Anyone NOT heat there storage water?

[CAGE-RATTLER]

Was just curious cause last night after vaccuming the bottom of my tank and doing some cleaning i realized when i refilled my storage container the day before i had forgotten to plug the heater back in.

I had removed about 30% of the water from a 55 juvie tank and decided to give it a try with the cold water. I keep my tank at 86 and after adding the 30% cold aged water the temp dropped to 79 and the fish were perfectly fine with it. They swam in the incoming water flow just as they always do with the heated water and ate 5 minutes after the WC just like normal.

The tanks are in my home and im using a 45 breeder tank right now for the storage and my house stays at about 72 degrees so im assuming the storage water was at room temp (didnt check the temp tho).

Ive heard thats how some encourage theyre fish to spawn (by doing a WC with cold water) and obviously it didnt bother the juvies at all and has me thinking ................... Why heat the storage water if we dont have to? (or maybe just heat it to a lower temp as the tanks to save money on electric)

So does anyone NOT heat theyre storage water??

Or maybe keep it cooler than the tanks??


Also if when i go to 55 gallon barrels ................. will the water be at room temp after a 24 hour period??

[White Worm]

I think most heat the water for optimum results when adding to tank which wont shock the youngins much. 86 to 79 is kinda a big drop and could eventually stress young ones. Yes, cold water does have the effect of kicking a female into gear sometimes and I wouldnt worry as much about cooler water if they are subs or adults.

[pcsb23]

Cage,

Doing a water change with cold water can induce spawning. Repeatedly doing it may cause stress. You should not get thermal shock so long as the temp doesn't change instantly. I wouldn't drop a discus into water at 79f if it had been in water at 86f, but lowering it to that over 5 or 10 minutes won't do too much harm once in a while.

[traco]

I'm still waiting for my heaters for my storage water. I run a powerhead and before doing a water change, I add hot water to the stored to bring up to temp and also add Prime, double dose, to be on the safe side. I would not add unheated water to the tank, too much stress.

[Alight]

It's less than 55 F where my storage tanks are, so not heating isn't an option. That's what you get year round in a basement in Park City!

[Kap]

My tap water comes out of the line at about 60 degrees and will only rise about 8 degrees to room temp with a day or two of aging. Vigorous water movement in the storage tank will move ph from about 7 to 7.8 in a matter of hours, but getting the temp to 86 degrees obviously takes longer (32g storage tank, one 150w ViaAqua titanium). Occasionally I have needed water sooner than it was ready so I mix hot tap with aged water to get within a degree or so of 86, and add more Prime to this mixture. I am reluctant to do this on a regular basis because I don't want to chance adding "extra minerals" and other gunk from the hot water heater into my aquaria. I believe it is best to add water as similar to the aquarium water as is realistic. If this is done regularly and frequently, the stress on the fish is minimal, and stable, clean water replaces the stable soiled water. Thus, the water removed and the water added are quite similar on most variables: ph, temp, gH, Prime, etc. JMHO.

--kap

[CAGE-RATTLER]

Thanx for the comments all.

I definately dont plan on doing that on a regular basis but i may cut the heat down on the storage water a bit tho.

Our electric prices are going up 72% June 1st and i guess i picked a horrible time to start a fishroom .......... lol ......... and just trying to figure out ways to keep costs down.

[Automate]

I only change 15% water every day in my planted tank. I pump it into the tank at 1 litre / min and it takes 25 minutes to fill. The temperature change is small and is over a period of time. I cannot afford to keep my aged water heated, although I only chnage 15% daily. Water change is on an automated system.

[Greg Richardson]

Cage. I realize the costs involved are bad especially when the power companies up their rates again and again.

That being said u might want to look at the situation this way.

I think u will agree with domestic fish in a controlled enviroment over time it has been shown stress due to changes in wc's factors such as temp, ph, etc. has shown to be over time a sure way to obtain disease.

Imo u need to find another area to cut down on your power bill and keep constant temp with your wc's.

Look around your house. Add up the watts of certain lights.
Even if they weren't on a portion of the day or other power grabbers it all adds up. U can make a trade off.

Imo this is the time to become creative to stay within budget without your operation getting in trouble due to money grabbing corporate thugs.

[Cosmo]

I heat the water in my storage tanks, and in winter in chicago it takes close to 24 hours with 800 watts of heaters to bring the storage tanks from tap temp up to 86 overnight if I do large WCs on all the tanks :(

Like Greg said.. be creative.. I made a point of weatherproofing the house real well to save on heating, even put insulation and taped dry wall over the fishroom windows to keep the ambient room temp up. :p Hope I at least broke even :D

Dimmers on room lights, timers on lights that tend to get left on all day otherwise (like the bathroom vanity mirror lights), and insulating blankets on water heaters all help ..

Thank god it's almost spring, the tap will be warming up :)

Jim

[Tad]

I havent heated water for over a year...I change 50 percent every other day....filling rates vary but normal temp drop is from about 86f to 82f....I see no problems the way I do it...

In colder climate states like where Jim "Cosmo" lives I wouldnt do my approach...

Tad