Cold water vs Warmed water, when doing water changes?

[Kookie]

Do you use cold water or warmed water to refill your tank when doing water changes?

When using cold into a tropical tank, do the fish get stressed?

Does the water have to be warmed to tank temp first?

Your thoughts and experiences appreciated.

[suphew]

I do if doing very large water changes but otherwise no. cant get my head around the maths at the moment but if your doing a 10% water change and the temp is say 25% different isn't that only a 4% change in temp, plus thats not taking into account the gravel glass etc in the tank that is also holding heat and offsetting the change. Dont forget that in the wild it rains and there are cold days so the temp is changing all the time, alot of fish will spawn when the temp suddenly drop a degree or two.

[Wok]

I've been using cold water for the past couple of years and that is with a25 -30% water changes.

Fish don't seem to mind... infact they actually come and swim in the cold water as I pour it in.

[jude]

I use cold, straight from the outside tap. But last night I did a big water change and it was very very cold so I added some jugs of hot water as well

Cheers

Jude

[Luke*]

Personally I warm the water. Cold water can stress the fish and make them more susceptible to disease. I have found the only time I get white spot breakouts is when I use cold water. If you do small changes though they should handle it. But remember going into winter the tap water temperature plumments therefore having a bigger impact than it would in summer.

[Caryl]

My Africans play in the stream when I haul the garden hose through the window and do a 50% water change using a trigger gun on the end of the hose. It is like a whirlpool in there and the fish play in the current. The change in temp doesn't bother them at all.

[Kookie]

Thanks for the replies all.

Did a water change, using only cold water.

Changed about 80L this time, from 400 odd Litres.

All fish seem fine, and swam through the water as I poured it in.

In fact they really loved the cold water.

Have been watching them, and so far no signs of stress.

[evil_elmo]

straight from the garden hose for my tanks too

everyone in my tanks got use to it, so it doesnt bother them

[Caper]

Hmmm...I did try adding some warm water when doing my weekly changes (25%). But, when I was going through all the trouble with my sick fishies, I wondered if that was not helping the situation, because they weren't used to that. Usually, I put my water in the containers at least the day before and then just add.

Then, when I found out about the copper pipes...OH NO So, I went back to doing what I had been doing all along. Water in containers at the very least, the day before change. (oh, by the way, I emailed the company about the copper and if their product made using the water safe, they said yes).

When I added the water, that had been sitting since the evening before, the temp in my tank went down 2 degrees. But, now I have also increased the temp in my tank, about 26C now.

[sharn]

i mix warm and cold water to make the desired temp on all my tanks. when your doing 50% water changes daily on a tank thats kept at 30C adding cold water isnt really appropriate IMO. if your doing small ones it may be ok, but for me its not much effort to warm my water up

[PETEYPLECO]

I agree with luke, if you add just cold water you can have problems with bringing on desease due to stress - whitespot also in my case.

Aparently the human skin can detect a half a degree difference in temperature - so I try to refill my tank with water of near enough equal temp when doing say 20 to 30 % water changes.

I think it would be like a cold bucket of water thrown on you while you were in a nice warm shower !

[whetu]

I use warm water. I'm not very scientific about it but I just make it warmer than the tap water and guess when it's about the right temp.

The vulnerability between different fish varies - some species (and some individuals) are more tolerant to temperature variation than others. I have clown loaches and I never, ever want to see them with white spot ever again!

[parrotfish]

i always bring the tap water to near the tank temprature. add tap water conditioner fill tank with a watering can with a rose on it. The fish think it is raining and come out to play.

[jamestothemax]

I'm all for the hose in the tank as well. I'm sure some stress is placed on the fish from it but in all honesty i think they are glad just to have a nice water change.

I go by the theory that it rains in the wild and there are cold moments, so a few in the tank won't harm them.

also most people very rarely keep an exact biotope tank and this means a lot of fish in tanks will naturally live in completely different water temp and conditions, some of the species in your tank may also be in more seasonal areas and others in places where water conditions are constant all year round, yet very few people replicate these differing conditions unless trying to breed or they are very fanatical.

It could also depend on what type of fish you have. some more delicate ones may not like the cold stuff where as bigger hardier stuff won't mind it.

[sharn]

thats a good point about the temp drops in the wild, apparently when it rains in the amazon the temp can drop 5C or so in a couple of minutes!!!

[Cath]

I find a cooler water change though not cold is loved by the fish - especially the cats who get very playful about it all.

[ludakris]

when you say straight from the hose do you still use water ager

[Caryl]

You only need water ager if your water supply is chlorinated. Ours isn't.

[jamestothemax]

i should really use it but frequently don't.

I do use it on my planted tanks yet my larger cichlids dont seem to mind either way

[caserole]

I only use cold water from the tap.

never worry about temp or conditioner.

but then again I only do a 5 to 10% change per day.

My prob is I don't chill the tanks enough, when ever I do the cory's splater eggs all over the place.

[pixiejanet]

I stand two buckets overnight under the tank table so it is room temperature when i change the water, that way the shock is less for the happy inmates I always use a de-chlorinater.