Hello everyone - I have been distracted by other things, *and* my fish have basically been doing fine (yay!), so I haven't been here in quite awhile. I do check in once in awhile, but just to read, not to post so much. Isn't it awful that I post a lot only when I have problems?

Well, I had a new one the other day. I usually use old gallon jugs to store my water for changes, and one of these sprung a leak. There was water all over the place under my sink. Then, when I filled it again and set it on my counter to check whether it was really leaking, I destroyed my phone book. Stupid of me!

So here's the question - is there a better way to store water for water changes? I do have a couple of five gallon buckets with lids, which I use when I'm siphoning water out of the tanks, but I'm not strong enough to lift one of these things to pour the water back in. The gallon jugs are a perfect size for me. Of course, I could get a python, but that actually seems like overkill since I only have the twenty long that Charlie is in, plus my two little tanks/ bowls for the bettas. Everyone gets a water change every week, but it only amouts to about 7 gallons that I have to replace. Maybe I should get a python, anyway? I certainly don't want any more leaks!

My fishies are Charlie, the little comet/shubie cross Dr. Tepper gave me (now about 4 1/2 inches long, and close to 8 inches with his tail), my betta Benvolio Bashir, who's in a two gallon with a filter, and Rubeus Hagrid betta, my sister's fish whom I'm baby sitting. He's in a gallon bowl and gets a complete change every week; the other betta gets a 50 percent change (roughly) and Charlie gets a 15 to 20 percent change. They are all doing quite well at the moment (knock on wood!)

BTW, as I think I said, I never had any luck with the eclipse tanks for goldies, but Deirdre is using my old eclipse 6 as a small tropical tank. She has 6 white cloud mountain minnows in there, plus a mix of live and fake plants and the snails that came with the plants, and she's never had the slightest problem. I've come to think that understocked tanks plus healthy live plants and no parasites are the keys to healthy fish.

But I do need to keep up with the water changes, and I do like to have prepared water ready - so how on earth should I store it?! I don't want any more leaks!

erm no buckets are the best way

Hey mary, welcome back. do you have a garden hose that you could use ? would save you splashing out on a python, and you could still use your 5 gallon tubs for taking the water out. you would need to add your water conditioner prior to putting the new water back in. just a thought. alistair

I found some of those 5 gallon water bottles that water that goes into water coolers comes in. My grocery sells them at the water station. I bought them for about 3-5 bucks apiece - empty.

They come with handles and screw on lids - so are easy to fill, carry, etc. I have 3 of them - to store 15 gallons of spare water.

i used to full up 5gal buckets in my living room. i had about four of them. i used to age the water, but after reading up. i stopped aging the water, but most important is adding prime to the water.

Thanks, all! Alistair, I live in a small 6th floor apartment, and have no garden - thus no garden hose, unfortunately. Daryl, I think I could get those jugs you're talking about (we have a water cooler at work), but they are still too big for me to lift easily when full. Maybe I could just keep a couple half-full? Would they be less likely to leak than the ordinary water jugs? (This is the second time I've had a gallon jug spring a leak on me, and I'm fed up.)

I have prime, and do agree you don't have to age the water if you have a good conditioner, but I like to have a gallon or two of treated water on hand just in case. It seems like the big jugs might be the way to go, if they are sturdy enough and not too heavy -

(Still thinking)

Mary

If your tapwater has chloramines in it (like most city water) then aging it won't take those out. I swear by my Prime!

I have had those bottles that Daryl described for years. I have a large saltwater tank and have to keep plenty of fresh water on hand for it at all times. I only recently had a bottle spring a leak and that's because a careless person threw some stuff in our truck bed and smashed it. But I highly recommend those bottles. And if you're like me and can't lift almost 50 lbs either, just keep them half full!

BTW nice to see you back on here. I remember you from the old days on Kokos.

My waterchange routine is:

I have a 15ish gallon rubbermaid tub that sits near my sink and then I fill up a bucket that's around 2 gallons from the sink and then dump that into the tub. I age the water overnight in the bucket with an airstone so that the ph will match my tank and then dip the water out with the bucket and put it in the tank. The annoying thing is having the tub, but it works pretty well for me and the kitties think that it's their own bubbly freshwater drinking fountain I add prime too before I put it in the tank.

I don't know if this will help any - just throwing it out there

I use tap water, prime and a python. I do 50% changes every week in my 30 and 120 gallon. I've never had a problem with water quality as long as my filters are working properly. I also rinse my filters weekly in tank water. It takes me about an hour because I refill slowly, allowing the prime and the filters to circulate the water thoroughly.
I have chloramines in my tap water and for several hours I will continue to read ammonia in my tanks, but I've determined that it must be tied up by the prime. I've never had a problem as long as I treat prime for the whole volume of each tank and not just the volume I'm replacing.

I just treat water and dump it in the tank a gallon at a time as I need it. I don't store water. It's easier for me to do, since my biggest tanks are my two 10 gallons, and one has guppy fry and is only filled halfway.

Thanks for the welcome, jrartist and Alistair! I think I may pick up one or two of those big jugs, just to have some water on hand. And I won't keep the smaller plastic jugs for more than about 6 months without recycling. That should help - also because who wants to keep clean water in jugs that are *deteriorating*?!

I haven't been around because I've been immersed in the Harry Potter fandom and work (and life) have also been very busy, but it's nice to be back! This is one of the two nicest communities I have found on the internet - by far. There's no place like Koko's.