I hope everyone enjoyed their summer. Now that winter is approaching, it's time to rethink our water changing policies.
During the warm months, municipal water supplies run warm enough that we don't think twice about doing our water changes by simply placing the hose and dechlor into our tanks. Now that temperatures are starting to drop, so is the ground temperature and, thus, the temperature of the pipes in that ground. The water temperature is beginning to drop to a range where we'll see the fish stress from a simple water change. Ich will rear its ugly head like the flu will do with us.
To prevent seeing or dealing with problems caused by temp flux, it's time to go 'old school'. That's where we used to keep trash cans, barrels, storage tanks, etc. of aged and conditioned water ready for our water changes (it had to be done this way before the development of dechlor). Using water already conditioned and at matching temperatures to our tanks will help prevent a lot of trouble and losses to our rare and treasured pets.
The vessel you choose need not be large or permanent. If doing a 50% water on a 55gal, a standard 30gal trash can will serve just fine. I have a large number of tanks, so, I opted for the water storage tanks. I added a pump to the line joining 2 500gal tanks and a 400gal tank. And, I plumbed the fish rooms so none of the hoses need to be over 8ft. My heating method is to heat the rooms so, my storage tanks are at the same temp as the the aquariums.
Of course, if you keep one tank or several small tanks, your water heater may provide all the warm water you'll need for water changes. For those with multiple large aquariums, that 50gal home water heater may not be enough to maintain the health and comfort of your fish.
Good luck with whatever method you choose.
During the warm months, municipal water supplies run warm enough that we don't think twice about doing our water changes by simply placing the hose and dechlor into our tanks. Now that temperatures are starting to drop, so is the ground temperature and, thus, the temperature of the pipes in that ground. The water temperature is beginning to drop to a range where we'll see the fish stress from a simple water change. Ich will rear its ugly head like the flu will do with us.
To prevent seeing or dealing with problems caused by temp flux, it's time to go 'old school'. That's where we used to keep trash cans, barrels, storage tanks, etc. of aged and conditioned water ready for our water changes (it had to be done this way before the development of dechlor). Using water already conditioned and at matching temperatures to our tanks will help prevent a lot of trouble and losses to our rare and treasured pets.
The vessel you choose need not be large or permanent. If doing a 50% water on a 55gal, a standard 30gal trash can will serve just fine. I have a large number of tanks, so, I opted for the water storage tanks. I added a pump to the line joining 2 500gal tanks and a 400gal tank. And, I plumbed the fish rooms so none of the hoses need to be over 8ft. My heating method is to heat the rooms so, my storage tanks are at the same temp as the the aquariums.
Of course, if you keep one tank or several small tanks, your water heater may provide all the warm water you'll need for water changes. For those with multiple large aquariums, that 50gal home water heater may not be enough to maintain the health and comfort of your fish.
Good luck with whatever method you choose.
Not for us down under! Bring on the summer baby 
