garden hose
- Thread starter Fishyfan
- Start date
Howdy,
Of course you can use it - I've never used anything else on my big tanks.
That's because the garden hose lies outside in the sun and the first gulps a person takes from it have been sitting in the hose forever. That's different when you fill a tank:
Seriously, don't worry (I sure don't)
HarleyK
Of course you can use it - I've never used anything else on my big tanks.
That's because the garden hose lies outside in the sun and the first gulps a person takes from it have been sitting in the hose forever. That's different when you fill a tank:
- your hose is in the house and, thus, not exposed to high temperatures that increase leeching of plasticizers
- maybe half a gallon of water is resting in the hose, greatly diluted by the double/triple-digit gallons used to fill up your tank
- the contact time of water to the hose during filling is negligible.
Seriously, don't worry (I sure don't)
HarleyK
DONT USE THE HOSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unless you intamately know your hose. If you dont know your hose that well, dont use it cuse I didnt know my hose that well and I lost all my fish doing that once. There is a thread on it somewhere in the lessons learned section. Its only a good Idea if you know if your hose has chemicals leached in it or not, how long its been sitting here, is there cooper end to it, is that rusty? if you gonna do it buy a new hose make sure its doesnt leach chemicals into your water as it runs through and stuff and make sure you run water through it for a little while to get the bad stuff away =)
If it wasn't such a serious topic, I'd give you a hard time about how intimately you actually know that hose
That's right
My bad, I should have mentioned proper pre-treatment - Thanks Ash. Hook it up to the hot water tap or fill it with water and let it sit in the sun. Repeat until the plastic smell is gone. HarleyK
just a question...if you were to use a garden hose..could you pour like a disinfectant such as bleach for example down the hose a couple time to kill all things that are damaging???
If it wasn't such a serious topic, I'd give you a hard time about how intimately you actually know that hose
That's right
HarleyK
That's right
HarleyK
Do you only have to do that with new hose? the hose nearest to my tank is probably 5 or more years old.
No. Plasticizers are not pathogens. They are compounds that are used during the manufacturing process of the hose to make (and keep) it flexible. A limited amount will initially leech out of a new hose. The only way to accelerate this process is applying heat (hot water and/or sun) or organic solvents (but we don't want to mess with these).Bassman89 said:
If the hose was in regular use - no problemo
You should be able to use it as is to fill your tank right away.If you bought the hose 5 years ago and it has never been used, I recommend to prepare it as described above.
HarleyK
ahh makes sense..i was just wonderin because i usually just use one of those siphon hoses that you but at an lfs and hook it up to the sink
yeah. sure. I used my hose till a couple weeks ago when I decided to build my own python. I actually liked that the hose filled up the tank faster. and the draining without the python fittings was alot quicker. But I also like that I only have to haul out 1 25' hose now instead of one.
As to chem's I have had no problem with my hose. howeverI used a really cheap hose so they probably didn't bother treating it as that would just make it more expensive.
As to chem's I have had no problem with my hose. howeverI used a really cheap hose so they probably didn't bother treating it as that would just make it more expensive.
potable water hoses are best, but as stated, standing water in a hose is a bad thing (even inside.)
I have used hoses to initialy fill tanks, but I have never used them to re-fill a tank with fish in it. Any tank I filled with a hose didn't have fish or even start a cycle for a couple weeks (filter running, air on)
We have a local aquarium service company that uses hoses in the tanks that they service with no problems, changing 3-400g on a 1200g system. the fish have not died, nor showed signes of stress. many spawn & the tanks are happy.
These hoses are intimately known my their owners
I have used hoses to initialy fill tanks, but I have never used them to re-fill a tank with fish in it. Any tank I filled with a hose didn't have fish or even start a cycle for a couple weeks (filter running, air on)
We have a local aquarium service company that uses hoses in the tanks that they service with no problems, changing 3-400g on a 1200g system. the fish have not died, nor showed signes of stress. many spawn & the tanks are happy.
These hoses are intimately known my their owners
