Almost killed my fish today (cold water)!

[A3M0N]

I started my aquarium earlier this year when it was pretty warm outside. I totally didn't realize how cold my water was from the outside spigot after a few days of freezing weather. Today is water change day, after refilling the tank I noticed a couple of the neons drifting down to the bottom and nearly stopped moving when I realized my mistake! I scooped out about a gallon of water and replaced it with hot water from kitchen sink (dechlorinated first), it didn't completely fix the temp but brought it up enough to revive my nearly frozen fish friends. 

I'm sure most of y'all already knew this, but for my fellow first year fish keepers: be careful with your water change temps! 

EDIT: Oops, this thread double posted somehow. 

Edited November 18, 2022 by A3M0N

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/18/2022 at 3:29 PM, A3M0N said:

I'm sure most of y'all already knew this, but for my fellow for year fish keepers: be careful with your water change temps! 

yeah.  Definitely an issue this time of year.  One bucket of water takes 2 kettles to be tolerable depending on outside temp.  😞

[Flumpweesel]

Smaller water changes can soften the blow, but for my smaller tanks I leave the water to get to room temp in bucket or jug. 

But yes stuff you don't think about until you keep fish

[Levi_Aquatics]

Good job catching that before you had any losses! I try to check the temp of the water going in the aquarium before adding it to avoid any issues.