds can degrade your tank.

my .02


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

beaslbob said:


> IMHO if you're gonna keep water in a bucket for some time don't use the tap conditioner. The chlorine/chlorimine will dissappate with time.
> 
> Additionally, the tap water conditioners are sulfur compounds that are toxic to fish. So overdoing those compounds can degrade your tank.
> 
> my .02


Here we go again....

Bob, you know full well that chloramines do NOT dissipate in any form. Therefore, it is much more safer to treat with a conditioner than do nothing. What you do with your tanks is your business. You can stress your fish however you like.

Additionally, just like many gasses that we breathe in can kill because they are toxic (ie Carbon Monoxide) if we breathe in concentrated form, but are diluted to some minuscule ppb (parts per billion) when mixed with the rest of air, it doesn't hurt us.....same with a fish tank and the one cap full to a 50g load of water. You can even WAY overdose and it will not cause issues. Not so for your tanks with low O2 as has been discussed many times on here. Do not try to sell "your" methods on things that detail safety of a tank!

*So bottom line to the OP, you do need conditioner and it is always safer to do so despite the misinformation you may read on here or other places.*
Bob, stop telling people they don't need conditioner.


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

jrman83 said:


> Here we go again....
> 
> Bob, you know full well that chloramines do NOT dissipate in any form.


I don't know that at all. *old dude In fact chloramines break down to ammonia and chlorine gas. Both of which dissipate over time.


> Therefore, it is much more safer to treat with a conditioner than do nothing. What you do with your tanks is your business. You can stress your fish however you like.
> 
> Additionally, just like many gasses that we breathe in can kill because they are toxic (ie Carbon Monoxide) if we breathe in concentrated form, but are diluted to some minuscule ppb (parts per billion) when mixed with the rest of air, it doesn't hurt us.....same with a fish tank and the one cap full to a 50g load of water. You can even WAY overdose and it will not cause issues. Not so for your tanks with low O2 as has been discussed many times on here. Do not try to sell "your" methods on things that detail safety of a tank!
> 
> ...


Bottom line is that if the OP follows my advice there is no need for conditioners. Sure you can't just pour in tap water and then immediately add fish. But that is not what I advocate. Plus the conditioners are toxic to fish so the only question is what is more dangerous. Storing tapwater with initial chlorine/chlorimnes or storing tap water with sulfur compounds.

Still just my .02


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## Crazy (Mar 1, 2012)

Bob, do you mean to say that in addition to your tanks being stagnant they are also untreated? Generally speaking, taking a natural approach to something is usually done to promote the health of the subject. Taking into consideration all of the factors of your builds and judging by the photo documentation I would be forced to say that this is more of a case of borderline misinformation/neglect. I understand you feel it has benefits, however I would not recommend this build to anyone that cares for the heath and well being of anything that is intended to survive in that tank. To the OP, I strongly recommend that you continue to use water treatment designed for this use and to avoid promoted 'natural practices' as they may become harmful to your fish.


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

beaslbob said:


> I don't know that at all. *old dude In fact chloramines break down to ammonia and chlorine gas. Both of which dissipate over time.
> 
> Bottom line is that if the OP follows my advice there is no need for conditioners. Sure you can't just pour in tap water and then immediately add fish. But that is not what I advocate. Plus the conditioners are toxic to fish so the only question is what is more dangerous. Storing tapwater with initial chlorine/chlorimnes or storing tap water with sulfur compounds.
> 
> Still just my .02


You put to much crack on your cornflakes this morning again Bob? Now what have I told you about that??!! You can't do that and come in here and try to get the others to do the same thing.
Oh yea, conditioners are toxic to fish???? Oh jeex dude, sure if you get a bowl and pour the whole freakin bottle into it!!! Cmon dude, give me a break.
Heres better advice to the OP, use RO water, then all this commotion is for nothing. You don't have to worry about all the garbage in that water, because there is none. You listen to Bob there, and well, just go through his albums, and I think you'll agree with what we are saying.....You don't want your tank to look like his!!!


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## Stinky (Jun 18, 2009)

Thanks for the replies. My situation with chloramine is that I can verify that this city does not use it, only chlorine. But I don't leave the water out for the chlorine to dissipate because I need to use it immediately. The only water I keep is the left over water since I only use the minimum amount of conditioner, so to be sure of amounts I usually treat the entire container's worth according to the instructions. Once the tank gets siphoned and refilled, the amount doesn't add up so there is always a few gallons left over. So I'm talking about more than a few days of the water sitting around. It's more like from one water change to the next, which is about 2-3 weeks. Also, the smell is not present when the conditioner gets added, or even for a while after. Only later does it start smelling funky. I'm not sure it's the conditioner, just the ordinary water smelling funky. It's the smell you get from any old water that's been sitting around for a long time, if you know what I'm talking about. Isn't this some sort of bacterial event? I could be wrong, though.


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Not if its just sitting around for a few days as you suggest.


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## Sue520 (Nov 8, 2011)

Hi Stinky, If it's sitting for a few weeks personally I wouldn't use it as it will be going stagnant.


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## straydog (May 14, 2011)

If it's siting for that amount of time why use conditoner. I would personally fill the container add an air stone to keep the water moving and cover the container till needed. But that's just me, and how I did it when I lived in the city.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

With an airstone bubbling, it won't smell. I used to store rainwater, and as long as the water moved, it was fine.


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## Stinky (Jun 18, 2009)

straydog said:


> If it's siting for that amount of time why use conditoner. I would personally fill the container add an air stone to keep the water moving and cover the container till needed. But that's just me, and how I did it when I lived in the city.


I use conditioner because I use it immediately and then have some left over. I lose a lot of water to evaporation living in the dry desert, so that's even more mismatch to what I need to remove. I don't have a green lawn but I have fish tanks. That's also the reason why I don't think leaving the water open is going to work all that well in my case. Can't use an air stone in an airtight container, can I? The air stone is a good idea but in this case I don't think it's worthwhile. But now I think that I might just measure things better and leave out the right amount of water to dissipate naturally overnight instead of the conditioner.


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## straydog (May 14, 2011)

Not sure if it would work in the dry heat, but the way I maintained mine was to use two, 5gallon buckets with lids. Drilled a hole in the lids a little larger than an airline so the air line would fit in but also let the air out. That way I could always have top off /water change water on hand.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

If you were worried in any way about using the conditioner Prime, it completely dissipates and is out of your system in 24hrs. So even if the water sat, the product does its job and is gone shortly after. It also is completely safe to dose to amounts as much as 5 times the recommended dosage. Can't speak for all products.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

If you are keeping the bucket closed could it be that any smell is building up under the lid so that when you open it up you get all the smell at once? Try leaving it uncovered for a bit and see if it still smells. Personally I think I'd feel safe to use the water.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I think you would be much better off doing more frequent water changes.


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## Crazy (Mar 1, 2012)

Honestly with the low cost of the conditioner you would do best to just use new water and do as jrman83 suggested and step up your pwc's a bit


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

CrazyMFFM said:


> Honestly with the low cost of the conditioner you would do best to just use new water and do as jrman83 suggested and step up your pwc's a bit


Agreed. Its FW not salt water, there is very low cost in doing alot of water changes. All this can't hurt.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

I think how often you do water changes depends a lot on the setup. I have a tank that I only do monthly water changes on as it is lightly stocked and planted I feel that's plenty. On the other hand I had a heavily stocked tank for a while I did 2x weekly water changes on.


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