Soft Water Concerns A.k.a. How To Heat Water For A Water Change?

My husband and I just installed a home water softener system (which we're thrilled about) but I've been told not to use softened water for my aquariums. When I expressed my concern to the installation technician he made sure to leave us a spigot outside that produces only hard water (also for lawn care). The only concern I now have is getting the hard water to 79-80 degrees for water changes. What I've done in the past is just use the faucet dial and take the temp on the stream until it was 79-80, then fill up the buckets. Now there is no temp control on the outside spigot, how to I ensure that the water is the same temp as the tanks I'll be adding to? Do I heat it on the stove? Should I buy another heater and just heat the water when it's time for a change? Won't that take longer? I have so many questions, lol. Any advice is appreciated.

 

I suppose you could bucket/collect the water the day/night before and use a tank heater to heat the water.. It may take a longer or shorter time to heat depending on the volume of water to be heated but after a few goes i'm sure you'll work it out so you'll know how long it takes to heat the water to the appropriate temp. Work out how much water volume you change and buy the correct heater for that volume. One you get a routine going it will be like second nature and it wouldn't take to much effort. Just the initial time it will take to work out how much time is needed to heat the particular amount of water.

 

I suppose you could bucket/collect the water the day/night before and use a tank heater to heat the water.. It may take a longer or shorter time to heat depending on the volume of water to be heated but after a few goes i'm sure you'll work it out so you'll know how long it takes to heat the water to the appropriate temp. Work out how much water volume you change and buy the correct heater for that volume. One you get a routine going it will be like second nature and it wouldn't take to much effort. Just the initial time it will take to work out how much time is needed to heat the particular amount of water.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Would you advise against heating the water slightly on the stove? Not to a boil or anything, just enough to heat it slightly.

 

You could do I suppose I couldn't see why it would be bad if you slowly heated the water on the stove . It would probably work out quicker but it might be abit of a choir filling pan after pan after pan... I'm not sure how much water your changing but I'm guessing it would be more then a couple of pan fulls. If you do heat the water on the stove be carefull to heat the water a couple of Fahrenheit either above or below the temp In the tank... you don't want any sudden extreme temp swings, not if you can help it anyway.

 

How many gallons are we talking about? I let 2x 5 gal buckets with water sit over night or longer in front of the vent, but you are in FL, seems to be warmer there
Then I add an extra aquarium heater and /or add some boiling water.

I take the temperature with a digital thermometer. If you add a lot of boiling water, the KH will drop somewhat. I think small amounts are okay.

 

I'd use the softened tap water. I've heard people say it's bad, but I had a whole house water softener for years, used it in my aquariums. During that period I spawned many species of fish almost as easily as when I had Lake Michigan water coming through the tap.

A PhD chemist I know said the sodium in softened water amounts to a fraction of the normal therapeutic dose one would use if the fish are ill. Unless you actually have hard water fish like Rainbows or Rift Lake Cichlids, it will work just fine. And for those, there are other ways to add the calcium back into the water.

 

Whats the size of your tank and the amount of water your changing. Personally iv never pre heated the water I was adding just had it at room tempature and have never had an issue. Granted iv only had a tank less than a year.

 

I'd use the softened tap water. I've heard people say it's bad, but I had a whole house water softener for years, used it in my aquariums. During that period I spawned many species of fish almost as easily as when I had Lake Michigan water coming through the tap.

A PhD chemist I know said the sodium in softened water amounts to a fraction of the normal therapeutic dose one would use if the fish are ill. Unless you actually have hard water fish like Rainbows or Rift Lake Cichlids, it will work just fine. And for those, there are other ways to add the calcium back into the water.

That's interesting to note! I am only housing bettas, and maybe a few pygmy cories in the future. I think I'll wait until the system has been active for a bit (it's brand new) to make sure all the kinks are worked out, but I think I'll experiment with the soft water and watch them like a hawk.

Whats the size of your tank and the amount of water your changing. Personally iv never pre heated the water I was adding just had it at room tempature and have never had an issue. Granted iv only had a tank less than a year.

The two tanks are 5 gallons a piece, and (oops) I got myself another 2.5 gallon tank tonight. So 3 bettas in all. I'm pretty sure I've heard you're supposed to make the water as close to the temperature of the tank as you can before adding the water so the fish don't go into shock, but betta are hardy fish, and I'm sure not everyone knows or does this.

 

With your aquariums being that small you can simply just fill up a couple empty gallons and let it get to room temp inside. If that's not an option for some reason get a tetra 50 watt heater from walmart and pop it in a bucket. Also I'd suggest getting a bigger tank for your third betta. Petco has the dollar per gallon sale until the end of the month right now. You can get a ten gallon for 10$ You probably paid double for that 2.5

 

With your aquariums being that small you can simply just fill up a couple empty gallons and let it get to room temp inside. If that's not an option for some reason get a tetra 50 watt heater from walmart and pop it in a bucket. Also I'd suggest getting a bigger tank for your third betta. Petco has the dollar per gallon sale until the end of the month right now. You can get a ten gallon for 10$ You probably paid double for that 2.5

That's what I ended up doing for now (I got an Aqueon 50W and a 5 gallon Homer bucket from Home Depot). I appreciate the concern for the little guy, but this is just a hospital tank for now. He's a beautiful fish with a pretty severe SBD (like his SB is the biggest I've ever seen on a betta). He is currently floating on his side, trying to stay upright. I just wanted to give him a small tank to adjust to his new life, and then once he's fully healed he'll be my centerpiece fish in a 20GL I've been planning for ages.

 

That's what I ended up doing for now (I got an Aqueon 50W and a 5 gallon Homer bucket from Home Depot). I appreciate the concern for the little guy, but this is just a hospital tank for now. He's a beautiful fish with a pretty severe SBD (like his SB is the biggest I've ever seen on a betta). He is currently floating on his side, trying to stay upright. I just wanted to give him a small tank to adjust to his new life, and then once he's fully healed he'll be my centerpiece fish in a 20GL I've been planning for ages.

The last betta I got was from walmart, I kept seeing him there in horrible condition (a reason why I never look at fish there, I want to rescue all of them). He either was thrown in a community display tank or had the worst case of fin rot ive ever seen. He literally was missing 90% of his fins. I couldn't tell what kind or what color he was. He wasn't even in a container for sale but a cracked little critter carrier. His water was brown. Anyhow after 2 weeks of guilt I waited almost 30 minutes at the cashier while they tried to figure out how much to charge me for him. He's now got all of his fins back and he's probably my most aggressive betta. Hes pretty ugly the standard veiltail bluish red mix but he's my favorite. My daughter named him gilly via finding nemo. Wish you luck on your little guy.

I also have a little 2.5g but I use it for drip acclimating new arrivals it comes in handy so don't toss it. I also propagate plants in a bunch of little 1 gallons I have lined up on a book shelf.