# Water Change idea



## Vociferus (Aug 10, 2016)

We've recently gotten back into the aquarium game and the whole family is enjoying having some great fish. Right now we have a 25 gallon tank upstairs and a 75 gallon in the basement. Because I have softened water I've been using non-softened water only for the aquariums, but it does cause some issues due to the fact that it doesn't run through the water heater. Right now, I generally leave a couple of buckets of water out, but if I have to do a large water change I always end up having to put at least some cold water in the tank. It can drop the temperature a degree or two during a large water change. It's not ideal but I can't leave 25 gallons of water out either.

I've been changing water in my 75 gallon tank with five gallon pails. It works out ok but it does take a while to drain and fill with buckets. I've seen the water changers that you hook to your tap, but as I said without heated water I've not bothered with them since my tap water is somewhere around 3-4 degrees Celsius (38-40 F) which would be a pretty big shock for my fishies.

So today when I was changing some water, I came up with an idea to get myself some warm water that's not softened. I've got a tankless gas water heater (on-demand) which gives me some extra options. It has servicing valves on the hot and cold lines which let me run vinegar through the water heater for maintenance. The servicing valves let me shut off the incoming and outgoing water lines, and let me hook up a garden hose which I run to a pail with vinegar.

I'm going to hook up a thermostatic mixing valve, with incoming water from before the water softener. I'll set this to 25 C and then I can run unsoftened water through my tankless heater to get the desired output, and hook it to a water changing system. It would be nice if I could avoid the thermostatic valve but the lowest my tankless water heater can go to is 38 C which is still too warm. The thermostatic valve will do the correct mixing to get the right output temperature though.

I'll post some pics when I'm done. It'll be nice to not have to drag these pails around all the time!


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Before you go ahead with the above project, don't you have the option to bypass the water softener?

It does sound as if you are handy at DIY projects and if you are comfortable with plumbing projects, why not just install a bypass prior to the softener using ball valves?


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## Vociferus (Aug 10, 2016)

That would work too. I'll have to think about it. I would still need to add a tap, but maybe I could do a utility sink in the utility room where the water heater and water softener are. That would give me some advantages with having a place to clean my canisters too. The nice part of the bypass would be for future service of the softener as well.

Thanks for the idea Deeda!

And yes I'd be doing the plumbing myself I kind of enjoy doing plumbing.


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Good to hear you enjoy plumbing, I think adding valves would be easiest and cheapest plus the addition of a utility sink is definitely a plus.

I also have well water + a softener and we had a tankless heater installed specifically for doing water changes on the tank. It is so much easier to just bypass the softener, lower the tankless temp and adjust the tap temp at the utility sink. Our softener has an integral shut off valve but from a quick Internet search, you should only need 3 ball valves to make a DIY bypass loop to get untreated water for your water changes.


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## Vociferus (Aug 10, 2016)

Yes three should do it. One is already there to shut it off, so I'll add another on the outlet and then a branch across with a valve. I looked around this morning in my utility room and this is the way I'm going to go. The utility sink will bring a lot of "utility" as well  It'll be nice not to have to lug my canister up the stairs to clean it. Thanks Deeda! Looks like I have some work ahead of me.


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## Vociferus (Aug 10, 2016)

Finished this today, and it's so great to have a sink in the basement. I did a 50% water change on my 75 gallon, and that would have been impossible before since the water coming into our house is freezing cold. Plus no pails!


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

I can't imagine not having a utility sink in the basement so I'm sure you're enjoying the new one! Did you ever put the softener bypass in? If so, post a pic so we can use it for future users.


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## Vociferus (Aug 10, 2016)

Yes I did. I'll post a pic at some point after I clean up a bit


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