On Mon, 23 Feb 2004 20:21:03 -0600, "Rick"
wrote:

I have water stored in my basement that I keep heated and agitated with an
airstone and this water I use in a lot of my tanks. My 77g tank upstairs and
my 50 g hex tank are both planted tanks that I use the Python on to do 50%
weekly water changes. When I am finished my tanks are full of bubbles, the
glass is covered, the plants are covered, everything is covered. I do this
week after week after week and have never lost a fish. I live in Canada and
the water does have more gas content than in summer however I have never
experienced a problem. However like everything in this hobby, YMMV.

You heat the water up first so that would lessen the problem.

When I did water changes in the summer, I would get a lot of bubbles,
too, but no problems. I think bubbles are a indicator of dissolved
gasses but the incoming water temperature determines the severity of
the problem.

In the winter, fish would be seen hyperventilating and hanging out at
the surface. If you do a water change, watch your fishes' respiratory
rate afterwards or better yet, during.

It took me awhile to realize what the problem was (I finally did a
Google newsgroup search). Search for gas bubble disease or gas emboli.
Since then, I've been heating the water outside the tank and creating
a waterfall with a powerhead. Then when I add the water hours later,
gradually, there are no bubbles and no hyperventilating. Cichlids are
pretty resistant to this but even they have limits. You might not
reach them in the summer but a slightly bigger water change on a
slightly colder day could do it.