"potable hot water heater"= safe tank water, Right?

Did you read that on the Internet?



Bonjour!


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water coming out of heater. ... should be safe YOU ARE CONSUMING IT

LMAO @ clockwork. Bonjour indeed.


Some people have (IMHO incorrectly) assumed that certain heavy metals from their hot water tank may have been the cause to some of their sick fish over the years, so they only use cold water during water changes. Where I live that would mean adding tap water that for 6 months of the year is approx 50 °F.


The reality is that most natural bodies of water contain heavy metals, but again, the amounts are generally so low that they will have no short term, and very few if any long term effects on most tropical fish kept in captivity, especially if one has harder/higher calcium levels in their tank water. In fish, toxicity of metals is affected by calcium which reduces the toxic effect of a metal through competitive inhibition at the gill surface. The non toxic calcium ion competes with the toxic metals for the same binding sites thereby reducing and/or eliminating any potential toxic effects on a fish.

The moral of the story is if one is overly concerned about heavy metal toxicity originating from their hot water tank, and their tap water is low or void of calcium, they should probably just add some crushed coral or crushed oyster shells to their filters and call it a day.

In an older HW tank you will probably have more issues with rust, than anything else. And rust is fairly easy to see in ones tap water when an older tank begins to go.

http://www.burnedatthedoor.com/facts-myths.php


There's probably more copper leaching from older homes (with copper pipes) than there is from older HW tanks. But even copper is a non issue in older homes with calcium in the tap water as the pipes will have a build up on the inside thereby preventing the warmer water from ever reaching the copper.

Best preventative maintenance with regards to metal toxicty and water changes is to run your tap for a few minutes before filling your tank as this will prevent using any water that has been sitting in the pipes for an extended period of time. I do the same thing when I make coffee in the morning.