Water Changes

[LindseyH]

I'm currently doing a roughly 50% water change in my tank.

The thing I don't understand is why it's ok to add cold water from the tap, particularly at this time of year when it really is quite chilled. It's not as though the water heats up quickly, particularly with the heater switched off during the change.

Presumably the fish would only struggle if it stayed cold for many hours ..?

 

[minnnt]

Water should be temperature matched within a couple of degrees.

'Colder' water changes are sometimes advised to induce spawning behaviour in certain Genus of fish.

 

[LindseyH]

Oh dear. I've just filled it back up with cold water.

So I should have used hot water from the tap, even though it's boiler heated? I thought it might have had chemical qualities that wouldn't have been ideal.

Do you think the cherry barbs will be ok? I don't suppose there's much I can do about it ...

 

[fluttermoth]

Most people warm the new water before they add it to the tank. You can use water from the hot tap, or boiled water from the kettle to bring it up to (roughly) the right temperature.

You can use straight cold water (I do myself, as I have lots of big tanks and use a hose for refilling), but you must trickle the water in very slowly (I might take an hour/hour and a half to refill a 240l after a 50% change) with the heater on.

I'd take a couple of buckets back out and add some slightly warmer water in. There's no problem using water from the hot tap.

 

[Cazgar]

The water should be temperature matched as close as possible.
Either boil a kettle, or use the hot tap, as long as you dechlorinate it should be fine

 

[Sammyb]

No dont use hot water from the tap your right, it can be dirty, if you can fill a big pot and put it on the cooker and wait till it gets to around the same temperature, or if you cant do that leave it sitting out for a few hours and it should get to room temperature

Well i thought it was bad to use hot water from tap, but these guys seem to disagree

 

[LindseyH]

I removed two buckets worth and replaced them with water that was very slightly warmer than the tank should be. The temperature is now, somewhat miraculously, exactly what it should be. Thanks!

Out of interest, how do you get water into your tanks? If you're doing a 50% change, do you always use buckets? I'm wondering about siphoning from the bucket but I have no easy way of getting the bucket high enough (a new bucket that actually fits on our ladder perhaps?).

 

[minnnt]

Search for a the Python on this forum.

I just use buckets/drums.

 

[CezzaXV]

Some people say don't use the hot tap because of a chance there's nasties in the boiler, but myself and many others do it without it causing any problems. Some people say dont use the tap, others say don't use the kettle because of limescale etc, and I know me carrying boiling pans of water up and down the stairs is a recipe for disaster.

 

[Cazgar]

I just use a syphon & buckets to remove water, & bucket & a jug to replace slowly.

 

[LindseyH]

I do like the look of the python (and particularly the DIY alternative). How and when do python users add dechlorinator?

I probably should just get used to the bucket and jug method. I'd like something that my daughter could be more involved with though, and buckets of water aren't light, unless you make a lot of trips to the sink.

 

[minnnt]

I would imagine they add enough dechlorinator for the whole tank before they add water back in.

 

[fluttermoth]

If you use a python/hose to refill, you add enough dechlor for the whole tank before you start refilling (some of the dechlorinator gets bound up by organic compounds in the tank, that's why you dose for the whole tank's volume, and not just the new water).

 

[ShinySideUp]

I have always used water from the hot tap mixed with the cold to get the right temp. I dribble de-chlorinator into the flow.

 

[Cazgar]

My tanks are in my lving room, so a python probably wouldn 't work for me.
I declor each bucket, then trickle in with a jug.
For my main tank, probably takes me half an hour