limited water changes... next step, overkill

[MaloK]

I always use slightly warmer, but close match and never had any troubles. In very small water changes I don't even think about it.

But, bigger the water change, closer I try to match the temperature.

 

[anewbie]

I have decided to build in a safety into the pumping out of water... I'm using an 8 inch stainless pipe, with a screened end, to draw water from the tanks, for water changes, the weight will keep it positioned, in the tank, and with an elbow on the top, an 8 inch draw pipe, and the screened end, will at maximum, draw water down between 8-9 inches in the tanks.. this will be for regular water changes... I will also have an end I can exchange, that will vacuum gravel, & could be used to pump a tank fully empty if desired... 8-9 inches down, aught to be an acceptable water change percentage, at maximum...

next thought, will be the temperature of the holding tank, which would likely be 68-73 degrees through out the year... I expect most tanks would be OK, with those temperatures, at a 40-50% water change level, but I may need to put a warming mat under the tank, to keep the RO tank at closer to the average aquarium temp???

thoughts???

In my 500 gallon reservior i have a 200 watt aquarium heater which is ample to keep the temp around 76 - the room temp is 70-72 during the winter. During the summer i unplug the heaters. THe room actually has a space heater and i debated with regards to energy the trade off of using the space heater or aquarium heater. Since the room is small a small space heater can easily keep the room in the upper 70s or even 80s - i would not put something under the container and if you hang a heater in the container i would make sure it doesn't touch the plastic.