Water changes...

[stephend]

When you do a weekly water change (say 15-20%), in addition to treating the water to remove chlorine etc., should the water be heated to the same temperature as the tank water before you add it in, or do you just add it nice and slow so as not to shock the fish?

Cheers,

StephenD

 

[BlueIce]

it should be close to the same temp as what is in the tank.

 

[sinistral]

I'd agree with what BlueIce said. I would add that for small water changes (15% or less), I've found that adding water that is cooler than tank water doesn't significantly change the temperature of the tank. I think I read a post a while ago by somebody else attesting to the same thing.

 

[stephend]

Thanks for the quick replies. I plan to have a separate small quarantine tank, so I could use the heater from that to warm it up.

Cheers,

Stephen.

 

[sinistral]

Out of curiosity, what is your concern about using warm tap water? I've heard that in the UK it's not recommended to use warm water because of heavy metals in the pipes (copper maybe?). Or is it difficult to get water that's the right temperature?

 

[stephend]

Do you know, I never really thought about using hot tap water! I suppose I was thinking only drinking water (i.e. mains cold) would be suitable, but all the pipes in my flat are new, so should all be copper.

I might test it and see how it looks. Thanks for the feedback!

Cheers,

Stephen.

 

[Joby]

I used to use hot tap water to get my water changes to the correct temperature but my husband said it wasn't good for us to do that as our hot water tank in the loft is not always fully emptied and the water could be sat in there for weeks

I now have a kettle purely for my fish and boil a litre to add to 9 litres of cold water in a bucket. The reason I had a kettle just for the fish is because we use a water filter with our normal kettle and I didn't want to put more chemicals into the water by the filtering method.

 

[lovebuzz]

I just have a few buckets ready with water just in case of an emergency water change. That way you don't have to worry and the water is around the same temp as that in the tank.

 

[MissClaire]

I add my water directly from the tap to the aquarium (otherwise I would be making many a bucket trip!) but I make the hose come out where the heater is...im not sure this will make much of a difference but I dont know how else to go about it either

 

[Tolak]

I hold a thermometer under the tap as I fill the bucket, keeping it within a couple of degrees of the tank temp. Haven't had a problem yet, other than my one arm is slightly longer than the other from carrying buckets.

Tolak

 

[Angry_Platy]

Get a python lak....or at least use the other arm and balance it out

 

[stephend]

Thanks for all your ideas folks - you are all a great help. I think I'll go with the idea of adding a kettle full of hot water to the buckets - over time, I'll learn just how much to use to get the right temp.

Boiling the water won't deplete the oxygen init to a level that will impact the fish (keeping in mind I'll be adding it to lots more cold water), will it?

Also, how fast acting is the 'de-chlorinating' stuff you add to tap water? Will the warm water be cold by the time it has had it effect?

Cheers,

Stephen.

 

[skimpy]

Hi stephen

It really does not take long to get used to how much boiled water to get the right temp. For me I have a bucket that holds 20 litres which is a 28% change and 1 3/4 kettles gets the temp almost perfect. At first i used to put in the thermometer to check but its so exact for me I can now judge with my arm.

With regard to dechlorinator, it works in seconds, but to be sure I have two buckets. I get bucket #1 ready with tap water, then add my boiling water from kettle then add my dechlorinator and stir. I leave it stand while I then empty out the dirtly water into bucket #2. By the time this is done I feel very confident that the new dechlorinated water is safe to add direct into tank. (I am just being extra careful I have been told that by the time you have stirred the dechlorinator round in the bucket it has done its job).

I have read somewhere that it is not advisable to use the hot tap if you water comes from a tank - and if you go and look in your overflow tank in the loft you will see why. If however you have the type of boiler that heats the mains water direct then hot tap would not be a problem.

 

[stephend]

I dread to think what sludge is in my overflow tank! I'll stick witht he kettle method, me thinks!

Is chlorine the only thing you really need to treat the tap water for during a water change?

Where I am there is no fluoridation, and the water is quite soft.

Cheers,

Stephen.

 

[skimpy]

Is chlorine the only thing you really need to treat the tap water for during a water change?

Some areas have something that is called chlorimine in the tap water, you can check that out with the water board. Most dechlorinators also clear chlorimine, but you do need to check, Tetra Aquasafe does both and so does stress coat. Even if your water does not have chlorimine in it is wise to use a dechlorinator that does both incase they start to put it into your water.

My only other advice is to do a test on your water, some people have found ammonia in their tap water and it is quite common to have nitrAtes in tap water. My tap water does contain NitrAtes of 10 ppm so however good I am at cleaning out my tank I will never get a 0 reading for NitrAtes.

When you start to get into the PH GH & KH of water and what is good for what fish it starts to get complicated but their is a post that wolf did that is very helpful in this area Wolfs post on water.

Thats just about it - nothing to it really is there!!!!!!