Adding warm water, help

[Amandap79]

I am still cycling . . Week four with the poor fish. When I have been doing water changes, I have been using tepid water from the tap and I have been told today that this is a big no, no. Could this have not helped the cycling process?

I have been told that to temp match I need to use cold water and boil a kettle to balance it out. Is this the easiest way?

I forgot to mentions it's tropical, 26 degrees

 

[maxwellag]

Yes, adding water that isn't room temperature can be a big problem. It changes the temperature of the while tank, and stresses out the fish. Warm water from water heaters usually has metals and other chemicals in it, which are bad for fish. The easiest way to add water to you tank is the fill a bucket or container, let is sit by the tank for a few hours, then dump it in. But if you can't wait that long then you could use cold water and boil it, but then you have to wait for it to cool down to room temperature. You should also make sure that you water that you put in is safe for fish. If it has chlorine or chloramines, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, you should add a water conditioner (IME Seachem Prime) to neutralize all those chemicals and make it safe for fish.

 

[librarygirl]

It shouldn't have anything to do with hindering cycling. And as far as I know using warmish water from the tap to match the temp from the tank is definitely OK as long as it's treated with dechlorinator. Who told you not to use warm water?

 

[BillD]

I use water straight from the tap, a mixture of cold and hot, just as the majority do. I add a dechlor to the tank while refilling.

 

[Amandap79]

My local fish store, they have also advised not to do so many water changes. After seeing some nitrates, after my two massive water changes on Sunday (to control nitrites) I haven't seen any nitrates. They have recommended doing 20 percent every two days, but surely this is going to harm the fish. Something is stalling as I'm sure after 11 days of nitrites I should be progressing to nitrates. I just can't work out what I'm doing wrong, other than be nice to the fishes

 

[eco23]

Using temperature matched water from your tap is absolutely, positively, 100% fine. There is no need to try and mix different water sources to get it right. Just adjust your faucet so the water coming out is the same temperature in the tank. That's the way probably 99.9% of us do it.

Water changes won't have any negative impact on your cycle as long as you are using a quality water conditioner (preferably Seachem Prime) and matching the water temperature (out of the faucet ). Let your test kit dictate how often and how much water to change. Try to keep your ammonia and nitrIte at or under .25 at all times until the tank is cycled.

NitrAte can take some time to show up after nitrItes appear. The bacteria which converts no2 to no3 doesn't even begin colonizing until the first type of bacteria starts producing the nitrIte...so a lag time is perfectly normal.

Just keep with the water changes as needed, leave the tea kettle out of the equation...and all will be well
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...g-but-I-already-have-fish-What-now/Page2.html

 

[alex07]

I am still cycling . . Week four with the poor fish. When I have been doing water changes, I have been using tepid water from the tap and I have been told today that this is a big no, no. Could this have not helped the cycling process?

I have been told that to temp match I need to use cold water and boil a kettle to balance it out. Is this the easiest way?

I forgot to mentions it's tropical, 26 degrees

Buy a pair of aquarium thermometers, which you can find at walmart for less than $2 each. Put 1 in your tank and use the other 1 to match the temp.