Do you preheat your water?

[Katz]

Hello again.

I searched the forum and couldn't find an answer to this one. Should I be heating the water I use before I do my water changes? So far, I prepare the water the night before (dechloinator only) and let it sit. That way it's room temp (about 71?) when I add it to the tank the next day. Is that too much stress for the fish, or am I just being overly protective?

This is a 10gal tank, I change 2gal every Saturday.

Thanks!

[OrionGirl]

You'd probably know if it was too big a shock for the fish.

There really isn't one answer for this. With some fish, any sudden temp change can cause problems, while for others, it's what induces spawning. Small water changes where the difference isn't significant likely won't cause a problem--while I'm not the best at figuring this out, it seems to me that changing 2 gallons with slightly cooler water would only result in a small dip--maybe 2-3 degrees. Few fish will suffer from this--it's the equivalent of a rain shower.

Larger changes, or larger differences in temp can result in a serious drop in the temp, though, and should be avoided with most fish. I was comfortable doing a 20% water change on my 40 with water that was more then 10 degrees cooler, until I added SA puffers. I know they can be finicky, and so I now do 2 10% water changes, or bring the new water up to about 74F. With my other FW tanks, it's not a big concern.

[Katz]

Thanks OrionGirl.

My husband is starting to think I'm taking this fish thing too seriously, but I do love them and want them to be happy. I've been making sure he knows that a 20gal would make a great birthday present next month, so the fish can have more room and I can make the individual schools a little larger (five each instead of three each).

Thanks again!

[OrionGirl]

Glad to help.

Let him know that until you're taking down major furniture, you're not even at the 'obsessed' level.

When weekend plans frequently entail driving 90 miles round trip just to see what new stock came in, you're on the way.

When you're planning your next house around providing enough space for indoor ponds, you're getting close.


:D Guess I'm lucky that my significant other is in this as deeply as me.

[critrcrazy]

at the comment about moving furniture. :D I set up a 29g a little over a month ago. Made many mistakes, but thanks to everyone here and in the newbie forum, all my fishies are still alive and kicking and my tank has finally cycled.
Anyway, hubby now wants me to set up the 55g that is sitting upstairs gathering dust (sister left it when she moved). LOL...he says we can move the loveseat out of the living room and set the 55g there!!

[Katz]

Sounds like a plan. An entertaining fish tank is maybe better than TV...

[125gJoe]

Katz, you can get a digital thermometer for less than $10....
It's real nice, fast and easy to check the differing temps of the water. Try to keep the water close to the same temps...they don't have to be exact, just close so you don't shock the fish.

It takes just a few seconds to get a reading..

A good hardware store or a WalMart will have it. Do you have WalMarts up there?

[ACAquaman]

In the past I've let my chlorine treated water set out over night and it appeared get colder, so I add just the right amount of warm water to get the tempeture close to the tank temp. I'll let it either set out over night or just a few hours. Never had a problem using a luke warm treated tap water.

[TKOS]

I get mine straight out of the tap and add the dechlorinator. I just stick my finger in the running water until it feels close to the tank temp. I have pretty hardy fish (white clouds, betta, cories and platies). So far no problems; the fish don't even seem to notice.