Water Change At Correct Temp

[BeerShark]

When you all do water changes, do you use a thermometer to test the temp? or just use your finger for a "close enough" guess. Also is it ok to use water from your hot water tap to add? not sure if there could be issues with old hot water systems being made of copper or something.

 

[stoneagedinosaur]

I tend to use warm water gently heated on the stove. I used to be proper anal and use thermometer, but now I'm kind of used to feeling the right temperature.

I use this method - because I do. It works for me. On the back of most water conditioners it writes that it completely neutralises, which includes copper from water systems. I have done it from the hot water tap, but that often comes out at varying temperatures due to my shoddy boiler. It's only the inconsistant temperatures that stop me from using tap water.

If you are only doing small water changes, you could use cold!

My shrimp ain't dead yet

 

[jacko32]

i use water out of the hot tap and just mix it with the cold you dont need to get the exact temp just reasonably close is fine i often put water in that is around 1c colder and its fine

 

[BeerShark]

thanks guys

 

[meguro]

if u put a teaspoon of cold water in a hot drink, is the drink still hot? most people do 20-35% water change. have a think about that

 

[waterdrop]

Yeah, I think you have to get up in the 25% water change or higher range before you'd really need to add hot and temperature match. I always recommend temperature matching to our beginners because I usually expect them to be performing pretty large water changes in a lot of cirumstances, whether because they're in a fish-in cycle with too many fish (so they often need large changes) or changing all the water they can to change water chemistry for the bacteria in a fishless cycling situation.

In my own case I have a little system that just works for me (in the spirit of what stoneagedinosaur was saying)... I have a large plastic cup that I fill with the tank water that just came from the gravel cleaning and is sitting in the catch-bucket. I set this at the bathroom sink. I then proceed to stick half my hand in it and compare that to the sink tap, where I'm moving the lever to what I know will be a mix of cold and hot that's about right. I turn the flow on pretty hard because I've discovered the temp changes at different forces! So I do it in short blasts while I'm matching the temp. It takes several hand matches until it feels right and I know when I turn it on hard to fill the tank, it will be right. In my own case I never worry about the water out of the hot water heater as its fiberglass lined and the temp is even and there's always lots of it. I know there could be some elevated metal levels in the lines but I've just decided not to worry about it. This paragraph seems long but my process seems easy and second nature to me.

Also, I guess I should say I'm doing it at this sink because after I'm satisfied with the temperature, I hook a Python hose directly to said faucet and the shoots 50 feet down a long hall and into the tank room and fills the tank directly. Once I get beyond 10 gallons or so I wouldn't want to be using a bucket I don't think. Oh, and let me also say that this is just my American suburban situation and I do believe that in big cities or many places in the UK with more historical structures, there may be serious water heater, piping etc. situations where heating some kettle water may be the safer thing... although there's controversey about that too, in that many UK water heater situations may be just as new and non-toxic as the american suburban ones or even better, I don't know.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[JoshuaA]

If we're putting down experiences and techniques we use!

Well I use the thermometer method.

After removing the required amount of water I need and clearing an area in the tank for the water to be placed I go on to do...
1) I take a plastic bag (the ones you get your little fishies in from the shop) fill it up with reasonably close temperature water using the hot and cold tap
2) I place the bag of new water into the tank in the bag and let it "settle" I find tap water I have contains a ferocious cascade of bubbles and I then add the conditioner.
3) I have multiple bags and it maybe only take a few to fill the tank back up to where it was on to put a significant amount of water back in.
4) I place one of my spare glass thermometers into the bags and use the suction cup to stick it against the glass side of the tank.
5) I wait till the temperature of the first bag has come to the right temperature (usually only takes minutes, to speed it up I add some tank water into it as well) Remembering to stir the water up in the bag as well. As obviously warm water rises the water on the bottom will no doubt be colder.
6) I work through the bags emptying the treated and corrected temperature water bags into the tank and filling them up with more fresh water. Once you have 3/4 big bags going you can usually do a 50% water change in this method in about 20 minutes. (For me anyway)

It however means a lot of water gets all over the place.

Edit: As of Waterdrops recommendation I use Prime conditioner, however due to its extreme concentration per bag I would only need to put in like 0.5ml an unmeasurable amount for me. So I usually do around 2x the amount of required conditioner for the tank in the first few bags. So that on the last few bags there will be enough conditioner in the tank water to cover the water released later on.

Oh, and let me also say that this is just my American suburban situation and I do believe that in big cities or many places in the UK with more historical structures, there may be serious water heater, piping etc. situations where heating some kettle water may be the safer thing... although there's controversey about that too, in that many UK water heater situations may be just as new and non-toxic as the american suburban ones or even better, I don't know.

~~waterdrop~~

Personally for anyone in the UK I wouldn't recommend boiling the water in a kettle, especially if you know you have hard water. You'll have to go get some Calgon! Haha. I believe the hot water in most UK boilers will be perfectly safe as it comes off the same inlet pipe as the cold fresh water. However I'm not a plumber! I don't notice any visual difference between hot and cold though once its settled. Nor taste and infact the API test results are the same too.

Beershark, can you also tell me who that dude is in your profile picture? I remember I had a game with him on the Amiga Spectrum. It was a really frustrating game! He had those little timer bombs you placed, Its all flooding back to me!

 

[stoneagedinosaur]

It's not super bomber man is it?