tank temp - mixing boiled and cold water

[hellohefalump]

there was a reply to a post ages ago about getting the temperature right when doing water changes. The poster used boiling water and cold tap water mixed together. I've searched for the thread but can't find it... can I ask how much tap water to how much boiling water makes 24-25%??

 

[hellohefalump]

ack... I didn't mean % I meant degrees C... sorry!

 

[Whitey]

I know what u mean, but the best way i think to do it is to get a thermometer, i personaly hanvnt got one but i use my common sence and mix it untill my hand feels its about right with my tank water, it works fine for me.

 

[BigC]

When doing a water change, I use a plastic 2 gallon bucket (cheepo from Tescos). I change 4 gallons per week in my community tank which is a metric 70ltr. Whatever your aquarium temperature is then obviously you want to get it near, and a small glass thermometer comes in handy here, just nearly fill your bucket with whatever source water you are using then swirl the water round like a whirlpool then add your boiling water to the bucket until it reaches the correct temp. I always like to add my water a little bit below the aquarium temp.
Do you also test your water at waterchanges?

 

[dwarfgourami]

I use a 10 litre bucket, fill up with c 9 litres of cold and then 1 litre boiling.

 

[Tolak]

I just adjust the temp at the sink with the hot & cold valves, throw the lever to the hose, go into the fishroom & start filling.

Am I missing something here, or are you folks without a water heater?

Tolak

 

[dwarfgourami]

No, but water out of the warm tap is supposed to be less clean (not really recommended for huuan consumption either).

 

[bunjiweb]

You should not boil water or use water out of the hot tap.

Water out of your hot tap will be contaminated with many particles of metals that are picked up from your water tank. These can be very poisoness to fish, usually cutting gills, or if the particles of water are smaller, ruining water quality.

Boiled water will be very similar. By boiling water in a pan you are heating and expanding the pan, which will then release small particles of past cooking or again of metals.
If you boil water in a kettle its usually even worse as your kettle will have copious ammounts of limecale build up alongside the already mentioned mettalic particles.

It is better to let your water stand and slowly heat up to room temperature and then tip it into your tank quite slowly. When I am doing water changes I have a big container which holds about 30 Litres. I fill this up and sit it on top of my Aga (A large Oil burning cooker) for about 20 minutes. The water is quickly heated up to at least room temperature and is ready to put straight into the tank.

Ben

 

[Tolak]

Hot water out of the tap hasn't bothered my fish yet. I use it to cook with, hasn't bothered me either.

I change out 200+ gallons weekly. That's 200 out, 200 in. How many pots, how many stoves, how many many hours?

Tolak

 

[hellohefalump]

I've been using hot out of the tap... it doesn't seem to bother the fish and I've been doing it for a long time...

I change out 200+ gallons weekly. That's 200 out, 200 in. How many pots, how many stoves, how many many hours?

yeah me too... it would just take waaaayyy too long and way too many buckets to let water sit and heat up to room temparature every time I did a water change...

what do we think is worse? using boiled+cold tap water, or using hot/cold tap water?

 

[cla55y19]

i always use hot tap water i never thought it could be bad, but what else can you do unless you wanna leave big buckets of water sitting around your house

 

[Whitey]

Iv been adding hot water for years and its been fine, i always drink a cup of tea from it first just to test it!

 

[dwarfgourami]

Probably not much in it then. Limescale would vary according to region, though I have to admit mine is full of it. I always rinse out the kettle first, and never use the dregs.

edit: this boiling thing is probably a superstition of mine then. It's just that my hot water tap is very unreliable (I have to boil kettles for the washing up half the time) and the water from it tastes quite unpleasant).

 

[Undawada]

I could see the hot tap water being a problem if the water heater was old or malfunctioning. But then, you'd probably notice a problem with it before your water changes.

When I first started the hobby, I was advised several times not to use hot tap water. I never have, so I can't really say for certain if there are problems with it. The reasons I was told not to use it are the metal particles will hurt the fishes gills, and that heating the water softens it (hence the limescale buildup inside water heaters and kettles). This lowers the GH, KH and possibly the PH if you have very hard water.

I've used a large green outdoor garbage bin that holds 40 gallons, every time I do a water change I top it up after. I didn't put a heater in, so the water would be about room temperature (18 or 19 degrees C) Since then I've bought a python, so I don't even warm the water up now. I have yet to see any problems.

 

[@ombomb]

Do you treat the water once it's in the aquarium then?

I have always mixed tap water with boiled water and treated it before adding it to the tank (which is a hugely time consuming prosess), but have a combi boiler now, so I may start using water from the tap instead of boiling it as it doesn't sit in a tank any more.