Water change trama

[windchill]

Killed my first fish yesterday during the water change. Temp shock I think. The water had been sitting more than a day so I know it was warmed to room temps* (which were apparently not warm enough). The bala sharks were the ones who reacted the most and it was one of these that died. The pleco didnt seem bothered. The Barbs recovered fast. The beta didnt seem affected at all other than the normal color change. So this brings me more questions as the air temps here begin to fall. * I have never had the fish react to water changes before.

First question. Will there be any long term/side effects on the other fish who reacted to, but didnt die from this and if so, what should I do? My two wood shrimp are doing poorly today but havent died yet, and the person at the lfs thinks they may not make it. The tank temp is up at 78 now.

Second question. I have two 7 gallon water jugs and I have a stash of kitty litter buckets which are square and open top, that possibly could be used for storing water (guessing 4 gallon in size). Will the kitty litter jugs work (in case I need extra water)? Are there any types of plastics I need to stay away from?

Third question. I plan on warming the water in these jugs and will use a tank heater but the spout on the water jugs is round and to one side. Will there be potential of burning a hole in the jugs? Any suggestions on how to hang the heater? How long will it take to heat a jug from approx 68 f to tank temps? I plan on waiting overnight to put the heater in so the tap water is warmed to room temp first.

Fourth question. Getting the water from the bigger jugs isnt going to be as easy as pouring them from the one gallons I have now. Any suggestions? I was thinking of buying a smaller HOB and using that to transfer waters after adapting the intake.

[Dabaers]

Have you thought about doing smaller water changes more often?
I had a similiar problem. And it was just too much trouble to "heat" water, but the temperature difference was much less drastic with half the amount, twice a week instead of a huge amt once a week. It's a little more work but when it's colder that's what I have to do.

Kath

[harif87]

How about getting hot water from the tap?

[mousey]

I use 1 gallon juice jugs. I stand them out overnight so they are room temperature, then I get a heat proof glass measuring cup, fill it full of the conditioned water and nuke it for about 2 -3 minutes. I know that 2 minutes is ok for this weather and in the winter when my kitchen is only 60 degrees, it needs 3 minutes. I then pour it back into the gallon jar, give it a good shake, test it with my finger and generally can add it to the tank.
If you want to check the temp in the bottle get your tank thermometer and hold it into the bottle to check the temp. you can always nuke the water a bit longer if you have to. Upstairs, where I have 5 more tanks, i have a cheap plastic kettle and I heat up some of the conditioned water and add it back into the bottle.Shake to mix the temps. This way has to be watched as the kettle heats up very quickly and the water can get too hot.
Some people say that there are too many heavy metals in the water to use warm out of the tap. You can call your water works to find out what amount of metals are in your water.

[mr.dark-saint]

My first question. The water you set out was it treated for chlorine? Or have heavy metals like copper (with your shrimp acting funny)? If there was chlorine the gills would be effected (ie burned) and yes it'll be a long term or short term death (you'll know with in a week).

I've kept top off water in 5 gallon water jugs in the house. However 5 gallons in to a 125 gallon tank and 20 gallon sump (at room temp) will barely nudge the digital thermometer. But 5 gallons in to a 20 gallons that's kind a big change. I'd pass on the kitty litter jugs (one jug should be plenty).

Warm Tap water dechlored should be good enough. A shot of NovAqua in the jug and then water. Carry it over and dump. Or if the weight is much use the hose portion of the python (and make sure the tank is lower than the jug) and then syphon it in. Or clean out the residue out of the kittie litter jug and use them (two'll get you what 4 gallons or less?). If it housed the clumping kind you'll have to scrub it out. If Scented you'll have to bleach it out (a glug of bleach then fill with water and set it aside) when you no longer smell the scent of the litter (after the jug dries since it's kind a hard to smell things when it's wet) hose it out. Then use them as you see fit.

[girth vader]

Originally Posted by harif87

How about getting hot water from the tap?

lol, but it eventually goto room temp in less time that the chlorine has evaporated, which is why I presume that he is doing this in the first place.

[windchill]

Originally Posted by Dabaers

Have you thought about doing smaller water changes more often?
I had a similiar problem. And it was just too much trouble to "heat" water, but the temperature difference was much less drastic with half the amount, twice a week instead of a huge amt once a week. It's a little more work but when it's colder that's what I have to do.

Kath

Right now I am dealing with an overstocked 10 gallon so frequent water changes are needed with gravel vac. Its not my tank but I did put the wood shrimp in there. I am working on a 55 gallon but building the stand was delayed because of an event in the family which took me away for a good part of a month.

I am hoping that once the 55 is up and running this will be a non-issue. But this is a good suggestion even for the 55 this winter. Thanks.

[windchill]

Originally Posted by harif87

How about getting hot water from the tap?

There are a few reasons I havent tried something along this line.

I have a 20 year old water heater, really hard (like over 500ppm) water and many feet of copper pipes between the intake to the hot water heater and the sink. I worry that if there is leaching of copper into my water this will be the source point.

But I did pick up a copper test yesterday and maybe... maybe I could run the hot thru the tap water filter for a few of the gallons. You have to run the tap filter really slow for it to work right (about 1 gallon every 10 mins) so I wonder if it would cool down to room temp anyways. I will have to think about trying this just to see (after I test the hot water for copper).

Thanks for the suggestion. It did give me something to think about.

[windchill]

Originally Posted by mousey

I use 1 gallon juice jugs. I stand them out overnight so they are room temperature, then I get a heat proof glass measuring cup, fill it full of the conditioned water and nuke it for about 2 -3 minutes. I know that 2 minutes is ok for this weather and in the winter when my kitchen is only 60 degrees, it needs 3 minutes. I then pour it back into the gallon jar, give it a good shake, test it with my finger and generally can add it to the tank.
If you want to check the temp in the bottle get your tank thermometer and hold it into the bottle to check the temp. you can always nuke the water a bit longer if you have to. Upstairs, where I have 5 more tanks, i have a cheap plastic kettle and I heat up some of the conditioned water and add it back into the bottle.Shake to mix the temps. This way has to be watched as the kettle heats up very quickly and the water can get too hot.
Some people say that there are too many heavy metals in the water to use warm out of the tap. You can call your water works to find out what amount of metals are in your water.

Oh good! I wasnt sure if nuking water was appropriate, but I confess when I saw the fish struggling I began pulling quarts out and heating them in the nuke, and pouring them back slowly to bring the temps up.

I can adapt your idea I think to work for me. Good suggestion and Thanks!

One wood shrimp did die late yesterday afternoon. The other seems to be doing much better. I havent seen it fanning for food yet and once that occurs I think I can be more confident that it will make it. I am really bummed about losing the shrimp. I really like those little guys/gals (not sure which).

[windchill]

Originally Posted by mr.dark-saint

My first question. The water you set out was it treated for chlorine? Or have heavy metals like copper (with your shrimp acting funny)? If there was chlorine the gills would be effected (ie burned) and yes it'll be a long term or short term death (you'll know with in a week).

I've kept top off water in 5 gallon water jugs in the house. However 5 gallons in to a 125 gallon tank and 20 gallon sump (at room temp) will barely nudge the digital thermometer. But 5 gallons in to a 20 gallons that's kind a big change. I'd pass on the kitty litter jugs (one jug should be plenty).

Warm Tap water dechlored should be good enough. A shot of NovAqua in the jug and then water. Carry it over and dump. Or if the weight is much use the hose portion of the python (and make sure the tank is lower than the jug) and then syphon it in. Or clean out the residue out of the kittie litter jug and use them (two'll get you what 4 gallons or less?). If it housed the clumping kind you'll have to scrub it out. If Scented you'll have to bleach it out (a glug of bleach then fill with water and set it aside) when you no longer smell the scent of the litter (after the jug dries since it's kind a hard to smell things when it's wet) hose it out. Then use them as you see fit.

Its well water but really hard and has some nitrAtes right out of the tap. I thought of the copper thing and picked up a test yesterday and there is no measurable copper in the water in the tank so I was able to rule that out. All the other tests on the tank water were fine too. PH, NitrItes, Gh/Kh and nitrAtes all very good.

I use a Tap Water Filter by Aqua. Pharm that I found on the net for $30. I have been really pleased with its ability to fix my water to good fish quality When we do a water change, I set it up and fill the bottles for the next change, so if something happens I will have water ready. I am setting up a 55 soon and this is why I need so much water laying around ready. The kids boyfriend wants a bigger set up too, now that he has learned that the 10 gallon/bag of fish he bought on a whim was not a good idea. Its his overstocked 10 that has begun me on the whole fish thing (which I am really enjoying).

I think I have figured out what to do about getting a tank heater into the jugs. I will have the local hardware store cut me a thin long piece of plexiglass that I can attach the heater too. Put that down into the jug and I should be ok. Or I will just pour the sitting water from the jugs into the kitty litter buckets and attach the heater to the side of that. Each bucket is around 4 gallons. Between nuking some gallons and the heater I should be ok by doing two smaller changes a week as suggested during the winter months. One or both methods in combination should get me where I want to go in a reasonable amount of time.

Thanks for the clean-up tips on the jugs. I wouldnt have thought of the scented issue and this way I can have the buckets on hand for backup or things not thought of coming up. I already paid for them, why not use them.

[Puffer Pita]

Personally I wouldn't use the kitty litter jugs at all, even after a thorough cleaning. There may have been some chemicals that have leeched into the plastic that could leech back into the water and harm the fish. I'm rather paranoid about using anything for my fish that I'm not absolutely sure is safe.