water changes - how many equalize temp?

[Anonymous]

i was just about to do a 5 gal water change, and decided to check the temp of the replacement water. it was at 70 degrees. the tank is at 84. i figure that's too big a shock, so i put a little heater in the bucket.
made me wonder though. how many folks equalize the temperature between replacement water and the tank water?

 

[speck]

I bring my make up water to temp to check S.G. and so it won't "shock" the tank

 

[esmithiii]

I totally do it! I equalize the temp and the salinity. Suppose the temp is 84F in the tank and the temp of the water change water is 70F. If you are doing a 10% water change, the resulting temp is 82.6F, which is quite a shock, since it happens all at once.

Suppose that your tank salinity is 1.0265 and the water-change water is at 1.0100. If you change 10% the resulting salinity is 10.249, which again all at once is a big shock.

Ernie

 

[SPC]

I too equalize the temperature, I don't use a thermometer however, I just use the old feel method.
Steve

 

[pez]

I have two heaters. One for the change water one for the tank. I set them both for 80 degrees (although, the tank doesn't need a heater with the MHs).

You should balance the salinity too (unless you are intentionally trying to modify your tank's salinity).

-Tom

 

[leeks]

keep the temp the same at water change

 

[AnotherGoldenTeapot]

I try to match the tank's water tempreature, but I don't get too excited about getting exactly the right tempreature.

 

[wasabi]

ill admit it, i never check water temp on changes.

 

[Carpentersreef]

I've never given it much thought before. Most of my new water would go through my PS first, I change 10% at a time, and always thought that along with the heaters, the LR, sand, existing water, ect, that are already at the warmer tank temp., would take care of any temperature fluctuation before it affected any fish. my ambient room temp is usually 22c, and the tank is usually 26c, plus I use an 80w pump to circulate the new water, that would help heat it up, too.
I'll check it next time I change some water.

Mitch

 

[Luna Sea]

Heh Moe_k,

For me, I do about a 10 gal water change seperated in two buckets and I heat one of the buckets to main tank's temp(only one spare heater). Since I store my water in the cool basement, temp. tends to be at 66 deg. F. If I don't heat that water, my main tank's temp. dips 2 deg. C less which stress my corals. Heaters are inexpensive and if you don't have a spare one, you should quickly invest in one. Reason being, this is only if have one heater in main tank, main tank's heater could fail(rarely hear of it happening, but it can happen), you would have a backup on hand. I say it's better to be safe than sorry and to equalize water change temp, which most seem to agree with. Just think of the valuable investment inside tank, another spare heater won't hurt your tank's budget.

I assuming that your tank is in the range of 50-100 gal since changing 5 gal of water. I would check the effects of not heating the water change(i.e how much main tank temp. dips, corals after water change and how fast does the water heat back up to par). Even if main tank temp. dips a little, to be on the safe side, I recommend that you heat the water change up prior changing water in main tank(especially if room temp is low).

Goodluck,
Lunasea

 

[Mouse]

Only in the winter, my house gets warm enough not to have to in the summer.

 

[fishfarmer]

I'll admit it. I don't temper my water that much. In my cooler make up water I adjust the S.G. so it's a bit higher than the main tank and add to the sump slowly. I check the S.G. several times while doing the change, temp may dip a degree or two. I've never noticed any problems with my critters doing it this way. I keep my tank low during the winter so any temp drops aren't as drastic if I kept it at summer temps.

[ November 12, 2001: Message edited by: fishfarmer ]</p>