Using Warm Water

[dalios]

For my water i use straight from the mains in my kitchen but obviously it is far to cold to poor into the tank so i haft to wait 24hours or so for it to get to room temp.
 
Can i just empty the water needed out of my tank then replace it with warm water from the tap adding aquasafe then straight into the tank? Is this ok to do as would make life so much easier.
 
Thanks

 

[Lillefishy]

As long as the hot water comes from a combi boiler & not a copper water tank it's fine to use

 

[Lunar Jetman]

That's all I do. 75-80% of cold water and 15-20% hot water. I replace around 25-30% of my water in this way, roughly 80 litres and have no issues. In fact towards the end, say the last or second last bucket (my bucket holds around 20 litres) I sometimes put in just cold water. This seems to often encourage spawning or livens them up a bit without affecting them adversely.

 

[daizeUK]

As long as the hot water comes from a combi boiler & not a copper water tank it's fine to use

 
I've been using water from the hot water tank, guess I should stop doing that

 

[fluttermoth]

I've used hot water from hot water tanks for years and years without any problems at all.

If you're in the least bit worried, just make sure your dechlorinator is one that neutralises heavy metals

 

[ShinySideUp]

I too have used hot water from a copper system mixed with cold tap water all my fishkeeping life, and we are looking at nearly 25 years on and off. I can't confirm that over many years the copper is having an adverse effect but I think it highly unlikely. My reason for thinking this is that fresh water comes through 15 mm copper pipes in the UK (usually) so that's not a lot of water in contact with a comparatively large surface area of copper. However the opposite occurs in my cistern where I have a comparatively large volume of water in contact with a comparatively small area of copper so they probably balance out.
 
If I had water in a cistern for weeks before I used it I might have a different opinion but my cistern water is changed completely at least once every day, even when not water-changing my tank.

 

[l_l_l]

What I do before doing a water change is take a large shower, then wash dishes and stuff, that way, my water tank is emptied then refilled then reheated thus eliminating most of copper residue or whatever.
In any case, I have done a few water changes (50%+-) without doing the above, and taking care of a cherry shrimp colony, with no adverse effect.

 

[looking-glass]

the water comes from copper pipes either way  i always go for warm and cold you get the knack of getting just enough of each after a while to get the right temperature

 

[dalios]

Thanks for all the info, i dont have a combi boiler will do some time this year, i have a copper water tank i did use warm water the other day to do a water change and seems ok so far as was in a rush. So really is it ok to use part of the water that comes from my copper tank. Seems like a lot of you do so guessing this should be ok.
 
Also i use the tetra aquasafe does it take out the heavy metals as mentioned above?

 

[TwoTankAmin]

For the most part copper in plumbing systems is more of an issue when the copper itself is newly installed. Over time any possibility of leeching greatly diminishes. We have all copper pipes form the 1960s so I have no worries. When we have added copper piping or replaced something with any copper components, I just let the system flush a while.
 
I am too tired to check but copper is more of a potential issue in acid water (low pH) but I don't remember at what levels. I would assume its somewhere in the 6.0-6.5 range but would have to check that.
 
I have been refilling tanks at temp using a combination of hot and cold for 13 years now. I have always had snails and about 4 years ago began keeping a few shrimp as well.

 

[Essjay]

With the older style hot water systems in the UK, the hot water cylinder is filled from an open topped cold water tank in the attic. One of the dangers of using hot water for water changes is contaminants in the attic tank. It is not unknown to find dead mice and birds in there. We had dead wasps in ours after a wasps nest was removed from the attic - twice. There is the possibility that these wasps were covered with the insecticide the man used.
If you are certain your attic tank is nice and clean, use hot water, but I'd rather use cold water with water I've boiled in a kettle to warm it.

 

[daizeUK]

Thanks for all the info.  We have a big tank in the attic that I've been told is full of muck

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Be aware that boiling water does more to water than heat it, it removes the KH. It is one way in an emergency situation to create water that will let one drop the pH and hold it steady when access to ro/di or distilled is not possible. KH is what holds pH steady and/or makes it hard to change.
 
I would not want to drink or bathe in the water dalios described. How can that be considered safe for humans let alone fish?

 

[dalios]

Lots of interesting comments here, still not too sure

my copper tank is not fed from a water tank in the loft as i have found out, it is a tiny little tank up there smallest i have seen before doubt its it would even hold enough water in there to fill my copper tank i live in a bungalow with the top converted into two rooms so the loft is tiny just about get your head in there so the tank up there is really really small, it is meant to be a header tank which feeds the radiators. My copper cylinder is fed from the boiler i believe.
 
So i am hoping that i can just use hot and cold water as many of you do and it be ok for my fish.
 
Also (twotank) my ph is around 8ish so i am guessing that the copper is not an issue for that.
 
Thanks all for the input.