General Care Discussion :: water changing temps ?

[scripta_elegans]

I've been meaning to ask this for awhile, but what temp is it okay to toss the kids back in after you change the water and it is ever so slowly going up to the right temp 78, which is about 6 hours for me at this time of year even with 2 300 watt stealths in a 75 gallon aquarium in a 72 degree room. The water coming out of the tap is only a few degrees above freezing. I usually have the turtles wandering around in a laundry basket used solely for them with towels to hide under, but they don't like it. I am asking in my usual long winded way, what temp is okay to put them back in their beloved watery home? I usually wait for at least 76 degrees, but I don't know if it would be okay @ 70? NOT okay until it's at 78? They will be yearlings as of May 1, if that makes any difference. At that age temp goes down to 76 or so I believe, but I don't know that my logic there is sound.

[steve]

I think 70 is OK, though I also have a preference about being extra cautious and waiting to 76. I usually let them sleep out of the tank overnight and have 4 heaters running until its warmed up the water.

[RunninWideOpen]

What I've been doing is using a mixture of hot water and old water from the tap to get the water closer to temp from the start. My thermometer is at the bottom of the tank, so I keep an eye on the temperature to see if I need more hot or more cold water. That way I don't have to wait all day for the water to warm up.

I'm new at this, so there may be something wrong with what I'm doing. If there is let me know.

[steve]

It's usually not a good idea to use warm/hot water from the tap. It's the same reason why you shouldn't drink warm/hot tap water. www.redearslider.com/water_quality_issues.html

This reminds me.... when I had my RES in a 40 gallon rubbermaid, I would prepare another tub with conditioned water and used the extra heaters to warm it up the day before I changed the water in the 40 gallon.

[marisa]

For my turtles, I try to wait until the water is 67-68F before putting them back in the tank (the normal temp for my painteds is 71 and for my RES about 70).

To bring the temp up fast, I heat some pans of water on the stove and mix them with the cold water in the tanks.

[scripta_elegans]

Thanks for the advice! Being rather nervous myself, I will keep waiting for 76 before I put them back in.
Marisa-I have done that as well, but each time pour it in, I wince as I think the hot water might crack the glass. I never put in water that I can't comfortably submerse my hand in, but I have no idea what the threshold is for heat vs. freezing water and aquarium glass. Have you been doing it for long? Or perhaps I should ask, are you doing it differently?

[RunninWideOpen]

Thanks Steve. I guess I missed that page. I've been using hot water for cooking too!

[marisa]

Scripta---I've been adding pots (I said pans above, but it's pots, not-that-big Revereware pots with handles) of very warm to nearly boiling water to tanks for a while now when I need to bring the water temp up fast. But never into a tank that wasn't already at least half full of cool water, and not without keeping an eye on the water temp. I use spring water in the tanks; it's bone-numbing cold in the winter, and is kept in the basement, which is cool, but allows it to warm slightly, until I need it. If possible, the jugs are brought upstairs the day before a major cleaning to get closer to room temp (sounds complicated, but it works). I've never had a problem just adding the hot water to the cool water in the tank, but I'm careful not to let any get poured directly on any glass, and I don't pour it all in one place---I pour the water out the length of the tank. I will see some condensation under the tank at times, but so far I haven't had a problems with doing this.

I only wait until the water is 67-68F before I put the turts back in. It's only a few degrees until the tanks get to their usual temp, and I figure if it's too cool for them, they can bask until the water warms up completely.

[scripta_elegans]

Thanks Marisa!

[marisa]

No problem.