[APD] Re: Heated Water

[Bill Wichers <billw at waveform_net>]

> Is adding hot water straight out of the tap good for the aquarium? I've 
> always heard that one shouldn't drink water hot from the tap because it 
> has probably stripped metals and stuff out of the water heater/pipes. Does 
> hot water dilute copper faster, possibly raising copper levels enough to 
> hurt/kill inverts?
>
> 'Cause if it's not bad for the aquarium, then I'm gonna start using hot 
> tap water as opposed to what I've been doing (drawing cold water then 
> heating it up in jugs w/ water heaters).
>
> ~Reggie

Various stuff in the water can precipitate out in the water heater and 
metal concentrations tend to be higher in the hot water due to some 
cathodic effects in the water heaters. I would shy away from using only 
water that's gone through your water heater although in all reality the 
concentrations in that water are unlikely to be high enough to actually 
cause problems. I frequently do mix hot/cold water for water changes 
though, which I have done for years and it hasn't caused any problems for 
me (maybe even adds some extra trace elements ;-). Typically I will use 
maybe 20-30% hot water and the rest cold in the mix from my eyeballometer's 
(very expensive and obscure testing device, although almost everyone seems 
to possess two of them) reading on the faucet. I just stick a mercury 
thermometer (they read temperature changes more quickly) in the water and 
adjust the temperature, then use this for change water.

If you're doing premixing of water and chems you'd probably have an easier 
time by getting a 55 gallon polyethylene barrel or tank and using it to mix 
the whole batch of change water at once. I plan to do this when I have some 
time someday...

        -Bill




*****************************
Waveform Technology
UNIX Systems Administrator

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