Reconditioning stale water

Jon

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Hi everybody

Ten or twelve years ago I read an anecdote by a guy who claimed to have 'cured' stale sea water by letting it rest in a cool dark place.

The author said that he had taken a 20 or so litre bucket of stale water (that if i recall correcly actually had a small dead anemone in it) and left it in a cool dark place for a month ir two. He claimed that when he later tested the water he found it to be completely cured with zero readings for nitrite, nitrate and amonia. Unfortunately I cant remember if he tested it for anything else.

Although I can imagine how this might be possible, I have never heard of anybody else re-conditioning stale water this way, and would very much like to know if any of you have ever tried this, or heard of this.

Unfortuantely I cant remember more details about this story, but if it rings a bell, let me know. I would be interested to know more.

Jon
 
hmmm, once I smoked something and.. na, does'nt ring a bell. Besides wondering why anyone would want to re-condition stale water , a cool dark place probably would reduce or slow bacterial growth.. maybe his test kits were in the same cool dark place he was.. LOL

Why not give it a test and let us know, should smell really good that dead nenny.

Muz
 
Theoretically the bacteria living on the sides of the container could break down Ammonia and Nitrites. If there was a lack of oxygen they could take the process 1 step further and break down nitrates. It is possible but being able to consume the anemone in a month or two seems unlikely. Remember bacteria lives on surfaces. The surfaces of the container are not that large compared to the load it has to process.

Also what about trace elements. These surely cannot just reappear.
 
it'll be a good idea to put this to a test and see what results we get.eg.do a water change and keep 25litres of the water and do a parameter test on it,after a month do a test again and see what the results are.but instead of testing it from the drum,empty it in another drum with a powerhead,let it all mix up and then do the test!what you guys think?(by the way no dead anemone in this test ;) )
 
I say knock yourself out.. if the water shows no traces would you still take it to the next level and actually pour the water in your tank. ooooh, run forrest run.

I have often wondered though, sometimes I mix up some R/O, add buffer. I mix it with NSW to bring the salinity down, I heat and leave for a while before doing water changes.. how long can you leave it for before it does go stale.. my theory is well, never if you have a powerhead in it, but without water movement & if you just leave it.. hands up who says just over a week.. I dunno, I'm too scared, a few hours is too long for me !

Muz
 
If this was a valid thing to do, why do water changes at all if you don't detect nitrates, ammonia or nitrites.

I'm not to keen on this, besides if you see how a tank perks up after a decent water change, why would you want to use stale water?
 
Nice Galibore:)LOL I agree with Clinton there inst much point in using the stale water(if true) and after a great water change the tank is perky and alive so ya let me know what the outcome is
 
Jon, you sure this was not reconditioning stale sea water after standing in a cool dark place for a period of time? The procedure was to collect NSW and filter through a cloth into glass carbouys. Carbouys would then be stored in a dark cool place for about a month to allow die off of phytoplankton and other mico organisms. At the end of the period the water would naturally be low in oxygen, so water was re oxegenated for say 24 hous before being used for water changes.
This is done because one cannot know what one is collecting along with the NSW at time of collection. Rather than run the risk of inadvertantly infecting tank , better to ensure water is virtually sterile before adding to tank.
 
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