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when i change the water in my tank i always try and match the tanks temperature by adding water i have boiled in the kettle to my tap water and was just wandering what methods other people employed? i have an irrational fear of using the hot tap as i imagine the water sitting in a metal tank becoming full of metal and poisoning my fish! i have no idea if there is any grounds for this or whether its all in my head!

so yeah would love to hear what other people do!

Hi,
Decades ago hot water heaters might well have poisoned
your fish with heavy metals due to their construction.
In those days, we had to run the water for a while to
remove (dilute) heavy metals caused by the use of lead
solder, and copper pipes. By running the water, what
had been trapped in the pipes as standing water (under
pressure) was washed away and new, "fresh" water was
allowed to flow through the pipes washing them out.

Today with the new hot water tank construction one does
not have to run the water for those reasons, in many cases
the reasons no longer exist.

Living where you do with the drought conditions that may
exist there has caused many folks to have lost fish due
to the increased use of chemicals used to combat possible
bacteria and parasites as well as abnormal algae growth
in the reservoirs.
Check with our members who live Down Under
such as Keith, Gone Tropo, Country Fish, and others to see
how they handle their replenishment water.

Frank



-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

I store my water in a 220L food grade drum - bought 2nd hand on ebay - similar to this http://cgi.ebay.com.au/220-Litre-DRUM-TANK-WATER-RAIN-GREY-RECYCLING-AQUARIUM_W0QQitemZ300226209409QQihZ020QQcategoryZ149207QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem I have an air stone in the water drum and I use an aquarium heater to bring it up to temperature. The water is pre-treated with prime. Not sure if there will be any come available close to you - but worth looking out for.

Bunnings now have food grade water tanks around the same size - so that's anothre option. Just make sure they are food grade & haven't previously contained chemicals or anything toxic. I wouldn't use them if they had. I then have a pump & food grade hose that takes water straight to the tank - no more lugging buckets. It works really well. I find it much easier than attaching a hose to the kitchen sink & trying to match temperatures.


Now I have the 7ft, the 4ft & 3ft I've upgraded to a 2nd hand 1000L food grade tank - looks like this


Hope this gives you some ideas to think on

Cheers
TW

hmmm, so probably i can try using the hot tap, which would save a lot of time when refilling the tank. cheers Frank! as for deaths due to over chemical use by the council- i have heard of ammonia being introduced into tanks via water changes here in albury/wodonga although havnet experienced it myself. re filling is going to be so much easier from now on!

and wow TW- food grade containers and all? thats hardcore fish lovin! i love it! keeping pre warmed vats of pre conditioned water is the ultimate in planning. i think the main factor in fish keeping is understanding the basic continuance involved and trying to perfect the chemistry and human involvement to match the fish needs. i believe you do a great job.

Frank, I'm not sure if you saw the report on the new a few weeks back about all the lead that is in potable water.... I also read it in a parenting mag... that our home waters are still containing lead, and that we should run the water for a min to flush out the pipes, especailly the hot water...... Funnny how the more thing change, the more they stay the same

Djrichie
"So Long, and Thanks For All The Fish" Douglas Adams

food grade containers and all? thats hardcore fish lovin! i love it! keeping pre warmed vats of pre conditioned water is the ultimate in planning. i think the main factor in fish keeping is understanding the basic continuance involved and trying to perfect the chemistry and human involvement to match the fish needs

Yes, it is about all you say.

But one of the main reasons for me to do this is sheer convenience to a lazy bod like me. Previously, I connected a food grade hose straight to the kitchen tap. I could never get the temperature just right coming out of the tap & wasted a lot of water getting the mix just right. This way, the water is there, waiting for me, right temperature, pre-treated & the pump puts it the tank with no heavy lifting involved.

I was looking for an easier way - but in the journey to find a solution that worked for me, I think my solution worked out better for my fish too. I keep discus now, so the aging & correct temperature has become more important.

But, I have to admit laziness was my motivation for finding my solution

Cheers
TW

I went to Lowe's and bought a 96 quart (24 gallon) storage bin for under $10. It fits in my tank stand and holds all of my WC equipment. I have hardwood floors so I can easy roll it between my kitchen sink and my 75 with a dolly. My sink is in an island and the faucet swivels 360 deg so I don't need hoses to fill the container. I just add conditioner and drop in a floating thermometer to get the temp close. I use a small pond pump to transfer the water up into the tank.

To be honest I have never tried to get the temperature the same in 35+ years.

What I do now is store all my water in 4 15lt water containers. I put them into the bath add hot water and when I have finished taking out the tank water it is ready to add to the tank. When it cools down the bath water goes onto the garden.
If it was small tank then I would possibly test to keep it a more even temp.
Because of another problem I have to take all my water directly from my HW system it is not a storage HW service.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info
Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

OK, my method of getting the new water temperature during a water change very similar to the temp of the "old water" is:

First, I bought a kitchen sink faucet adapter that fits a garden hose that I use for syphoning off(into my garden)the old water and also refilling (with clear plastic "defuser" 4 times the diameter of the hose to not suck up fish, or blast them with water pressure on refill). I also have a digital thermometer that very quickly tells me the temp as I fill the tank.

I dip my hand into the 1/4 (to 1/3) empty tank after syphoning out old water and "feel" the temperature. Then I run a mix of cold and hot water at my sink until it "feels" about the same. I then put my hand again in the tank and "fine tune" the sink faucet mixture to about the same with the cold water going full flow, and the hot going "just enough" to get the right temp. mix....then turn off both handles, Noting how many portions of a turn that the Hot Water turns until it's off.

Then my girlfriend inserts the hose with defuser into the tank directly at the digital thermometer. I turn the cold water on full blast and add the prenoted amount of turn on the hot water knob. She give me constant "readings" on the thermomoeter display...and I "slightly" adjust the hot water knob until the right temp stays within a degree(or so)of the temp I want....until the tank is full. And I turn off both handles....Done!

Is that sink faucet/hose method something that would be possible for you guys "across the pond"?

It really is easy.
And about as quick and "painless" as I can think of doing it.

dS

Is that sink faucet/hose method something that would be possible for you guys "across the pond"?

Yes it is. In fact, I use to do it that way, before I got my water storage barrel. We all come up with a method we find easier ourselves, I guess. I found matching of water temp by mixing the taps a pain. Hubby would not always be around or might be doing something else, so there's no-one to "insert the hose with defuser into the tank directly at the digital thermometer...giving constant "readings" on the thermomoeter display". So I used to try to get the mix right by feel at the tank (like you), shut off the water using the hose "water stop" thingy on the hose & walk over to the tank with the hose. I always found the hose dripped just a little under this sort of pressure, as I walked through the house to from the kitchen to the tanks. I was never happy about that either. So, for me there's nothing easier than having the water in a storage barrel. Lots of benefits. The water is aged, no mixing of taps to get water to equal temp (aquarium heater does this for me). The heater doesn't stay need to stay on all the time - you can turn it on with sufficient time to heat the water only. Currently, I do have it on 24/7 - because I'm doing 10% daily water changes on my young wild discus tank, so it's just convenient. I use less chemicals this way too. With Prime, if you add water straight to the tank, you must use Prime in the amount necessary to treat whole tank volume. But if you can add Pime to only the "new" water - you use the amount of Prime sufficient for the new water volume only. The pump I have is just the right pressure to pour the water in gently - which was another issue I had with doing it with a hose from the tap. Often, by the time I got the temp mix right, the pressure was too strong. I know a lot of people do it your way daddySEAL and for you & them - nothing is easier. For me, nothing is easier than a barrel of water, heated, treated, aged, hose & pump preconnected. Only thing to do is take out the other water, feed the hose into the tank & turn the pump on. Once every week or two, I top up my water storage container.

Different solutions for different people. That's what great about forums like this, as we share these ideas with each other. With the mix of different people's solutions, you're bound to find one that suit's your puprose.



Cheers
TW