Winter time water changes. How do you do it?

[Ianab]

Natural bodies of water that support fish life rarely change more than half a degree a day in temperature

With a lake sized body of water thats true, but for a small river the temp can swing a lot on a daily basis.

This page is flow and temp readings of the Patea river that flows through my home town.

http://www.trc.govt.nz/environment+online/river/patea+skinner/patea+skinner.htm

Todays graph (near the bottom of the page) with the last 7 days data shows temp variations of 10deg C over the week and up to 5 deg C on a daily cycle.

Now it's true that you dont want the temp swings to be too extreme or go outside what the fish can handle, but obviously the local fish can handle 5C change per day and probably 20C change over the seasons.

Cheers

Ian

 

[Oddball]

With a lake sized body of water thats true, but for a small river the temp can swing a lot on a daily basis.

This page is flow and temp readings of the Patea river that flows through my home town.

http://www.trc.govt.nz/environment+online/river/patea+skinner/patea+skinner.htm

Todays graph (near the bottom of the page) with the last 7 days data shows temp variations of 10deg C over the week and up to 5 deg C on a daily cycle.

Now it's true that you dont want the temp swings to be too extreme or go outside what the fish can handle, but obviously the local fish can handle 5C change per day and probably 20C change over the seasons.

Cheers

Ian

These daily temp readings are usually that of the thermocline or upper layer of water. Most species avoid this layer during rapid temperature fluctuations.
In aquaria, it's safest to not vary temps by more than 2 degrees F per day.

 

[Ianab]

These daily temp readings are usually that of the thermocline or upper layer of water.

In a fast flowing river like this there aren't really any thermoclines to speak of, even the deep pools flush through every few minutes and the whitewater rapids circulate everthing well.

I agree it's not going to apply to all fish, and it may upset some much more than others. But any species from fast flowing streams will be adapted to handle quite large temp swings. A lake species may want more stable conditions of course.

I do try and match my temps when I do water changes, especially in winter. But the last couple of water changes in my 50gal have been straight from the garden hose at about 18C.Thats dropped the tank from 25.5 to about 22C. OK, all my fish are pretty hardy 'river' type fish (plecs, kribensis, barbs), but they have loved the big water changes.

Dont rush out and give your fish a coldwater change just because mine like it though, if I had fish that were more delicate or 'slow water' I would be more carefull.

Cheers

Ian

 

[bigspizz]

These daily temp readings are usually that of the thermocline or upper layer of water. Most species avoid this layer during rapid temperature fluctuations.
In aquaria, it's safest to not vary temps by more than 2 degrees F per day.

I got blasted when I first joined here for "thinking" I had the right to say exactly what you are saying....Wish you were here that day http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69850&page=3 Oh well, I guess every question has 2 answers here.....

 

[señor_pescados_felices]

I just go ahead and use the cold water from the hose,balance it out with warm water in buckets and it may drop from 80 to like 74-75 for a few hours.....never thought that was such a bad thing but yeah I'm just putting of getting a python.......