water question

[eymyel827]

i usually do water change once a month and i get pre-mixed water at a lfs. my problem is that the temperature of their water is usually low around 65 F and my tank is always at 77 F. so what i would usually do is to add HOT tap water and jsut add water conditioner. is this a good practice? or should i jsut use my heater to heat the water? also how long should i circulate the tap water with the water conditioner....by the way i use amquel and novaqua...
thanks

[MalHavoc]

By adding hot tap water, you're changing the salinity of the pre-mixed water, so yes, it's not a great thing to do. you're also adding all the bad stuff in your tap water to your freshly made up water change water, including phosphates and silicates, which can lead to algae and diatom blooms.

Get a second heater just for water changes. That way you won't have to use the one in your tank.

[wishmaster]

Doesn't your skimmer go nuts when you add dechlorinator? I know mine used to before I got my RO/DI system.

[singlew]

I get my water from the LFS as well. I simply sink a thermometer in the 5 gallon container and set it in the tub full of hot water. Warms up to temp in a few minutes. I would not advise adjusting temp with tap water at all.

[beerguy]

Agreed. Go spend $10 and buy a cheap heater to throw in the bucket. Adding tap water drops the salinity of the replacement water and potentially adds phosphates and silicates which will cause algae blooms.

If you've been doing that for a while have you checked your SG to see where it is now?

[WaterKeeper]

Yikes eymtel!!!

Use a heater by all means and I certainly would hope the LFS is using an RO or RO?DI to make the pre-mix. Don't use the declor.

I hope you have checked the salinity lately. If you diluted the pre-mix with hot tap your salinity is going to be low, perhaps very low.