Water Changes - Out of Tap too hot?

[Jen Abe]

I am waiting for a plumber to come to see if he can even fix this issue, but in the meantime here is the question. The tap water I use to do water changes is very hard to adjust colder recently. It may be a problem with the valve but it also may be because it is darn hot outside and this is the norm for the summer months (new to this area).

Problem is the min temp I can get out of there is almost 84 degrees. Which means when I do water changes on my tanks (set at 76, 77 and 78), even at a 30% the water temp inevitably shoots up to 80 after mix. The first time I panicked and dropped some ice cubes in there, and now each water change is stressful (for me). 

Fish involved, not tank specific, are Zebra Danios (who really don't seem to care one way or another), neon tetra, ember tetra, honey gourami, khuli loachs (they hate it), hillstream loach, harlequin rasbora, dwarf blue gourami, von rio tetra, a pair of apisto c and a dwarf snowball pleco named Frank. I also have shrimp in there (cardina).

Has anyone had this type of issue before? Do I need to worry? I honestly wonder if in winter I am going to be doing the opposite and worrying that the water change is too cold lol! However, I think I may prefer this scenario to what I have now.

Thanks for your help!

Jennifer

[lefty o]

really weird tap water coming out at 84degr. i would , until the issue is solved fill 5gal buckets with water to acclimate to room temp before adding to the tanks.

[Lots Of Loaches]

We’re in Houston, Tx and it is normal for our “cold” water to come out of the tap at between 82 - 95 degrees during the summer, depending on the weather outside. We fill 5 gallon buckets and let them sit overnight to cool off to room temp. We also keep 12 bottles of water in the freezer in case we have to do an emergency water change. 2 bottles usually cools off 5 gallons to around 76 degrees. It’s a pain all summer but worth it to enjoy our fish. Good luck!

[modified lung]

My water comes out hot because I'm impatient and crank both the valves open. So I also leave it out over night thereby defeating any purpose to my impatience. 

[quikv6]

So I'd say that it depends on the size of the tank you are refilling. I have an axolotl, and the tap is way too warm. My target is 60 degrees. I add a bunch of ice cubes from the fridge ice maker to an empty 5 gallon bucket. I then fill the 5 gallon bucket with tap water, and dechlorinate as it fills, and as the ice cubes melt.

Result: Viola....60 degree water. Pretty simple.

Now, If you were refilling a 125 gallon tank.....that's a different story.

[Scapexghost]

I don't think you need to worry, but you could always do smaller, more frequent water changes to prevent the swing.

[anitstuk]

I usually put declorinator into a bucket with the new water so it can mix and acclimate to the temperature so we never run into this problem.

[Its Hutch]

I'm in Oklahoma just north of Texas and my tap also comes out over 82f. My fish don't seem to mind but the cold water trick to help spawn Corys is out for the summer.

[nabokovfan87]

In my situation, it's hot. very hot. 

when need be, doing a large water change, I'll dump ice into the bucket and then dump that into the tank.  I use my hand to stir it and equalize the temp of the bucket.  You can do this same thing by taking a large frozen bottle of something and setting it in the bucket that is 2/3 full.  You run the water around the bucket with a pump head or your hand and then after 10-15 minutes it should be about as cold as it's going to get. 

You can also do the reverse to cool off beverages on the hot days. Add salt Ice and water to a container, stir it around, bottle is Ice cold.   This also carries in to Japanese style cold brew coffee, iced tea recipes, etc.

Essentially, ICE.  That's your friend. In some reusable being preferred.

On 8/14/2022 at 8:23 PM, Its Hutch said:

My fish don't seem to mind but the cold water trick to help spawn Corys is out for the summer.

I want them to spawn so frickin bad tonight.  I just spent 2 hours working on the tank. 😂

Edited August 15, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[Wrencher_Scott]

On 8/14/2022 at 4:46 PM, Jen Abe said:

I am waiting for a plumber to come to see if he can even fix this issue, but in the meantime here is the question. The tap water I use to do water changes is very hard to adjust colder recently. It may be a problem with the valve but it also may be because it is darn hot outside and this is the norm for the summer months (new to this area).

Problem is the min temp I can get out of there is almost 84 degrees. Which means when I do water changes on my tanks (set at 76, 77 and 78), even at a 30% the water temp inevitably shoots up to 80 after mix. The first time I panicked and dropped some ice cubes in there, and now each water change is stressful (for me). 

Fish involved, not tank specific, are Zebra Danios (who really don't seem to care one way or another), neon tetra, ember tetra, honey gourami, khuli loachs (they hate it), hillstream loach, harlequin rasbora, dwarf blue gourami, von rio tetra, a pair of apisto c and a dwarf snowball pleco named Frank. I also have shrimp in there (cardina).

Has anyone had this type of issue before? Do I need to worry? I honestly wonder if in winter I am going to be doing the opposite and worrying that the water change is too cold lol! However, I think I may prefer this scenario to what I have now.

Thanks for your help!

Jennifer

I would not worry one bit. 4 degrees is nothing when it comes to fish. Fish in the wild swim in different temps all day every day. 

look up thermoclines to understand why. 

[_Eric_]

I’m in Texas and the water can be pretty warm out of the tap in the summer.   Maybe not 86 but hotter than I’d like.  I’ll use ice sometimes,  let water sit overnight, or do smaller changes.  

[RockMongler]

Seconding the other Texans' answer of "Fill it up in a bucket the day before, let it get down to room temperature overnight".  I primarily keep cool-water species, and that main tank is whatever the room temp is plus however much heat is added by the light/filter/powerhead.  My betta tank is kept a bit warmer, but I don't worry too much during water changes because the difference is usually not too bad in the summer.

In the winter, I try to somewhat control the water temp for the betta tank by filling up directly with warmish water, but I keep to the "overnight get to room temperature" method for my main tank.

[Patrick_G]

Why is Texas water so warm coming out of the pipe? Are all your water towers painted black? 😁

 

[JettsPapa]

On 8/17/2022 at 10:52 AM, Patrick_G said:

Why is Texas water so warm coming out of the pipe? Are all your water towers painted black? 😁

It might have something to do with the fact that for months at a time the temperature never gets below 75° at night, and is often at 100° or higher during the day.

[anewbie]

On 8/14/2022 at 6:46 PM, Jen Abe said:

I am waiting for a plumber to come to see if he can even fix this issue, but in the meantime here is the question. The tap water I use to do water changes is very hard to adjust colder recently. It may be a problem with the valve but it also may be because it is darn hot outside and this is the norm for the summer months (new to this area).

Problem is the min temp I can get out of there is almost 84 degrees. Which means when I do water changes on my tanks (set at 76, 77 and 78), even at a 30% the water temp inevitably shoots up to 80 after mix. The first time I panicked and dropped some ice cubes in there, and now each water change is stressful (for me). 

Fish involved, not tank specific, are Zebra Danios (who really don't seem to care one way or another), neon tetra, ember tetra, honey gourami, khuli loachs (they hate it), hillstream loach, harlequin rasbora, dwarf blue gourami, von rio tetra, a pair of apisto c and a dwarf snowball pleco named Frank. I also have shrimp in there (cardina).

Has anyone had this type of issue before? Do I need to worry? I honestly wonder if in winter I am going to be doing the opposite and worrying that the water change is too cold lol! However, I think I may prefer this scenario to what I have now.

Thanks for your help!

Jennifer

I use a 30 gallon rubber maid pail for water changes (they come larger if needed); i fill it the night before and let it reach room temp which is tank temp during the summer. Problem sovled.

[Patrick_G]

On 8/17/2022 at 9:31 AM, JettsPapa said:

It might have something to do with the fact that for months at a time the temperature never gets below 75° at night, and is often at 100° or higher during the day.

I had do a little bit of extra research on this. It looks like the Waco to College station area has some of the highest well water temps in the country with an average of 75F only southern FL has higher. Southern AZ and New Mexico are cooler. It’s easy to see how summer temps can get into the 80s. Very interesting for a geography nerd! 

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

I'm pretty much around that bottom right of the 42 degree circle for Colorado on that map @Patrick_G. @Jen Abe I would do the bucket trick and let it sit for a while to get to tank temperature if my issue was too hot. And possibly do a tray of ice cubes in the bucket with an airstone to help speed the temp drop to your needed range.

My water is the opposite issue where without the use of a thermostatic faucet I would have difficultly getting it within the ranges I am looking for.  42-45 is about right for our cold temp out of the faucet up here. 

[Lots Of Loaches]

On 8/17/2022 at 3:36 PM, mountaintoppufferkeeper said:

My water is the opposite issue where without the use of a thermostatic faucet I would have difficultly getting it within the ranges I am looking for.  42-45 is about right for our cold temp out of the faucet up here. 

I wish we had that temp here out of our cold tap. It would be a lot better taking a cold shower after working cup a sweat instead of taking a warm shower because that's the best we can get.

 

[JettsPapa]

On 8/17/2022 at 3:12 PM, Patrick_G said:

I had do a little bit of extra research on this. It looks like the Waco to College station area has some of the highest well water temps in the country with an average of 75F only southern FL has higher. Southern AZ and New Mexico are cooler. It’s easy to see how summer temps can get into the 80s. Very interesting for a geography nerd! 

Yup.  My water comes from a well, and I'm about 30 miles southeast of College Station (toward Houston).