Hot Water

[robbo1078]

Is it okay to use water from the hot water taps when doing a water change? The water comes from a tank which is heated then sends the water to the taps, I've been told by somebody I know this isn't a good idea and will kill the fish pretty quickly, but I can't see why? And im sure I've seen other posts on here where people have done it...

 

[basboi85]

i use my hot water tap but admitably i dont have a tank to store the hot water its heated as it goes and ive never had any issues in my tank or lost any fish by using the hot tap but i guess it depends on where you live i.e water conditions ect ect

 

[mattyeatsmatts]

Hot water has a very low amount of oxygen. This can kill a fish so I would maybe an airstone/venturi device to make sure the O2 level stays safe.

 

[basboi85]

Lucky for me I have two air stones and my external filter return pipe pushes air into the tank as the water hits the tank water so I'm pretty safe to say I've got enough O2 in my tank

 

[elmo666]

The problem with a storage tank is that it has a large amount of sludge in the bottom that generates gases. The other problem is that it is generally made of copper and could, if not used for a while (holidays etc) have lots of copper present. I use my hot tap during water changes but have a combination boiler, so the water merely passes through a heat exchanger , so to all intents and purposes it is as fresh as the cold tap, it just needs dechlorinator adding in the same doseage as the cold.

 

[robbo1078]

Hmmm I shan't risk it then seens as atm I have no airstone I have a 60 litre tank and do 10 litres every week, the first few times, I had a bucket of water sitting in my bedroom for 2 days to warm up a little, but last time, I made sure the cold water I put into the tank was put in slowly hand spread around the tank, it soon heated up but I was a little worried as the water dropped by about 3-4 degrees

 

[StandbySetting]

Copper isn't soluble in water...

After many years of fish keeping never have I encountered a problem using hot water to 'take the edge' off of cold water and my hot water comes from a tank.

If you're only doing a 10 litre water change there's no need to heat up the replacement water anyway.

 

[cornclose]

Hello! First post here (lots more to come I'm sure...).

I've been fish-keeping for about 12 years now and have never used the hot tap as a source of water for fear (or is it a myth?) of getting any nasties into my tank (my hot water is from a storage tank, but I would have no hesitation in using the hot water if I had a combi-boiler). Perhaps a buildup over time of nasties from a hot water tank is of more concern than with any particular single use...

When doing water changes I've always used boiled water to adjust the temperature of my water changes. I find about 1 litre of just boiled water to 9 litres of cold tap water brings a 10 litre bucket to just about 25 degrees C. Depends on how cold your tap water is of course...

 

[ZoddyZod]

when I moved from my old house that ran a combi-boiler to my current one that has a water tank, I too was concerned about the possible effects of copper, mainly because I have shrimp.

one year on and I've noticed absoloutely no ill effects from using a hot/cold water mix straight from the tap, and I change around 100L-150L at a time.

 

[Essjay]

The only problems would be if the hot tank is fed from an open topped cold tank in the attic. There are all sorts of things can get in the cold tank - dead rats are not unknown, for example. I was always told you should never use hot water from a system like this for cooking, and I work on the principle that if something is not fit for cooking with, I don't use it for my fish. I boil a kettle to warm water change water in the depths of winter, or if I'm changing more than 20%.

 

[basboi85]

The water temp on my boiler it set to 85'c, I run the tap for at least 3 mins so I know I've cleared the pipes so to say of anything is there and to make sure the water is hot when it's in my bucket and I do the same for the cold water then I cool the hot down to the desired temp for my tank and to this day I've had no issues.

I generally clean my ext filter a fortnight to 3 weeks after doing a big water change ( which is every 6-8 weeks max to make sure the bacteria is at a healthy state so to speak so when it comes to cleaning the filter it doesn't affect the bacteria that's in the tank. ( I'm prob gunna get shot down for doing this but it works for me and obv I do the weekly 10-15% weekly change

 

[4seasons]

I live where we have very hard water. Last year I had to do some work on our water heater. There were tons of lime and calcium deposits in the tank. So much that pulling the lower element still wouldn't give me more than a trickle of water out the hole. But in order for all this buildup to get in the tank it had to settle out of the water. That means that all that crap is in the cold water too. The water in you tank only sits there overnight anyway. As soon as you start running hot water new cold water comes into the tank to replace it. Why would there be a problem using water that was circulated thru a 50 gallon tank to warm it? The same stuff that is building up in your tank is in all the pipes in your house. The only different in hot water and cold water is the temperature. Why would you want to dump a large water change of 65 degree water in a fish tank that is 78 degrees? Much less shock to your fish from the possibility of slightly elevated contaminates in hot water than the temperature shock during a large water change.

 

[elmo666]

I would argue that copper will dissolve straight into the water and it certainly can react with substances in the water, such as nitrates to form copper nitrate.
QUOTE from water supply company: How does copper get into my drinking water?
The major sources of copper in drinking water are corrosion of household plumbing systems; and erosion of natural deposits. Copper enters the water (“leaches”) through contact with the plumbing. Copper leaches into water through corrosion – a dissolving or wearing away of metal caused by a chemical reaction between water and your plumbing. Copper can leach into water primarily from pipes, but fixtures and faucets (brass), and fittings can also be a source. The amount of copper in your water also depends on the types and amounts of minerals in the water, how long the water stays in the pipes, the amount of wear in the pipes, the water’s acidity and its temperature.

Anyway, if you are changing less than 20 litres the easiest way is to get a spare heater and place that in the fermentation bucket a couple of hrs before you need the water. A power head won't do any harm either. This is the method I used before setting up my latest tank which is 100gallons, so I put the water straight into the tank now as I change 40 gallons at a time.

 

[LucyB]

I just put cold water in a bucket and some in a kettle, boil the kettle, and put in as much hot water as I need to make the bucket water temp the same as my tank

 

[sadguppy]

I use the hot tap and have seen no problems...