Sitting water can go bad???

[Infiniti]

i was going to change water today but when i checked my pre-made water up, i found some traces of ammonia and nitrite. i have a 7 gallon reservior of RO water that i use for top off. it has gotten down to about 3 gallons left. oeverall, the RO water is about 1 month old since i bought it. i took a gallon out and mixed it with salt. i made sure all the salt was fully dissolved and checked the water parameters. my freshly made salwater had a .25 nitrite and .50 ammonia, which is worst than the water in the tank right now. so, could my storage water (RO) gone bad? or is this normal, because of no biological filter to get rid of those elements? also, would it be safe to use this water?

 

my tank is a little over a month old. habitants include...1 maroon clown, 3 snails, 2 corals (polyps). water parameters are: ammonia-0, nitrite-0, nitrate-10. water is still crystal clear.

 

Infiniti

[Physh1]

I never let water sit any longer than a week before I use it. If you need to keep it longer I'd aerate it and/or use a pump to circulate the water.

 

I would not use that water. I don't even see how you'd wanna use it since it's worse than what you have....your just asking for trouble by using that.

 

Cameron

[Infiniti]

Hi Cameron,

this water thing confuses me. i buy RO water and save it in a container from a lfs. i figure it's just water so how can storage go bad. i didn't aerate my water, neither did the pet store. i thought we aerate it when we add in salt (which i did a day before). another thing is, should we or should we not have a little ammonia and nitrite in the storage water? i mean, we shouldn't. but then, there are no bacterias to actually cycle that storage water, so we should. that's what i don't get.

 

thanks for advice. i dumped out all the water and planning on buy more. i read that some ppl use distilled water. same pet store says it's not good to use it. can u clarify?

 

thanks again.

[Gerard the fish]

Your water will go bad from lack of oxygen.

 

Take Physh1 advice and dont use that water.

 

Thanks

 

- g

[Physh1]

As long as it's some form of purified water (distilled, RO, DI, etc) it's good to use. As long as it's not tap your good IMO.

 

Water can go stale.....especially with no air or circulation. Would you drink a glass of water that had been sitting in a room for 4 to 5 days? I wouldn't. If the amm and ext levels are very minimal you'll be fine...your tank will eat that up fast. May I say again MINIMAL!!!!!!

 

I would only get enough water for what you need in a few days. Since I worked for LFS"s for 10 years I cannot even begin to tell you the horror stories that people have come to me with concerning old water they used. It's messy and I'd avoid it at all possible.

 

Cameron

[Infiniti]

u're right about water becoming stale. and u're right, i wouldn't want to drink water that has been sitting out. but the container i had was capped. same as a gallon of water we buy to drink. no oxygen,true...but water in the bottle we drink remains good. i'm not aruguing, i just don't get it.

[Xanareef]

Get your tap water tested before using it.

 

I use dechlorinated tap water when we're out of distilled, and I've never had any problems. No algae, or deaths in my cleanup crew.