How long can I save bottled 'fish-tank' water for?

Hey all,

I've recently sworn off of chemical nutes, and although I've not got the way of store-bought organics, or making my own teas. I have been using the water from the fish-tank to add some goodness to my grow, and it looks good so far. Lots of nice deep greens in her leaves and altogher a positive experience.

So the Q I wanted to ask you aficionados of the organics, was this.

How long can I keep the bottled Fish-tank water for?

I've been assuming that it might go dodgy within days, so I've just used it for the day I change the fish tank, and then chucked whatever's left over. I guess I take out about 5 litres from the tank, and end up using about 1.5 litres on the plant. The rest goes down the drain as I wasn't too sure if it would be safe to keep it somewhere and use it for the next watering. Any advice would be massively appreciated. I'd like to get as much of the organic nutes to her as possible in these closing weeks of my grow.

Cheers all,
mewk

I wouldn't store that water in a bottle for more than an hour or so. If there are active aerobic bacteria in that water, and organic matter for them to consume (fish poo), they will deplete the oxygen. This invite the bad anaerobes to join the fish poo feast.

Also, just as a side note.... Why not dump the extra on the ground outside? No need to send that organic goodness down the drain to the sewage treatment plant.

Well said.

Thanks Spicy, that's kinda what I thought.

+Rep for the quick reply!

Glad to help. If you want to store that water a little longer, you could buy an extra aquarium pump and aerate it in the bottle/bucket. That would at least buy you a few days of storage.

Do you have any house plants? I'm sure they'd love a drink of that stuff, too.