UGH! Hot pipes...

[FINWIN]

So today I did a full (95%) w/c on the 125. Went to check at end of fill up. Water was hot to the touch! I'm like NOOOOOooo. The fish were all sitting on the bottom. So I immediately drained out 1/4, ran only cold water. Went upstairs and got 2 gallon bags of ice and dumped it in.

Despite being out of the peak heat here, we still have 90+ degree days (up through September) . It's been in the high 80s (today only 76) but apparently the pipes are gonna be hot for a while. Wasn't expecting them to be that warm though!

The fish perked up immediately with the cold water and ice. I had to do this once with the 225 back in 2021, similar situation. Thank goodness the large water volume kept them out of shock.

 

[AR1]

So today I did a full (95%) w/c on the 125. Went to check at end of fill up. Water was hot to the touch! I'm like NOOOOOooo. The fish were all sitting on the bottom. So I immediately drained out 1/4, ran only cold water. Went upstairs and got 2 gallon bags of ice and dumped it in.

Despite being out of the peak heat here, we still have 90+ degree days (up through September) . It's been in the high 80s (today only 76) but apparently the pipes are gonna be hot for a while. Wasn't expecting them to be that warm though!

The fish perked up immediately with the cold water and ice. I had to do this once with the 225 back in 2021, similar situation. Thank goodness the large water volume kept them out of shock.

Yeah the water gets hot in warm countries. The government water supplied to us is stored in large tanks, like in thousands of gallons. At day the water is around 50 degree celsius and at night about 40 degree celsius, so water changes are impossible. Its 2 21 pm here in ksa and I did a water change on my 500 gallon pond about 2 hours ago. Even now its water temp is 35 degrees celsius. The temp of my pond settles at about 32 degree celsius without any heaters,insulation,etc. So as you can guess, it gets pretty hot here.

 

[DawnMichele]

Glad they are OK.

 

[FINWIN]

Yeah they're tough. I watched the tank after that...water had to have been at the century mark+. I also left the lids off for a while with surface agitation and added some salt as a precaution.

 

[AR1]

Yeah the water gets hot in warm countries. The government water supplied to us is stored in large tanks, like in thousands of gallons. At day the water is around 50 degree celsius and at night about 40 degree celsius, so water changes are impossible. Its 2 21 pm here in ksa and I did a water change on my 500 gallon pond about 2 hours ago. Even now its water temp is 35 degrees celsius. The temp of my pond settles at about 32 degree celsius without any heaters,insulation,etc. So as you can guess, it gets pretty hot here.

Sorry i accidentally wrote pm, while it was am, meaning 2 21 am.
BTW i am glad your fish are fine. Luckily you had ice packs. I used larger buckets of ice to cool down my 500 gallon pond when its temp reached 40 degree celsius.

 

[troublesum]

So today I did a full (95%) w/c on the 125. Went to check at end of fill up. Water was hot to the touch! I'm like NOOOOOooo. The fish were all sitting on the bottom. So I immediately drained out 1/4, ran only cold water. Went upstairs and got 2 gallon bags of ice and dumped it in.

Despite being out of the peak heat here, we still have 90+ degree days (up through September) . It's been in the high 80s (today only 76) but apparently the pipes are gonna be hot for a while. Wasn't expecting them to be that warm though!

The fish perked up immediately with the cold water and ice. I had to do this once with the 225 back in 2021, similar situation. Thank goodness the large water volume kept them out of shock.

I'm sorry that happened and glad your fish are ok. But don't you have a way to control the water temp out of your sink? when i refill my tank i have a cold water valve and a hot water valve and i just adjust them until i feel the water temps matches tank water

 

[esoxlucius]

when i refill my tank i have a cold water valve and a hot water valve and i just adjust them until i feel the water temps matches tank water

This is very true. They're called mixer taps and can be quite reliable, but not always! Once you have "set" your water temp don't think for one minute that you can just walk away and that water temperature will remain the same throughout the refill.

If someone in another room, a utility room with a sink, or a bathroom for example, starts running the taps, or having a shower, then this can play havoc with your "set" water temp going into your tank. Pressure drops as well.

For this very reason I do my water changes very early Saturday mornings before anyone else gets up. I have complete control over the refill temps this way.

I'm not sure if this is what happened in finwins case, but what I have mentioned is certainly worth taking into consideration when refilling from mixer taps.

 

[troublesum]

This is very true. They're called mixer taps and can be quite reliable, but not always! Once you have "set" your water temp don't think for one minute that you can just walk away and that water temperature will remain the same throughout the refill.

If someone in another room, a utility room with a sink, or a bathroom for example, starts running the taps, or having a shower, then this can play havoc with your "set" water temp going into your tank. Pressure drops as well.

For this very reason I do my water changes very early Saturday mornings before anyone else gets up. I have complete control over the refill temps this way.

I'm not sure if this is what happened in finwins case, but what I have mentioned is certainly worth taking into consideration when refilling from mixer taps.

Yeah its like while I'm taking a shower and my wife flushes the toilet i either get frozen water or hot water but it usually only lasts about 10-15 seconds. i also do large 80% WC on my 125 and every 5 minutes or so i check them temp to make sure its as i set it.
Also i know plumbing and stuff can be different in other countries i'm in NYC so our sink facets are pretty easy to work with

 

[jjohnwm]

I also left the lids off for a while with surface agitation and added some salt as a precaution.

I'd be very cautious about adding salt in a situation like this. Dissolved salt decreases the amount of dissloved oxygen in the water similar to the way that elevated temperatures do. Both together might not be the best idea.

Mixer taps can be purchased as "pressure-balancing" version which are supposed to keep the outgoing temperature constant despite changes in the usage of cold or hot water elsewhere in the house from flushing toilets, etc. I have them in my showers and they do pretty much prevent unpleasant surprises there, but I still don't trust them completely for aquarium use.

I also have a pressure-balancing mixing valve in my basement, associated with the small on-demand tankless water heater I installed for my aquariums. Because my house has a pressure-tank water delivery system, which cycles from about 30psi to 50psi while pumping water, the pressure-balancing mixer valve still isn't perfect and I monitor it closely while doing fill-ups if using the water heater.

I hope you realize how lucky you were, FINWIN , that you caught this in time. I think you were minutes or even seconds away from disaster.

 

[cockroach]

I have the same issue.
Summer days I generally don't do water changes during the day and wait for later at night like 9 to 10pm when many things are cooler.
Overcast and rainy days make it so much easier.

I've done changes in late afternoon and had to let the water run for 10 to 15 mins before water cooled enough to not sous vide the fish.