OscarBoy Posted December 8, 2007 Report Share Posted December 8, 2007 when i put the hose in and turn the water on my oscars love swimming through it as it comes in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antipodes Posted December 8, 2007 Report Share Posted December 8, 2007 Just remember that if you are using this method and you have a old NON mains water pressure cylinder, it will probably be copper. This will put a small copper level into the water and if you have any fish that won't take it, you may see problems. Of course this will actually help avoid white spot, for those systems that can take a bit of copper. But a copper test of your hot water supply will tell you how much, if any is being leached into the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted December 8, 2007 Report Share Posted December 8, 2007 In the first few weeks of the life of a hot water cylinder or copper pipes an iron/copper amalgum is formed which is resistant to corrosion and protects the copper. Copper only reacts with acid water and that is why Local Authorities keep the water slightly alkali. If the copper is going into solution there would be pin hole corrosion in the pipes or cylinder within a few months and water all over the place. As well as that, copper is very toxic and will cause violent vomiting if drunk in any quantities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antipodes Posted December 9, 2007 Report Share Posted December 9, 2007 You are reasonably right, and the statement copper is toxic and will cause vomiting is correct if drunk in quantities. .1 PPM is still a reading and will not cause ill health, in fact people wear bracelets to ensure that some copper is going to enter the body for health benefits. If you put a piece of copper in to standard tap water, you will see a rise in copper solution in the water over time. My statement still stands, if you want to be assured that the water you are using for any aquarium system is suitable, you test prior to using. If you have copper susceptable fish, then you should be testing for copper. You probably will not get a reading to worry about. However you need to be aware and test prior to usage! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted December 9, 2007 Report Share Posted December 9, 2007 My statement also stands: Only acid water corrodes copper Local Authorities keep the water alkali for that reason Our hot water cylinder has been in use since 1945 and has no holes in it yet. I have seen acid water supplies eat holes in copper pipes in a matter of weeks. There is less iron in the reticulation system now which can be a problem in building the protection up but the water still needs to be acid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquarium Dude Posted December 9, 2007 Report Share Posted December 9, 2007 My tank is closer to the laundry tub than the outside tap, so I just hook a hose to the mixer in the laundry then get the water temperature similar to in the tank, (just by feel) Then fill the tank. Its just as easy to get the temperature right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 You do really have to if you are changing more than about 10-15%, otherwise you risk white spot etc. Bollox. I've done 20-50% water changes straight from the cold tap for over 5 years with groups of clown loaches (can you name a more whitespot-prone fish?) and only once have had a bad case of whitespot, which I think was caused by a stressed uaru. In fact the loaches will often swim on the spot head-on into the current from the hose just for fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vindy500 Posted December 12, 2007 Report Share Posted December 12, 2007 i just use straight cold tap water Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dude Posted December 26, 2007 Report Share Posted December 26, 2007 sorry to bring up an old post but i find this discussion very interesting, i read in books saying to do water changes every 2 weeks to a month, and to make sure that the water going into the tank is the same coming out but while reading here most people just do a vacuum i guess and just fill with water straight from the tap with out adding anything or even adjusting the temp, would this depend on the fish species and how often do you guys do water changes, iv just set up a new tank and will be keeping electric yellows and a few other of a similar species will doing the above have any effect on the well being of the fish or will this be ok to do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted December 26, 2007 Report Share Posted December 26, 2007 For all my fish I change maybe 25% weekly and most of them get cold tap water straight into the tap, the discus get water thats sat in the fishroom for a day or so so thats around 24 still cooler than the water in their tank and the main african tank gets heated water mainly because thats in the kitchen right next to the tap with a mixer on it and it allows me to do bigger water changes on that. You should be fine doing 20% water changes weekly with cold water straight from your tap with your fish. Of course if the council add something random to your water you run the risk but I kept fish for a year or so in Auckland and did water changes straight form the tap and never had a problem.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dude Posted December 26, 2007 Report Share Posted December 26, 2007 so i can just do a vac and replace the water with straight tap water, that would save me a lot of time i gotta carry a bucket to and from the tank to top it up again which is a PITA lol, cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_r Posted December 26, 2007 Report Share Posted December 26, 2007 i do approx 75% water changes in my killie tanks with straight tap water, i just try get it to approx temp and just pour it all in, havnt had a loss. Also never test ph or anything (dont even have any test kits or water ager etc) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted December 30, 2007 Report Share Posted December 30, 2007 My son bought me a new Marina Aqua Vac for Christmas. Was able to buy an adaptor to fit my tap...WOW it was so easy, I love it! Once I figured out how to use it :-? it was amazing how fast it worked. I was like a kid, at Christmas :lol: , after I did the water change I just stood there looking at the tank thinking wow this was so easy :lol: :lol: Now just have to be able to get it to work upstairs, bought new taps so hopefully it will work! Pretty soon it will be good bye to all those water jugs, will just keep 1 for each tank for top ups. Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Smith Posted January 2, 2008 Report Share Posted January 2, 2008 and get we drink this water and give it to young children....... OT(ish): We have a baby and she went to baby swimming classes in an indoor heated chlorinated pool for a while. Some of our friends in Europe were horrified and said that's a big non non. I did some research and it seems that it can be a problem. Apparently the chlorine used to disinfect the water reacts with the biological bits (you really don't want to know) and gets converted to nitrogen trichloride (NCl3), a gas that is slow to disperse. It's this NCl3 that causes the smell of "chlorine" and the irritation of eyes etc that you can get, not the chlorine itself. Well, to cut a long story shorter... this causes significantly increased risk of asthma & bronchial problems in children (plus various measurable effects in adults). Thus, no baby swimming classes in chlorinated pools and we have no non-chlorinated pools (apart from the fish tank and the sea!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaNs Posted January 2, 2008 Report Share Posted January 2, 2008 OT(ish): We have a baby and she went to baby swimming classes in an indoor heated chlorinated pool for a while. Some of our friends in Europe were horrified and said that's a big non non. I did some research and it seems that it can be a problem. Apparently the chlorine used to disinfect the water reacts with the biological bits (you really don't want to know) and gets converted to nitrogen trichloride (NCl3), a gas that is slow to disperse. It's this NCl3 that causes the smell of "chlorine" and the irritation of eyes etc that you can get, not the chlorine itself. Well, to cut a long story shorter... this causes significantly increased risk of asthma & bronchial problems in children (plus various measurable effects in adults). Thus, no baby swimming classes in chlorinated pools and we have no non-chlorinated pools (apart from the fish tank and the sea!) Europe have much higher chlorine contents in their pools AFAIK Off the top of my head i was told 10 parts per million, local pools run about 3-5 parts per million here. I was a lifeguard for almost 2 years at a pool. I know what goes into the pools (fecal and chem wise) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted March 26, 2011 Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 Just diggin up an old thread :roll: I just had my kitchen renovated and the new piping that was installed is now copper, just to be clear, is copper piping going to be ok? Before the water goes into the tank its going through an R/O water filter, will this remove copper from the water if it manages to dissolve in the first few weeks of use? Another question, are brass fittings save to use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hovmoller Posted March 26, 2011 Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 Europe have much higher chlorine contents in their pools AFAIK Amazing how many people down here in NZ thinks that "Europe" is this one place where everything is the same within EUROPE!! Just reading this old thread and didn't see anyone mention the way I do water changes: I have converted an old gravel siphon to a pipe filled with activated carbon (with garden hose connectors etc.) I just hook this on to the garden tap and fill tanks straight from there with no water ager. Theory being that the carbon wil absorb any chlorine in the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice222 Posted March 27, 2011 Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 I try to keep the water a just a degree or 2 colder, I just test the temp with my hands though. I think the fish actually like the colder water during water changes. Pretty sure cold WCs coupled with increased frozen and live food is how I promoted my CPDs to spawn. Even though I hear that nz doesn't use much chlorine in the tap water. I don't want to risk it, especially since my tanks are small prime really doesn't cost much so it's worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trilobite Posted March 27, 2011 Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 i use cold water straight from the tap. but i try to make the fighters temp as close as possible to the original temp because they get 90% water changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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