Keeping your fish in a healthy aquatic environment is your major concern now, isn’t it?. To do this you have to be consistent in changing their water and filling their aquarium.
If you leave your aquarium for a long time without filling the water, it becomes hazardous to your fish. Now, you might be too lazy to keep up with the ritual of using buckets to fill up your fish tank. Well, I get that, it’s really not an easy feat. But what can you do, you’re not about to let the fish suffer, are you?
Okay let’s look at this scenario, you are really tired and can’t lift buckets but you have a garden hose. Then you think “can I use this garden hose to fill my aquarium?”. Undoubtedly it’s a tempting idea, so let’s see if the garden hose will work.
So the big question is…
Can I Use A Garden Hose To Fill My Aquarium?
Well yes. I mean why not? A garden hose will do a fine job of filling your aquarium. A lot of people use garden hoses to fill their fish tanks so why shouldn’t you?
A garden hose is much easier to use. It can effectively fill up your aquarium without any problem or stress. Going straight from faucet to tank is not a likable job especially since it means dousing the whole tank with a prime instead of just new water. Plus the water may be too hot or too cold and affect the sensitive fish in the aquarium. So using a garden hose will pretty much prevent that from happening.
Let’s talk a bit more about garden hoses.
What’s A Garden Hose?
A garden hose is a long, hollow, and flexible tube that can serve as a medium for passing fluids from one place to another. It has a circular cross-section too.
It is used in gardening, lawn care, and many other activities that involve landscape care. It can also be used for drawing water for washing vehicles, animals, building exteriors, animals, and many other things.
Garden hoses come in different sizes, builds, lengths and weights. They are also manufactured from a variety of materials like nylon, polyurethane, PVC, synthetic, polyethylene, natural rubbers, and the more recent Teflon.
These properties and materials used to make garden hoses sometimes pose a threat to your fish.
Potential Risks Of Using A Garden Hose To Fill Your Aquarium
Since garden hoses are made with a variety of materials, of which some may be harmful to your fish, it’s important to be clear on the possible risks.
Now some potential risks of using a garden hose to fill your aquarium include:
- Garden hoses made of PVC have lead in them that can leach into the water and accumulate there. When the lead contaminates a large part of your aquarium water, it can harm your fish or lead to their deaths. So don’t use PVC hoses (they’re risky for your fish).
- Other chemicals like antimony, BPA, and phthalate are common properties of some hoses and can make them unsafe for use in filling an aquarium. Plastic hoses mostly have BPA but it’s only tragic if you leave the hose out in the sun for long before using it to fill your aquarium.
- Phthalate is yet another possibly hazardous chemical in hoses. It helps in making the garden hose flexible and soft, but it’s not great for your fish. When it gets into the water in your aquarium, it’ll contaminate it by reducing the level of oxygen available for your fish. Then your fish might die.
- It’s possible that your garden hose may be made of an NSF International-listed polymer which is relatively the safest hose material available currently. But the fittings, metal fixtures, and connectors attached to it might not be so safe or can be substandard and then pose a danger to your fish water.
Tips To Know Before Using A Garden Hose To Fill Your Aquarium
So before you start using your garden hose to fill your aquarium, you’ll need to take down a few tips. Since fish water needs to be free from contamination (that’s the exact essence of changing it), you’ll need to note some guidelines before using the garden hose.
They are:
- Only use a high-quality garden hose to fill your aquarium.
- Ensure the garden hose has been used well enough to be certain that its inside is well flushed.
- Don’t use a new garden hose to fill your aquarium (it’s not advisable).
- Don’t use the garden hose for multiple purposes once you start using it to fill your aquarium.
- Don’t leave your garden hose out in the sun if you’ll use it to fill your aquarium.
- Use a rubber garden hose (it’s way better and less toxic).
Well if you’ve noted down those points, you can now fill your aquarium with your garden hose.
What’s The Difference Between A Garden Hose And A Drinking Water Hose?
The difference between a garden hose and a drinking water hose is the material used in making them. The garden hose is made of more solid yet quite toxic materials compared to the drinking water hose.
The drinking water hose is considerably free of the toxic materials that the garden hose possesses (for example, lead ).
The drinking hose has a very low to zero chance of contaminating your water, unlike the garden hose which can easily contaminate water.
Final Words
So can you fill your aquarium with a garden hose? I’m sure you know the answer.
With my outlined and detailed guides and warnings, I think you’re well equipped with knowledge on the right things to do before using the garden hose to fill your aquarium.
If you follow all the due processes, using the garden hose will make your job easier and a lot less stressful.