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Hope to get a few opinions regarding using hot tap water mixed with cold for a waterchange. Does a lot of contaminates and metals get into water from pipes and hot water tanks? Dosn't the water conditioner remove this or just the chlorine? Barb

120 GAL. Community Freshwater (2 huge mated angles, 2 German rams, Red tail shark, 2 Pearl Grammies, 3 Bushynose Plecos, Swordtails

110 Gal. (3 Koi Angles, 3 black marble viel tail Angles) 20 Neon tetras, 1 red tail shark, 3 clown loaches, Platys

One of the big and usually the only reason has been over the years was that HW systems had copper holding tanks and as copper is a big NONO for any aquariums this has been the reason.

I have been thinking along the lines of there are many instant heater units available but I think the water passes through copper pipes to be heated as well also making it a NONO.

If you are refering to a water conditioner as a Chlorine remover that is all it does, it is made for that purpose only. There could be other conditioners that remove other chemicals but I do not much about that.

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



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?
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Hi Barb,
I've been doing water changes exactly as you describe
(mixing hot with cold water) for over 40 decades and have
never had a problem traceable to that.

There was/is some concern about accumulated metals in the
tank, including Mg and Cu however that was a problem with
straight cold water pipes as well.
It was thought that water standing in copper pipes
would collect the metal. This led to the normal
routine of turning on the cold water and letting it
run for a bit before taking a glass to drink. That way
you had fresh water, and it was (normally) colder than
the water right out of the faucet.
Indeed, in an old home with antiquated plumbing,
you can notice a difference in taste (metalic taste)
between the "stale" water and the fresh, running water.

Today, I use a Python brand siphon and I mix the hot and
cold water to use on the suction side and then when done
draining, I walk back to the faucet and check the
temperature, and then change the valve to fill.
By that time both the hot and cold water have been running
long enough to siphon off half my tank, and I figure the
incoming water is "fresh" enough for the fish.

With homes using PVC pipe, I doubt that there is any
concern.
Removing Chlorine and Chloramine are really the only
necessary treatments that you should do and you can
simply drain off whatever number of gallons you want
and then, as you add the fresh water, pour in enough
treatment for the gallons being replaced.

Frank


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

My home is 28 years-old and has the old Type 'M' copper plumbing. I was extremely concerned about this leaching into the water so I bought a test kit for copper and some Cuprisorb filter media just in case. I first tested my tank water and it was negative for copper. I then tested the water straight from the tap both hot an cold and it was also negative for copper. After doing some research, I found out that the older the plumbing is, the safer it is to have copper pipes because, by now, there are probably a lot of hard water deposits coating the inside of the pipes and preventing leaching, and beleive me, it takes more than blazing hot water to dissolve the crap that our water leaves behind.

Some dechlorinators claim to neutralize heavy metals as well, take this with a grain of salt.

Just thought I would share.

---

~~Melissa~~
"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."

frank
are you really 400 years old.

Gibson SG you know you want one!!

I also agree that using warm tap water during water changes does no harm. I use a Python, and have never had any problems.

Hi,
Well my nickname in college was, "Moses."

Frank

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

Keithgh, WOW what a feeding schedule you have!! Do you treat human dinner guests to such a varied gourmet meal as well or after preparing your fishies meals do you have time to eat yourself?? Crazyred, where did you get the copper test kit FS ? and what is cuprisorb filter media? Last of all Frank, I mean "MOSES" I must take your word after you just can't beat 40 DECADES of experience!!! Thanks all, Barb

120 GAL. Community Freshwater (2 huge mated angles, 2 German rams, Red tail shark, 2 Pearl Grammies, 3 Bushynose Plecos, Swordtails

110 Gal. (3 Koi Angles, 3 black marble viel tail Angles) 20 Neon tetras, 1 red tail shark, 3 clown loaches, Platys

Brb-B

Yes
My last Christmas BBQ had 17 courses it lasted about 8 hrs
My 60th had 60 different food types.


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

Crazyred, where did you get the copper test kit FS ? and what is cuprisorb filter media?

I got the copper test kit [link] http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/MTCopper.html[/link] and Cuprisorb filter media online. Cuprisorb (made by Seachem)works to filter copper out of the water. It looks like little white pebbles, can be put into a media bag for an HOB or cannister, and it can be recharged. http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/CupriSorb.html

Let's see, where did I buy them??? Ah yes,

http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=24517&category_id=2607&pcid1=1965

http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=19589;category_id=3239;pcid1=3233;pcid2=

---

~~Melissa~~
"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."

Thanks, Crazyred

120 GAL. Community Freshwater (2 huge mated angles, 2 German rams, Red tail shark, 2 Pearl Grammies, 3 Bushynose Plecos, Swordtails

110 Gal. (3 Koi Angles, 3 black marble viel tail Angles) 20 Neon tetras, 1 red tail shark, 3 clown loaches, Platys

I put hot from the tap too. But I haven't been doing it anywhere near as long as Frank has (darn! someone got in to rib him 1st! )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

OK, I'll try to explain why you do and dont use hot water from the tap. You dont use it if , you live in a new house, have had new plumbing or had a new hot water tank put in. Obviously this is because of the copper. Most people who do use it get away with it because within 2 -3 years the interior of copper pipes and water heaters gets covered with carbonised compounds, calcites, old chemical treatment residue,dead bacteria, and other minerals that are not as toxic as copper itself, and provide a barrier coat against the copper being in direct contact with the water in the pipes. This is also incidentally how millions of people avoid getting poisoning from lead pipes.

There is however a big but, and that but is that especially in heaters and occassionally in pipes too, limescale will periodically break away, exposing fresh copper. So while you may have used hot tap water for years, occasionally you might get a sudden unexpected increase . If you choose a good water conditioner that binds copper however,and you add it to the water BEFORE it goes into the tank, you should have few problems. On the whole its better not to take the risk, but most of the time its not a huge problem unless you have new pipes etc.Ive done it before now with no ill effects, but it is a bit of a lottery, and it does depend to some degree on the sensitivity of the species you keep,and the local water chemistry and water piping infrastructure. Some people have endless copper problems, and some have none at all. Keepers of crustaceans and invertebrates have to be especially wary.