seagullnz

I was cleaning out Zen's 10G today and doing a water change.
I now use half RO water from the supermarket mixed with tap water (cause our tap water contains ammonia in it and I don't like to dump a big bunch of ammonia in there!)

Anyway I had my bucket of water sitting in hot water in the sink to warm it up (the water that we get from the super is chilled), and I put my hand in it, thought it felt right then went ahead and did the PWC.

Well after turning everything back on (heater, filter etc) I checked the thermometer on the side of the tank and it was 82F (instead of the 78 that it normally is).

Poor little boy, must have felt like a heat wave for him.

He seems ok, how bad was this for him?
Given that it went from 78 - 82 in a couple of minutes?

lilsoccakid

i dont think it will be to bad, i would just keep an eye on him to make sure he looks ok

angelfish220

it all right, once I did a water change, I had the temp all figured out and went to go get some prime quick. and my mom changed the water temp and I put like 60 degree water in my normally 78 degree tank. It turned out alright though, and none of the fish died.

Peterpiper

I would be looking at getting a thermometer to check the water temp before adding it to the tank.
Glad he is ok. One thing that you can do is mix the water the night before, leave a small tank heater and air stone in the water. Then in the morning the water will be the right temp and have the O2.

chickadee

I have done this same thing by guesstimating and doing the wrong thing once or twice when my thermometer to check was broken and not finding out until the water was in the tank that it was a couple degrees too warm. It is not going to kill them but they may look at you accusingly a few times and make you feel guilty and horrid. Just try to keep it feeling just slightly on the cool side as remember that if it feels warm to you that it is probably too warm for them. NOT COLD but just lukecool if that makes sense.

Rose

seagullnz

Thanks everyone.

I have just checked the temp of the tank (after a couple of hours since doing the water change) and it is still sitting at around 80.5. It's not helped that it is an incredibly warm day here in Alberta - around 29C!

Thanks also Rose, for the lukecool explanation - cause when I've felt the water at 78F I've always thought that it felt a little on the cool side (I guess that I just thought it would feel warmer) but both my thermometer and the strip one both always say 78 so now I have a better idea what the temp should feel like - lukecool!

LetDiceFly

How warm or cold the water feels is often influenced by how long your hands have been in the water. Or just your perception that particular day. It is best to get one of those floating thermometers and but it in the bucket when you are filling it.

COBettaCouple

Yea, Rose is right on. Generally we run about 97-99F, so 78-80F will feel slightly cold to us. Once you've filled a million jugs with water , you'll get to where you can tell the temp almost just by feeling it.