I am starting to have more and more trouble with the high water temperature from my cold water tap. I live in Texas and our water is stored in a tower a few miles from our house. During the summer months the water is quite warm, even from the cold water tap. Currently, the "coldest" water that I can get from the tap is 95 degrees. When I do a 50% water change on my 55 gallon, it takes a large bin of ice added gradually to the tank as I refill with my Python to maintain the usual 78 degree temperature in my tank. I am having major problems, however, figuring out how to do large water changes on my 100 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank. Last time I did a 50% water change on the pond, all my fish came down with ich two days later (I think because of the stress of such a dramatic change in water temperature).

Can anyone help me think of a way to deal with this? I have considered getting a trash can to store water in, but the problem with that plan is that the trash can would have to go in the garage or on the back patio, where the temperature of the water would rise as high as what is coming out of the tap. Any other ideas?

hmm a good idea that would keep you from having to get large amounts of ice at a time is to get maybe a liter or two liter bottle and fill it (not completely) with water and freeze it... so you can reuse the "ice bottle". this way you can cool down the tank while changing water.

i know the fridge ice machines don't work that fast, and using a large amount to change water would put you out of ice for a while..

with 95 degree water though, you'd probably need 3-4 frozen bottles of ice. i'm sure the ice will melt fairly quickly in the bottle and stay cool for just a while.

What is the water temp in your fish tank? How would you keep the water temp around 70F in the fish tank at all the time?

My tank temperature (and room temperature) is 78 degrees.

How often do you do 50% water changes?

Would it be possible to use a smaller rubbermaid tub instead of a trash can and do smaller water changes. You could store the smaller rubbermaid tub in your house to keep the temperature lower. However the cons is that you have to do the changes more frequently.

If you are ready to get physical ( and redneck ), or have a geeky neighbor \ family member there are plenty of DIY water chiller plans online that you could use to keep that 50g trash tub at a cooler temperature. They are mainly on saltwater sites, but that won't matter for what you are needing it for.

I also live in Texas, but not close to the tower so I don't have to worry so much about these problems. I do utilize the same basic idea that Tinkokeshi suggested. Use re-usable bottles ( well, i use the big gallon zip lock bags ) of ice water to drop the temperature down or up as needed based on the season.

just store the new water until its temp hits 78F before a water change. I dont see a problem here.

I wouldn't be asking the question if there were no problem! The problem is there is no place to store an adequate volume of water that is not outside (either patio or garage). If the water is stored outside (like in a trash can), then it ends up heated to at least the temperature of the warm water from the tap. Because I am still in the process of cycling the tank, I need the ability to do 25-50% water changes. This means storing 15-30 gallons of water, which is a lot to have sitting around the kitchen or bathroom in buckets.

I can only think of 2 solutions, one is to do smaller water changes so the overall temp difference is not as great, or use the ice method like you do with your tank. It sounds like an annoying problem but I guess it comes with the territory.

Tink's idea is probably your best shot. Large home-made reusable ice packs will save you a lot of trouble, and help keep the temp stable while you do a water change. Also, you could remove your fish during water changes (we use a 5 gallon bucket for the fish sometimes) so they don't get temperature shocked.