Andos99
Aquarium Advice FINatic
My tap water comes out 95 degrees at night on cold...... Everytime I do a water change I have to buy 3 bags of ice! Sigh.
TomK2 said:For a tank at 80 degrees, getting a one third water change, putting in 85 degree water would only raise the tank temp 1.7 degrees transiently. Thus, one only needs to get the tap water down to 85 degrees for a 33% water change . Running the 95 degree water through coils that are in 75 degree (room temp) or less water might do the trick for small tanks needing only a 5 gal water change ( 5 gals of 95 degree watergoing through a 5 gal bucket of 75 degree water gets you 85 degrees if heat is conducted well and flow is not too fast and allows equilibaration). Thus, for smaller tanks no ice is even needed.
But Andos says he uses 3 bags of ice, so I bet his tank is not that small. He needs ice if he wants water flow so that it doesn't take all evening to do a water change. Even a little ice would lower the bucket temp signifigantly, enough to get the tap water running through the coils down. A water and ice mix in the bucket really takes a lot of heat to get all the ice melted so that the temp can increase in the bucket(remember the energy is extra for a phase change like solid to liquid, liquid to gas). So, fill a 5 gal bucket partially with water, let cool down overnight. Put in coils, add ice. After a few minutes to allow the room temp water to cool down a bit, start filling tank. Should be very efficient. One could even monitor the temp going into the tank, too hot, slow down flow, too cold, speed up flow.
Andos99 said:My father owns a cabin up in Pinetop so he's always worrying out about this kind of stuff. I have a few friends that work as wildland fire fighters every summer for the money......they can make close to 30K in a few months working 18+ hours a day. That's not for me, but they love it.
Resurgent said:You could just fill up a bucket at night and wait till the next day to use it. If you leave it without a lid it should cool down.