# looking for some ideas, need some brainstorming!



## PCircle85 (Jan 4, 2004)

Okay, when I lived with my mother and was all cramped up in a bedroom consisting of bed, tv and 75 gallon tank (sacrifice living space to satisfy the need for water, right?).

Anyway, I have my own place now, equipped with my very own "fishroom" (technically it's the dining room, but who needs that?) Anyway, I digress. I want my africans to be as happy as possible, pristine water and such. I want ideas on water changes when the water has to be buffered. My tap water is between 6.5 and 7.5 ph, I'd like to buffer it to 8.0-8.2 before it goes into the tank.

I'd like some ideas on how I can accomplish this.


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## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

large brute trashcan on the dolly, and a pump is the best way to hold and treat a large amount of water before adding to the tank

does your tap water fluctuate that much? or are you just guessing? if it's 7.5 don't worry about buffering

i use my dining room for fish as well btw, and you're right no one uses them except for christmas and thanksgiving


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## PCircle85 (Jan 4, 2004)

I've tested it four times and it was between that range everytime. I don't know if it fluctuates, or I'm doing it wrong... I know my water REEKS of chlorine, like burns my nose to sniff it, can that effect ph? I use plenty of prime, probably more than recommended.


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## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

that shouldn't be drinkable


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## PCircle85 (Jan 4, 2004)

Probably not, brita filter makes it taste fine, though.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

I use a large plastic trashcan. With it in the fish room I fill it from a faucet nearby, add my Prime and let it set until needed. I keep a heater and bubbler in the storage tank as well. This lets me do several things which help. One is I don't have to try to match the temp going into the tanks by adjusting it at the faucet. Let the heater do it's thing. Two, I feel much more confident that I add the Prime if I only do it once rather than doing individual tanks. For convenient filling of the tanks, I have a small pump in ther storage tank with a DIY remote switch to carry with me from tank to tank. This leaves me pretty much hands free to go from tank to tank stopping and starting the pump by foot switch. After I fill tanks, I refill the storage and repeat the cycle. You may find that your system only uses chlorine rather than chloramine and letting the stored water set overnight will let the chlorine brew off so you don't need the Prime any more. Does not work if they are using chloramine which does not come out of solution as easy. After storage overnight, you may find your PH settles into a nicer reading where you don't need to buffer. The less messing with water , the better as it usually winds up being much more stable. The fish can adapt quite well to PH if it is stable. Very hard for them if it keeps changing.


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## PCircle85 (Jan 4, 2004)

Hey that sounds pretty good. I have just the one tank, and there's -probably- just enough room for some kind of container to sit in the corner beside the tank. I could probably hard plumb something from a pump.

What's the bubbler for?

And what's a good pump? Just a 4' - 5' height..those mags seem expensive...


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

The water in the storage tank sometimes gets a slick on top between tank water changes and it helps to stir the water. It will also help to remove chlorine by stirring it, if you have that. If you smell strong chlorine as you drink, you do probably have just chlorine rather than chloramine. The chloramine is used because it stays in solution in the water longer which gives less smell as a result. Setting the storage tank on a box or platform makes less head pressure to pump against if it might work. For a reasonable pump I find CA1800 from California Aquatics to fit for me. Several places sell them but I ordered direct from them after doing a search.

For a real homey atmosphere but saving a pump, I saw a guy that had an old beer frig in his fish room which left him a flat top higher than his tanks. Hard plumbed the water into the storage on top of the frig and just gravity fed from storage to tanks. Cheapest pump is no pump at all.... :thumb:


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## PCircle85 (Jan 4, 2004)

Should a lid be placed atop the trash can with a hole drilled in the center? To catch evaporation and to allow chlorine gas to vent?


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

With the cheaper type trashcan I bought, A lid was provided. I do not have a hole in the lid and the fit is quite loose so I'm sure gas can vent out. The one problem which is a nuisance more than anything, is the bubbler causes condensation to form on the lid which is dome shaped. This makes the water collect and run to the outside and tends to drip in the floor. Gave me a small heartache when I first saw water next to the barrel.  I now use a cloth tied around the barrel to catch this and it just air dries before it gets enough to run down. In more humid areas this could be a problem but here we need all the humidity we can get in the house air.


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## PCircle85 (Jan 4, 2004)

What if you put the lid on top upside-down? So the dome goes down into the can and condensation will drip back into the resevoir


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

PCircle85 said:


> I've tested it four times and it was between that range everytime. I don't know if it fluctuates, or I'm doing it wrong... I know my water REEKS of chlorine, like burns my nose to sniff it, can that effect ph? I use plenty of prime, probably more than recommended.


 I had 250 feet of new 2" copper pipe run from the water main to my house. I was more worried about copper in the water than chlorine or cloramine, however my solution also eliminates those too. Incoming city water goes through a huge carbon block whole house filter. No chlorine smell, no need to use dechlor on my fish tanks. I've done just over 50% water changes straight from the tap with no stress shown by any fish. Not normal but a guest took all the thawed out brine shrimp I'd readied for 18 tanks and dumped it into a single tank.

The good news if you can smell chlorine, it isn't chloramine, which is virtually odorless. Does it bubble? If you hold a lighter over a glass of water, does the surface catch afire? Some areas of the country are getting methane in their water supplies with all the new drilling for natural gas.


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## PCircle85 (Jan 4, 2004)

Mcdaphnia said:


> The good news if you can smell chlorine, it isn't chloramine, which is virtually odorless. Does it bubble? If you hold a lighter over a glass of water, does the surface catch afire? Some areas of the country are getting methane in their water supplies with all the new drilling for natural gas.


No, but that sounds really cool. :lol:


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

PCircle85 said:


> Mcdaphnia said:
> 
> 
> > The good news if you can smell chlorine, it isn't chloramine, which is virtually odorless. Does it bubble? If you hold a lighter over a glass of water, does the surface catch afire? Some areas of the country are getting methane in their water supplies with all the new drilling for natural gas.
> ...


 Sounds cool, but imagine being afraid to take a shower in your own house because a spark might ignite your bathroom. There are health issues too.


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## PCircle85 (Jan 4, 2004)

Eh, didn't take that into consideration. Less cool now...


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## jrf (Nov 10, 2009)

PfunMo said:


> You may find that your system only uses chlorine rather than chloramine and letting the stored water set overnight will let the chlorine brew off so you don't need the Prime any more. Does not work if they are using chloramine which does not come out of solution as easy.quote]
> 
> IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m curious, how do you eliminate chloramines in storage tank before putting it in your live tanks? As you pointed out, just pre-dosing it with Prime wouldnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t work. You would be left with a tank full of unbound ammonia after the Prime wore off.


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

I use carbon, which filters out both the chlorine and chloramine. That way i don't have to worry about chloramine releasing ammonia into the water.


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