# 50 % Water Changes using Hot and Cold Water?



## REDSTEVEO (26 Sep 2014)

Hi All,

Sorry if this has already been answered, I have looked through loads of threads and some are quite old.

Now that I have got my 400 liter tank up and running I have been reviewing threads on water changes, especially 50% water changes. 200 litres of new water is a lot, obviously just using the cold tap this is going to drop the temperature considerably  causing all kinds of stress and hassle for the plants and the fish, and then me if the fish kark it.

Am I right in thinking it is okay if you have got a mixer tap in your kitchen you can adjust the water temperature with a mixture of hot and cold water so as not to cause the temperature in the tank to plummet; and the use of hot water will not harm the plants or fish. I have a combination boiler which heats the water instantly as opposed to being held in an immersion heater storage tank.

Thanks,

Steve


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## kirk (26 Sep 2014)

Hi Steve, plenty do what youve mentioned. Tap water conditioner/ declorinator added  check temp off you go.  I prefer boiling a kettle then adding to a five gallon drum. when I used cold tap water and I was in a hurry. Then I moved to just dropping a heater in the drum and an air pump over night in the winter.( air pump gets rid of chlorine.) now I use ro for our crs and mineralisation is nessasary.   There's some goid threads on using rain water from the garden butt.


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## kirk (26 Sep 2014)

Sorry for invading your thread........This is the lengths I've gone to for water changes  a purpose built trolly.  I just hook the crook on then......... Go off trying to multi task and forget I'm filling the tank.  saves the worn out shoulders and disturbing the substrate tipping drums.


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## ian_m (26 Sep 2014)

This is my water heater/changed.
http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/water-change-heater-project.25877/#post-270484


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## ceg4048 (26 Sep 2014)

REDSTEVEO said:


> Am I right in thinking it is okay if you have got a mixer tap in your kitchen you can adjust the water temperature with a mixture of hot and cold water so as not to cause the temperature in the tank to plummet; and the use of hot water will not harm the plants or fish


Yes. Do this and get on with it mate. Water changes should not have to be rocket science.

Cheers,


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## Tim Harrison (26 Sep 2014)

Exactly, that's what I used to do when I did water changes in my 200l. Just a thought, but can you set the temp on your boiler to that in your fish tank? Being  a combi an' all, it'd make life even easier?


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## allan angus (26 Sep 2014)

Troi said:


> Exactly, that's what I used to do when I did water changes in my 200l. Just a thought, but can you set the temp on your boiler to that in your fish tank? Being  a combi an' all, it'd make life even easier?


or use a themal shower mixer ? on my 300 ltr i do 50 per cent water changes using cold water via a hma filter it drops the temp 2 to 3 degs and my discus / plants seem happy enough i do have 400 watts of heater in the tank that brings the temp up within an hour or so


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## mr. luke (26 Sep 2014)

When i had my 6 footer i used a mixer tap attachment for a hosepipe.
Got the temperature close ish (tested by running into a bucket) and dumped the dechlorinator in then let the hose do the work.


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## sciencefiction (26 Sep 2014)

Yes, its perfectly ok to use the mixer tap. That's what I've been doing for years without problems or consequences.


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## REDSTEVEO (26 Sep 2014)

Brilliant, that's just what I wanted to hear, simple, no fuss, job done relax and watch the bubbles rise...

Thanks for putting my mind at rest.

Steve.


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## Edvet (27 Sep 2014)

Me personally i never care with the temperature drop throught water changes. In nature big temperature swings happen quite often and can be the trigger for spawning. (a few times a year i "rinse: the tank with cold water straight from the tap, meaning i put the garden hose in the filter and let it run for a few hours, my tank is 1500 liter but a few hours of tap water changes app all the water, i get a nice cold fizzy tank and the fish never mind, in fact they seem to, like it)


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## langer! (28 Sep 2014)

One thing I will throw in there, and I don't know if it's the same for every hot water system, but when I've used hot water before the tds is a lot higher out of the hot tap than that of the cold. If your not worried about tds then that's fine, but without knowing what fish etc you have I don't know
If this information will be useful to you 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Crossocheilus (28 Sep 2014)

Edvet said:


> Me personally i never care with the temperature drop throught water changes.



The fish might not mind but apparently shrimp are very temperature sensitive.



langer! said:


> when I've used hot water before the tds is a lot higher out of the hot tap than that of the cold.



That's concerning, I wonder what causes that, anyone got a theory?


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## Edvet (28 Sep 2014)

Crossocheilus said:


> apparently shrimp are very temperature sensitive


 could be, i have no experience with those small shrimp, but the Amano's don't mind it either.


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## Crossocheilus (28 Sep 2014)

Hmmm the plot thickens... lol
Anyway tbh I think personally I will take Ceg's advice and just get on with it, using the mixer tap to achieve approx temperature.


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## sciencefiction (28 Sep 2014)

Crossocheilus said:


> That's concerning, I wonder what causes that, anyone got a theory?


 
TDS meters are normally set to compensate for temperature changes. However, if you've got one of these that is not, then the higher the temperature, the higher the TDS. This is totally normal but it doesn't alter the "real" TDS when both tabs are tested at the same temperature.


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