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Dennis The Mennis
12-10-2011, 05:52 PM
My ph fluctuation is minimal between aged and non aged water. So I am going straight from my hose. My question is how much of a temp variation is acceptable?

Skip
12-10-2011, 05:56 PM
Jus get as close as u can.. There is no magic number that will or will not kill ur fish.. I go by touch

ericatdallas
12-10-2011, 06:17 PM
I go for a little cooler than tank temp, but I've accidentally gone as low as 10 degrees lower before. I wouldn't recommend that, but as long as you're doing a PWC, it's not going to be devastating.

I also go by touch but keep an eye on the thermometer (located on the other side of tank from where water is coming in) and if it drops too much I adjust. After a while, you get good at telling by sight (where your valve/faucet looks like), by feel (how much pressure, the turning, etc) and how it feels to your skin.

Dennis The Mennis
12-10-2011, 06:32 PM
I'll be using the outside hose with no temp control. So its more of should I stop at 30% to keep the variations less, or do 50% and go with a larger variation.

Skip
12-10-2011, 06:45 PM
What outside hose?.. Like a lawn hose? If so why? Becareful.. Of those and chemicals r reacts when putting in tank.. If u dont drink from this hise then dont use it on ur discus

TNT77
12-10-2011, 08:12 PM
Outside hose? Why? Is the tank too far from a sink? And do not use regular hoses they have an anti molding chemical in the rubber that will kill fish.

LiquidBlue
12-10-2011, 09:56 PM
You might want to invest in 2 things:

Coralife digital thermometer and an Aqueon water changer.

I use both, and it is very nice. You can attach the water changer directly to the sink and test the temperature before the water goes into the tank.

Dennis The Mennis
12-10-2011, 11:10 PM
I have a whole house filter that removes the chemicals and I can use a small white hose with stainless fittings. It’s from our RV and its drinking water safe. It’s a bit small for my water changes, but I plan on getting a longer 5/8" RV hose after the holidays. I have custom plumbed my tank to drain and fill from the same fitting. The siphon breaks at about 50% now, then re-primes itself when I fill it back up. The plan is to just hook the hose up and open the valve and it drains automatically. Then I simply move the hose to the fitting and fill. I also plumbed a valve and fitting to hook up a hose to clean up the poop and such from the inside of the tank. This also allows me to prime the canister filters too.

ShinShin
12-11-2011, 12:00 AM
On a regular basis, I would not vary more than ~4F, 5F max.

nc0gnet0
12-11-2011, 08:23 AM
Most professionally installed whole house water filtration systems are plumbed in such a way that the outdoor spickets are not filtered. And unless you have a massive carbon block filter, it is only going to be so effective at removing contaminates due to the high rate of flow. Healthy mature fish can handle a bigger temperature swing (although not recomended) than juvenile fish. Sick fish can handle even less of a temperature variance. I do not know what the ambient temperature of your water is from the treatment facility, but around here it is 55 degrees, much too cold to perform water changes direct from the spicket.

Dennis The Mennis
12-11-2011, 10:09 AM
When they installed our system, the only option was to have the pool and sprinkler system included or not. Most, if not all the hose bibs are plumbed from the houses connection to the water main. The filter system is outside, hooked directly to the main. You know, I have never actually tested for chlorine or chloramines, I'm just going by what they said. Hmmm, now you have me wondering. Looks like I'll be buying another test kit today. Most of our faucets are those fancy kind that won't allow me to hook a hose to it. I'll need an extra long hose to get to the guest bathroom to hook up to a warm water source. I guess it won't be that much more difficult to do, just a little slower. Looks like I am headed to walley world today. I just hate that place, and with holiday shoppers to...

nc0gnet0
12-11-2011, 12:31 PM
I see so the system is installed outside......not an option in my state. Typical hook-ups here have the main runing into the basement with the first branch back out the house to feed the outdoor spickets and water sprinklers. Water filters and water softners are then plumbed after this branch.

I don't use tap bu I have ran a 3/4" PVC pipe up the the floor (my water barrels are in the basement) through the same hole that feeds the water to the kitchen sink. I have attached a spicket with shutoff valve onto that pvc pipe and access it by opening the cabinent under the kitchen sink.

Skip
12-11-2011, 12:36 PM
They make adaptors for faucets to connect hose

LizStreithorst
12-11-2011, 12:37 PM
How about hooking up to your washing machine faucets? You can buy washing machine hose shaped like a "Y" that allows you to run the hot and cold together.

ericatdallas
12-11-2011, 01:01 PM
They make adaptors for faucets to connect hose

Not all sinks have that option. They do make some weird ones that wrap about the faucet, but I've never had the (dis)pleasure of dealing with that.


How about hooking up to your washing machine faucets? You can buy washing machine hose shaped like a "Y" that allows you to run the hot and cold together.

This is what I do... but I just buy the high quality brass 'Y' from the hardware store garden section. I then use tape on the thread. Make sure to use a high quality hose though, not a standard cheap garden hose, it will matter in the long-term (trust me). The cheap hoses will work short-term though.

I'm not home right now, but if you're interested, I can take a pic of my setup.

Basically, I run the hot and cold line to the outlet of the 'Y'. Then I run another hose to the tank (this hose can be a lower grade since you control the flow from the 'Y'. You can also add a second valve (I do this as well).

I have my 'Y' valves set to give me the perfect temperature. This will change though based on the temperature outside. Cold water is colder in the winter... It may also change if someone down the supply uses water (or your washing machine is on) and pulling pressure from one of the water lines (so be careful).

I basically bought 3 'Y' adapters. Two at the input to split off from the washing machine and one to bring the lines back together. Now that I have more tanks, I bought the one that splits four ways but I haven't installed it yet.

Jsut remember, if the hose is going to be under constant pressure, to use 1) the industrial heavy duty hoses or 2) use the washing machine hoses --- both very expensive but worth the peace of mind.

I use the washing machine hoses b/c they come in shorter lengths. I would also make sure to run a lot of hot water through the industrial hoses before use to make sure there are no harmful chemicals. Another benefit of the washing machine hoses is that they're made to handle hot water while general garden hoses are not.

Or you can plumb it and tap directly into the copper pipes (I almost did this but decided against it). Or you can 'Y' it and send it to PVC (I almost did this too) but the hose option was more flexible (literally and figuratively).