How do you heat tap water for water changes?

[Russ]

What do people on this forum do to heat water for water changes?

I've been using tap water for water changes and adjust hot/cold at the tap to get the desired temperature. I want to get away from using using water that's gone through my house water heater. Is there a solution other than warming water in a garbage can with an aquarium heater, which I don't really have room for.

Thanks,

Russ

 

[DaBub]

Stove?

i have heated water for blending on the stove.

i really do not have much space and 4 tanks, a girls gotta have priorities ya know.

(make sure you use a nonreactive pot)

a big potted plant told me a formula for how much water at what temperature to blend to get the desired temperature--but now i kinda know and i don't remember the formula-- maybe that gal google does.

 

[admin_old]

I want to get away from using using water that's gone through my house water heater.

Hi Russ ...

There are all kinds of nasty "technical" reasons why generically speaking we might not "want" to use water that has run through a water heater ...

Here's my take on it ...

If you are not worried about breeding more sensitive fish ... don't worry about it, use your water heater ...
If you are using the Estimative Index approach where you are naturally doing a lot of water changes ... don't worry about it, use your water heater ...

Then as long as you are getting the results you want ... you probably won't have a problem ...

I've used hot water directly from the tap for decades ... my default "water change" configuration is plumbed right into the same water supply line as my washing machine ... you will find that a lot of people do it essentially the same way ...

If we go back 30 years ago ... I would fill large plastic tubs with water and let it "sit out overnight" ... today I can only imagine all of the "bad" things that leached into my water from the plasticizers in use back then ... but back then we did it to try to get rid of the cholrine in the water ...

"Technically" speaking ... any concerns you have about your water heater are absolutely "technically" correct ... legitimate concerns ... all I can suggest is to do your own "give it a try test" and see whether it actually matters or makes a difference ...

You might find it does ... you might not ...

You might find that certain egg laying fish just won't breed ... you might not ...

You might find that certain plants just will not perform well ... you might not ...

Personally? I have bigger problems with "hard" water than I do from "hot water heater" water ...

Use your own judgment ... and you will be fine ...

Greg

 

[shoggoth43]

There was a thread a while back about hot water heater water. The drawback that they had was that the water put in the tank seemed to have a low O2 count causing issues in a heavily stocked tank. I notice a large amount of gas mist in the tank when I do a large water change with heated water. It's something to consider but unless you are breeding I don't think I'd worry much about heated water. You could run some metals tests on cold tap and hot tap water and see if there's anything leaching out of the tank too.

-
S

 

[jonny_ftm]

Sometimes, heated water runs through a domestic water softner. It will cause severe issues with plants and fish (sodium). If you don't run through a water softner, then, except chlorine issues (you have to use water conditioners), I see no problem

 

[Russ]

Sorry for my absence on this. I got sucked into work and couldn't get back until now.

I've used water from my water heater in aquariums for over 40 years and I don't think it has caused any major problems. However, there are some soft water plant species I've never been able to grow all that well that I'd like to try now. I borrowed a TDS meter and measured the output of the hot vs cold lines in my house and there is a difference, depending upon the time of day, whether people have taken a shower recently or done hot load of clothes in the washer, etc. I think I'd get a significant lowering of GH if I could use water from the cold line only, but I can't really find a good solution to heat it to 78ºF without using buckets, holding tanks, etc.

It looks like reducing the GH with some device might be the only viable answer. I'm not sure I want to go to the trouble or can afford the time/expense.

Thanks for all the posts, I really do appreciate it.

-Russ

 

[Biollante]

Hi Russ,

How much water are we talking?

Biollante

 

[Russ]

75 gallon AGA.

 

[shoggoth43]

superstore maybe or similar idea?

Something like a superstore tank? Or a heat exchanger? Run the tubing in several coils through some hot water to bring it up to temp. Not sure how practical that really is unless you can use solar but a small DIY attempt might get you some results. In my case I don't pay for the hot water directly so it's "free". Either way it sounds like you need something like 40 gallons and depending on how you do that it's going to be tough to find a way to heat that practically. I've got a weird space under my kitchen counter where it looks as though they were going to put a stove but didn't bother so I've got a 4 sq. foot space that I could put a holding tank in, that would at least get it up to room temp but then I'd still have to find a way to heat that. Maybe you've got a similar overlooked location that could at least get you from cold to room temp?

-
S

 

[DaBub]

75 Gallons

Hi Russ,

How much water are we talking?

Biollante

Yo ya big green, incongruously cute creature, Russ says 75 gallons...

 

[Gbark]

I personally use a spare aquarium heater I know you said you want to steer clear from this, but lets be honest, if you are using RO water you need to make this first, Lets say you have a 100gpd system, that's still at least 24hrs to make, so you can heat at the same time

If you don't use RO. And are using Tap water, then you need to remove the chlorine, this also is going to take at least 24hr, with air bubbling through, and maybe some chlorine removal chemical

In my opinion using hot water from a hot water tank is bad You wouldn't drink it.