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Tap water

ADA

Member
Joined
27 Apr 2014
Messages
401
Location
Maidstone, Kent
Maybe a stupid question but filling a large tank and water changing on it, I have no stock yet but with it being a large tank is there any harm in refilling straight from the tap and adding prime afterwards? I won't do this once stocked but as its daily right now it's much easier? Was wondering if it will kill any bacteria in my filter?
 
Hi lots on here doing it without any problems at all. If you keep crystal reds bees etc I wouldn't. Just don't put stone cold water in, do you have a combi boiler if so your laughing, theres a hose set up thread on here someone's using in the states I think? some people including myself who have a copper storage tank won't mix hot and cold due to the possibility of copper not being great for inverts. But I'm unsure if copper in this form/ level is realy any danger at all to most shrimp.
 
Awesome, yeah it's a combi boiler, always got the missus on the tap adjusting warmer/colder etc, once the shrimp are in and water changes are down to once a week I will fill with a bucket and mix prime as I go but till then I will keep using the hose on the kitchen mixer tap, cheers :).
 
I do water changes with water from tap, I get it to the right temp with mixer tap then use a hose attached to a filter intake strainer, as I find it distributes the water without disturbing substrate. Before the water runs in I pour the dechlor at the exit pipe so that the tap water coming out mingles with the dechlor. I have done this successfully many times with bamboo filter shrimp. Just make sure the temp is the same.
 
i used to do it this way before i got hma filter its importent to dose the declorinator for the whole tank volume not the volume of the added water
 
I mix my prime with 500ml water and add it to the tank, using enough prime for the whole tank before re filling the tank straight from the tap. I do a 50% every week and never had any problems doing it this way. I also have a combi bolier and get the water to match the tanks temp and let it go. fish always seem happy. temperature stays the same and in the 4 years of doing it this way, I have not lost any fish.
 
This is interesting...I am always really paranoid about accidentally crashing my filter/substrate bacteria with chlorinated water. I always assumed that untreated water would instantly kill the bacteria if it came into contact with it. I am guessing you guys are turning off your filter before adding the untreated water?

I also worry about adding hot water from the tap because of the copper possibility. I usually add boiling water from the kettle to cold water to get the temperature up a bit. Will I be OK just using water straight from the mixer tap (as long as treated with dechlorinator)? Has anyone had problems with inverts this way in the past?
 
This is interesting...I am always really paranoid about accidentally crashing my filter/substrate bacteria with chlorinated water. I always assumed that untreated water would instantly kill the bacteria if it came into contact with it. I am guessing you guys are turning off your filter before adding the untreated water?

I also worry about adding hot water from the tap because of the copper possibility. I usually add boiling water from the kettle to cold water to get the temperature up a bit. Will I be OK just using water straight from the mixer tap (as long as treated with dechlorinator)? Has anyone had problems with inverts this way in the past?

i leave every thing running dose the prime add the water ( via mixer taps ) i do this on my shrimp tank discus tank and my shrimp tank i still do the same with hma just no dechlorinator and no ill effects lol
 
I also worry about adding hot water from the tap because of the copper possibility
Not a problem, copper levels from pipes are not a problem. Think about it, if copper dissolved from the pipes, we would all have flooded home by now as the copper got dissolved away. The copper blue/green stains you see from "old" taps is usually the brass of the cheap taps being dissolved away from the parts in contact with water and air. Most modern taps are resistant.
 
with hma just no dechlorinator
You should be using dechlorininator with HMA as if the water company decide to add chloramine (or your carbon pre-filter get exhausted) it will pass through, if not made worst as the chloramine will be split into chlorine (which might be absorbed) and the quite toxic ammonia which passes through. HMA really only removes heavy metals (not usually an issue in UK) and will remove chlorine (if pre-filter maintained) but not chloramine. There are numerous cases of people using HMA filters loosing all their fish due to emergency chloramine being added to water by the water company after a pipe burst and/or flooding.

Discus users (any Koi carp) users don't usually suffer any issues like this as they only change say 10-20% water max, which soon dilutes the chlorine and ammonia passing through without them noticing any issue.

HMA and unless watched is an issue waiting to happen.....:(
 
Thanks for the advice, this has saved me much future time and effort!

Just in case I have misunderstood, my water change plan from now on will be:

1) Remove required volume of waste water to be changed (and turn filter off to be safe)
2) Put the correct amount of tapsafe directly into the remaining tank water
3) Top up tank with water at the correct temperature direct from the mixer tap
 
Hi Luckyjimm,
Another point that confused me initially is that a lot of members here don't de-chlorinate as they are from countries that don't add chlorine/chloramine to their water supplies.;)
cheers phil
 
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