Water Changes

[Notsofab]

OK I have a 59 litre tank. We use a plastic bucket to do our water changes which holds 7.5 litres approximately. So I syphen off 2 buckets ( =15 litres / 25% ) of water using a bit of hose pipe. I have been advised that I should temperature match the new water before adding it into the tank. My tap water is about 60F at the moment, so 15F less than my tank water. I don't have a second heater.

So my question. When filling the bucket of water to add to the tank, can I warm some of it up in the kettle before adding it to the bucket and then adding the dechlorinator to it? I would mix the warmer water with the cold water until I get a temperature of 75F in the bucket. Or will doing this damage the water quality in some way?

If I bought a second heater, how long would it take to warm a 7.5 litre bucket up from 60F to 74F? Time is a precious commodity here as we are currently doing nightly water changes.

 

[@ombomb]

Heating it up in the kettle is fine.

Personally I use water straight from the hot tap as I have a combi boiler, and let the water run for a good 5 miutes.

 

[black angel]

Ive never used water from the hot tap, just boil a kettle and use my finger for temperature matching.

 

[modernhamlet]

Just get the faucet water at around the same temperature as the tank. It doesn't have to be dead on; the back of the hand test works fine. Fill up the bucket, dechlorinate, and you're good to go.

 

[freddyk]

The method MH is describing has worked for me for many years, but I've heard hot water tanks in the UK can often produce fairly polluted water (for fish). In this respect the boiling might be safer.

 

[Bloo]

Heating it up in the kettle is fine.

Personally I use water straight from the hot tap as I have a combi boiler, and let the water run for a good 5 miutes.

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Heating in a kettle is just not an option for me it would take forever - not to mention the lime scale residue in the kettle which can't be good for the fish.

I have a combi boiler too so that's the way I do it

 

[black angel]

They arent too bothered what chemicals go into it as its technically not drinking water, thats the main reason i will never use it.
There are dechlorinators that say will remove metals and such but i still wont risk it from the hot tap.

 

[breezer40]

They arent too bothered what chemicals go into it as its technically not drinking water, thats the main reason i will never use it.
There are dechlorinators that say will remove metals and such but i still wont risk it from the hot tap.

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All water is delivered to each house as cold so it actually is drinking water. It is your boiler that heats the water.

 

[black angel]

Isnt it brought in in seperate pipes though?

 

[breezer40]

Nope its all carried in by one pipe that is then plumbed into two seperate pipes. One pipe is fed to the cold water tap and the other is carried to the boiler or combi boiler and then from there to the tap.

 

[BrookeLea]

I've been doing water changes for 5 years now...and I never temperature match. (Because in the beginning I wasn't aware that it was advised to do so.) When I heard otherwise, I figured that since I never had any adverse affects, I'd just keep on going about the way I'd always done it. I just fill the buckets with tap water, dechlorinate it and dump it in. Still haven't had any problems

My bettas are another story, though. I'm super picky with them. I float them in little baggies with old tank water in the new tank water until I'm SURE that the temps match exactly. They just seem more fragile.

 

[SnowyzMom]

I use the intake to the washing machine downstairs to gain warm water (no obviously not from the washing machine tank where there's detergent residue from the last wash load ), but direct from the intake pipe to it which is blended warm from the cold and hot water pipes. I don't temperature check too closely, just by hand feel.

Our house water comes via one pipe from the town water treatment plant and some is diverted into our water heater, the rest goes straight out our taps, be they in the bathtub, sink or for drinking. I use a dechlorinator in the filled buckets which purportedly takes out chemicals and metals. The fish are fine.

 

[black angel]

Well, you learn something every day i suppose. Thanks for that Breezer, guess i can stop using the kettle now.

 

[@ombomb]

The thing is there are two main types of heating system.

One where water fills a large insulated tank which slowly heats up the water and stores it. This is where the problem occurs, as the water sits, it will pick up metalic elements from the tank.

The other type, that Bloo and I have, rapidly heats up water that comes straight in from the mains and as such doesn't sit in a tank or a pipe in the same way as a conventional boiler and is just like the water from the cold tap... but hot.

 

[black angel]

My boiler is the first one where it keeps the water and heats it up.
Guess i need to go back to the kettle again then *sighs*