How many of you measure the temperature of the water when performing water changes?

[GaryE]

Research has shown we have 3 degrees celsius to play with. For the vast majority of tropical fish, a 3 degree drop is acceptable, but beyond that, it's a health danger. For most species, if it goes up, that isn't a short term issue, but down is dangerous.

If it falls very gradually, that's a different story. Then, your limit is the tolerances your fish are evolved to live within.

So as I pour from the hose, I keep touching the water flow to gauge where we are. Canadian winters have taught me that. I tend to like to keep my fish on the lower side of their natural water temperature range, so I don't give myself a cushion there. I use a potable water quality hose attached to a faucet, and run a mix of hot and cold water into tanks I've just dropped measured dechlorinator into.

Since I have a full sized (maybe oversized) fishroom, I have it divided into sections. In winter, I have 4 blocks that take about 30 minutes each to water change, and I do one a day early in the morning. That way, when the water coming in from the lines is ice cold, I never run out of hot water from the small water tank. In summer, I can do the whole lot at once, although I tend to divide it up because 2 hours is a solid block of time to have free.

Where you live matters. I get very clean water, which is wonderful. I don't have chloramines, just old fashioned chlorine. I get no nitrates and no measurable water pollution from the tap. My energy costs are climbing, but okay. But I do get cold water out of the tap for 2 or 3 months, and cool for 3 or 4. I need to mix hot in all year, but how much varies. In January, a lot.

 

[emeraldking]

How many of you measure the temperature of the water when performing water changes?​

I do it by feel. I will only measure when the temperature becomes an extreme.

 

[Oldspartan]

Built a small closet between the developing fish room and laundry, (they share a common wall). Inside the closet is an insulated chamber that is temp controlled with two small heat lamps, one at the top and one at the bottom. There is also a small fan in the bottom that circulates the air. Inside are ten 2.5-gallon water jugs of well water and six 2.5 gallons of rainwater (we have a rain collection system in place on two buildings). The water temp stays at a pretty constant 76 degrees which is also pretty close to the temp I try to keep the developing fish room.

Over the winter I will be opening the closet to where the fish are and installing a sink, water heater, and a small pump. Haven't quite figured the plumbing out yet but the plan is to have piping in a soffit that surrounds the room for water and air. The wastewater probably will be pumped to the sink unless I can come up with an at the tank solution for it that does not involve extensive plumbing.

At any rate for now, we lug the 2.5-gallon jugs and use a small pump to get the water out of the tank and into the tank. The wastewater is then put on flower beds, or was during the summer. Linda will use some this winter in the basement grow room the excess down the tub.

WOW, I just realized I got carried away with this.

The simple answer is we have water that is 76 degrees on hand for water changes and each tank is done every four days at about 1/3.

 

[rymo]

I'm only a few months into my first tank. I have a nice meat thermometer that I use and get the temp within a couple degrees of my tank. Why not, right?

 

[Bamf Comics]

Last week I didn't check. I ended up killing 4 of my 5 baby guppys. Maybe a 95% water change, added the hose with a slow trickle and left it unattended while I got distracted on the internet. Small flood, drastic drop in overall temp since it was colder than I thought coming in. All the needles fell off the hornwort that night as well. I had just given the other 40 or so tanks 50% changes using straight from the cold water line to refill so it didn't occur to me to monitor until it was too late. In the summer, the cold water is coming in too hot. I killed a number of zebra danios, white clouds, etc going past the 50% mark. I must fight the urge to do more than that at a single change. As long as it's not too far off it shouldn't be bad but I hadn't started adding a small flow of water from the hot side last week yet to balance it back out. Now that'll be the norm until next summer again.

 

[Oldspartan]

A washing machine mixing valve or Simmons temperature-controlled shower valve would solve many issues.

 

[Bamf Comics]

For a quarter the year. It wouldn't help when the waters too hot on the cold side from the giant water tower a couple blocks over baking in the heat. I currently just hook a hose to the kitchen sink for refilling and now adjust accordingly directly and manually. I'm assuming I'll have 3 or so months of too hot, 3 or so months of too cold and a varying number in Spring and Fall that could go either way or just right. The baby bear of water change needs.

 

[anewbie]

The more complicated we make things the simpler they become.