Winter is Coming...

S

sm_monster

AC Members
May 1, 2012
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Hi everyone.

Im not really a newbie but this will be my first time trying to heat my tank through the coming winter. I live in the Chicago land area so the tap water gets down to 40*s. The only hot water in the house is softened. Any idea on how to do water changes on my 75 gallon? None of my heaters are trust worthy unfortunately and my tank does best with 50% or more changes. The first winter with this tank I was at an apartment without a water softener and the next I was in Australia while my parents took care of it and lost half the fish.

Should I just use the softened water and put crushed coral in the filter? At least then the temp would be consistent. I'm thinking about an in-line heater for the canister since the tank is in the basement which will drop to 65* easy. Are any trust worthy?
 
What are you currently using as a water source?
 
Using just enough of the softened hot water to raise the temperature of the cold tap water to equal your tank's water shouldn't really be an issue.
 
I'm using the tap water before it goes through the softener. I'll have to test the kh and gh of both to see the difference. I'm on Chicago water.

Last year we added pots of boiling water via airline tubing but it created hot and cold spots that really hurt the fish. I'll have to test the water tomorrow and I'll post my results.
 
I think I get what you're saying. If you're trying to heat your "new" water and not the tank you can put your 5 gallon buckets in the bath tub, draw a hot bath and they should be at temp in no time. Assuming that's what you mean - N
 
Nereus7 said:
I think I get what you're saying. If you're trying to heat your "new" water and not the tank you can put your 5 gallon buckets in the bath tub, draw a hot bath and they should be at temp in no time. Assuming that's what you mean - N
Click to expand...
Great idea!!
 
I just did the water test. Basically, the softened water has no gh. 7 degrees of kh are still there though. Normally the gh is 8 degrees.

About the 5 gallon buckets in the bathtub... That's not really doable for me even though it's a good idea. My tank is in the basement. The only tub is on the second floor. There is no source of hard water on the second floor. I'd have to lug 30+ gallons of water up two flights, warm it up, and carry it back down.... Yeah, not gonna happen every week with my work schedule. Good idea though. It would have worked in my school apartment.

Is there a way to add back in the gh? Or maybe I'll just add the hard water super slowly so the tanks heater can work? There would probably still be cold spots... I have the money for the heater (about 50 for the inline one). Has anyone heard of a 6" or less heater? I'm installing a hydroponic garden on top of the tank and it has a well before the return that could fit a small heater to account for the super cold water. Any ideas? 73* is my target temp.
 
sm_monster said:
Last year we added pots of boiling water via airline tubing but it created hot and cold spots that really hurt the fish. I'll have to test the water tomorrow and I'll post my results.
Click to expand...
Add and stir in the boiling water to the bucket of new cold tap water before pouring it in the tank. It shouldn't take much boiling water to raise the temp of the 5g bucket to your desired level.
 
Thing is, I don't use buckets to fill the tank. I use a garden hose. I have a very easily irritated sciatic nerve and lifting the buckets to dump into the tank means 3 Advil and a lot of pain... Sorry :(

I'll start looking for a baby (maybe betta?) heater to supplement the big inline one. Looks like I'm going to have to fill it slowly and let the waterfall mix it. I've been looking into the gh uppers but I don't want my fish to dropsy because the hardness isn't consistent. I'm carving the other tree for the 3d background this morning so I will be running trials with the garden soon.

Thanks for your help!
 
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