Dealing with hot tap water in the summer

[wishbone]

Here in the desert my tap water can get as hot as 86F+ right out of the tap! Currently my tank is right next to a sink and I'd rather not make buckets of water just so I can try and cool them down to room temperature, although I will do that if no other choice is available.

Anyone ever used ice while doing a water change in order to help keep the temperature down in the tank? The tank is a 110g so a 25% or so change isn't small. I'm not talking about dumping loads of ice in the tank, but a few cubes every couple of minutes near the incoming water to cool it.

The tank can climb to 84F almost immediately (from 79-80 where I keep it) when I do a water change and currently my thought is that this is a bad thing. If this is an incorrect assumption let me know.

TIA

 

[id10t]

Does your tap water temp go down after the water has been running for a while? In other words, after you've gone thru the water in your house pipes and what is close to the surface, is the incoming water any cooler?

If not, what about freezing water in a small bottle (like a 20 oz plastic soda bottle) and putting your water in a bucket, cooling slightly with the ice bottle, then add to teh tank?

 

[lyquidphyre]

When my tank randomly over heats I throw in a whole tray of ice cubes. I would imagine if you put water in buckets and some ice cubes and let it cool that way before putting it in the tank you'd be okay

but id10t already mentioned what i was thinking about the water getting cooler

 

[tetrin]

a big tank might be a blessing to you! you could do smaller 10% pwcs twice a week and see how that affects the temperature. you are right in assuming that these water changes are bad for the fish.
also, since you have clown loaches, it'll not be a bad idea to keep the tank temperature to even 81C. coupled with the 10-11g pwc, you just might avoid a big temperature change.

 

[dnaelting]

What about filling the sink with ice-water and running a copper coil from the faucet in the ice-water and hooking your python to that. The ice water in the sink should be able to cool the water running through the coil. Or use a bucket with the set-up.

Got this idea from my brother-in-law. Its how they cool beer when making home brew. It is very effective.

 

[greenmaji]

I personally would use holding containers.. that way you could use declorinator on just the water you use instead of the entire tank<<<point of contention. and you could let it cool by sitting in the ACed room.. I know this it what your trying to avoid but with a pump it wouldnt be that tough you could plumb it to the tank and just have to power up the pump(s) in the holding drums/cans..

 

[GIMojo]

wow, 86F, i was worried when mine got to 84F. fish can stand a little heat. especially my mollies. hardy lil fellas.

 

[mr86mister]

i like the idea of putting the water in a bucket, putting some ice in it and letting them melt, adding the dechlorinator then putting the water in your tank...while your waitin for the ice to melt you can look at your fish!!

 

[wishbone]

the ice in sink around the coil that goes to the tank is an interesting idea. Other than that, I guess I'll just have to precondition the water. Thanks for all the replies! I really appreciate it.

 

[wishbone]

a big tank might be a blessing to you! you could do smaller 10% pwcs twice a week and see how that affects the temperature. you are right in assuming that these water changes are bad for the fish.
also, since you have clown loaches, it'll not be a bad idea to keep the tank temperature to even 81C. coupled with the 10-11g pwc, you just might avoid a big temperature change.

I'm assuming you mean 81F? =) Right now I keep my tank at 80.8F, so it's not that far off. The poor little loaches get ich so easily that I really try to avoid the temperature swings as much as I can!

I might try the smaller water change thing more often, at least in the summer. I could handle that.

As for letting the faucet run a long time, it really doesn't matter. It stays that warm indefinitely as far as I can tell. In the summers here I don't evne have to use the hot water heater. Gotta love 120F Phoenix desert summers!

 

[Guest]

The poor little loaches get ich so easily that I really try to avoid the temperature swings as much as I can!

You can't just magically get ich, it has to be introduced to the tank, and once it is you would know it because your fish would have ich. It can't live in the tank without a host for very long.

 

[wishbone]

I understand it is a parasite and it cannot live without a host, but I sware I'll go weeks without ANY ich on my fish (and I'm pretty good about inspecting them closely). Then all of a sudden I'll see it on the loaches, but just the loaches. In fact they are the only ones who have ever gotten it (visibly anyway). Can ich attach to live plants? I've never seen that, but I don't know any other way to explain it.

 

[tetrin]

ich is present in almost any tank. it shows up on stressed fish. its like some of the bacteria we carry in our intestines.
and clown loach are notoriously susceptible to ich. don't worry wishbone. let them loaches get a little bigger, and you won't have any problems at all.

 

[krazymom]

I thought it was a protozoan parasite and once you kill it all it is gone till you reintroduce it again?

 

[greenmaji]

It is a parasite and once its killed it doesnt come back.. The problem here is that it goes through a 2 week life cycle an its only visible when it has infected the fish.. Your tank.. wishbone... is infected with ich.. The hosts just happen to be your loaches.. I would heat treat the tank for ich.. Ich is better explained in the site article.. link below..
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=32
Good luck

 

[FawnN]

Actually, from my understanding of ich is, it's a parasite that lays dormant and are found on all fish.

It isn't until the fish are stressed, which is usually caused by poor water quality, being picked on all the time, drastic water temp changes, etc.. do they surface.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[greenmaji]

FawnN.. Have you read the Ich article recently?

 

[FawnN]

Yes, I have, but if you really read the article, all it says is the stages, prevention and treatment. I also have done other research regarding this ICH. Because if you really think about it, where do they come from?

If your tank has been healthy for over a year (very established), nothing new has been introduced and you mistakenly do a water change with drastic water temp change or during the winter time your heater dies on you, and suddenly ich occurs, where would the ich come from?

 

[greenmaji]

If your tank has been healthy for over a year (very established), nothing new has been introduced and you mistakenly do a water change with drastic water temp change or during the winter time your heater dies on you, and suddenly ich occurs, where would the ich come from?

I have never gotten ich this way.. My assumption is that the tank always had ich ie.. it was never heat treated to kill ich.. and the aquarium was kept healthy enough to keep the fish from showing any signs of the parasite..

 

[FawnN]

My assumption is that the tank always had ich ie..

That's not possible, because the parasite needs to find a host within 48 hours to survive.

That's why I said they lay dormant on all fish until the opportunity arrises for them to surface.

Honestly, there is no documentation anywhere that states exactly where they come from or how they got their to begin with. It's like asking, did the chicken or egg come first?