Water But leeching/contaminating water?

[AquaStu]

Hi peeps,

This is my first post here so be gentle
I have an issue/concern I was hoping I could get some advice on?

So I have a 100L plastic water but in the house near my 270L aquarium. The purpose of this is just to allow the water inside the but to adjust to room temp before I use it for my weekly 20% - 30% water changes. (The cold water comes out the tap ice cold atm so am worried this could shock the fish)
I have an air pump inside (just to keep the water moving) and also dose this with API Aqua Essential so the water is in theory safe/ready to go straight into my aquarium.

However their is a very strong smell coming from inside the but - The only way I can describe it is as a "Chemical" smell, It is definitely coming from the plastic and I'm obviously worried about putting this water in my aquarium. In case the plastic has leeched something toxic into the water.

Please feel free to give feedback on my method, I am always happy to take any/all constructive feedback on board.
I would also like to know how I would go about testing for anything that may be leeching from the plastic?

[fr499y]

Check it to see if there’s any markings to say food grade as that’s what you’ll need for storing water. If it’s not food grade, then I wouldn’t use it.

[YnotFish]

I did some Googling (well actually, I did some "DuckDuckGoing") and found this helpful pic:

[Martinspuddle]

Greetings & welcome to

I'll say hello even though the others forgot.

[plankton]

Welcome to the forum.
Yup, everything must be food grade for fish use.

[Bluetaurus]

Hello and welcome

[YnotFish]

ahem... and welcome!

[AquaStu]

Thanks for welcoming me to the forum

Appreciate everyone taking the time to reply, This has been very helpful!

I think I'll just replace the water that I have with a new one and make sure it is food safe this time. (I'll also take advantage and get a larger but this time)
Tbh I didn't even think about it when brought my water but but it makes perfect sense in hindsight.

Thanks again, If anyone has any suggestions where I can get a food safe water but please let me know.

[DuzMano]

Maybe these folks?

https://www.kingfisherdirect.co.uk/plas ... 220-litres

[mikeyboy123]

I use this sort of thing to collect rainwater for use in my aquariums:- https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/404796515291 ... Swte5l8ZVU

They come in different sizes.

It was pretty easy to drill to fit the inlet pipe and tap. The only thing is, it has a bit of a curve toward the bottom which made it a little tricky to position the tap.

I did previously use a standard water butt for the same purpose and it was fine, although it had been used for many years to collect water for the garden before I started using it for the aquarium, and so it's possible that any potentially harmful chemicals would have leached out by the time I started using it for the aquarium water.