Big problem!!! high water temp

[Dennis]

Hi guys!
I live in Cyprus and now that the worst summer months are coming I have big concerns about my fish tank. The water temperature is now upto 30C, d##n inferno for my fish. I lost today a labeo and a barb and i'm afraid i'm going to loose all my fish one by one. I'm real desparate, don't know what to do. Changing water would cool it down a bit but the next day it's back to high temp.
Any thoughts, suggestions?? I would really appreciate your help.
Thanks, Dennis

 

[pete]

I'll go check it out for you m8 cose im that ive seen an aquarium cooler in a mag somewhere thats aimed at the american market :what:

Basically its like air-conditioning for fish from what i can make out lol

I'll be posting later to let you know unless someone beats me to it lol :laugh:

And welcome to the forum........we dont bite so have a look around while your here and post anymore questions you might have

 

[adeyc]

Hi Dennis and welcome to the board.
I'm assuming you don't have air conditioning so I'll try and sugest some possible solutions. The simplest is to move the tank to the coolest part of the house. You could also try a fan the circulating air should keep the water at a cooler temp. Failng that ther is the old trick of putting a bottle(platic) of water into the freezer then when it's cold enough put it into the tank and the tenp will drop. with the last method you'll need to keep the water moving so not to get pockets of water that are too cold and check the tank temp regularly. but the best overall solution would be to move the tank. The temp being to high isn't a big problem here so maybe some of our freinds from more sunnier climates will have a trusted tried and tested method you could use

 

[Davy Reynolds]

Welcome Dennis,
I wrote with an article a while back Too hot to handle

Theres is a cooler you can get, but since I'm in sunny Scotland I'll need to go looking for it as I don't keep it handy

 

[Dennis]

Thanks for replies guys! I'll surely be visiting this site/forum on daily basis. Nice place to share what we all like
I do have an air conditioner...but in bedroom and the fish tank is in the living room so it won't do a trick. Moving the tank is out of question (200litres) - ouch..besides I live in a small flat and can't think of a different suitable spot except for the one it's now in.
What I can see working at the moment is cooling a bottle of water in a freezer - thanks adeyc - and buying a fan, besides it's a good idea for my living room as I think I will die of this heat soon as well :0
I will post a few pics of my tank for you guys, just have to ask a stoopid question: do I turn off the flash while taking a picture of the tank? I'm afraid the flash will refelct in the front glass and spoil a shot.

 

[pete]

Try these links and see what you think ...........http/www.system-2000.co.uk/cooler.html

http/saltaquarium.about.com/cs/chillersupplies/

They seem to be mainly aimed at the marine reef aquarium keeper but im sure they should do freshwater too, there are contact numbers there so my advice would be to ring and check first

Hope these help

:what:

 

[Dennis]

Thanks Pete!
Wow, 500 pounds for a cooling system...hmmm. My whole set up cost me that much. :0 May be I'll give them a call to find out more.
Have to go now.

 

[Great Lakes]

They are a saltwater specific piece of equipment. and are commonly called chillers. Reef keepers in warm environments use them the most. A simple DIY solution has been to use a small dorm room style fridge, and with a pump, circulate water through a coil placed inside of it. But while your tank is spacious in the tropical fish world, it would be on the smallish side in the saltwater world where these chillers would normally be used. Therefore, not a very cost effective way to go. I would go out and get another air conditioner and be cool with my fishies.

 

[Davy Reynolds]

Dennis switch the flash off

Adrain (Adeyc) is the phography man

 

[adeyc]

Dennis. You've asked the right Question to the right people(Well ok me). It depends if the flash is built into the camera or you'r using a seperate unit that fits on top of the camera. aquariums lighting although looking bright is insuffiscient to light the fish for photography. Some of these new fangled digitals will auto compensate(you'll get a well lit pic but loose some of the quality.

Anyway to answer your Q. You don't need to. just angle the camera so the reflection isn't directly pointed at the camera lens. If you can remove the flash do it and position it away from where the camera is. The best solution is to use a couple of spotlight at different positions then you can set them up and see where any reflections. Lighting from the top of the tank is by far the easiest. if it's a small compact camera with a built in flash try and get the lens as close to the tank(ie on the glass) as possible.
Your going to get a few dodgy pics as everyone else who wants to photo there fish does. Experimentation and time will give you the best solution.
I did write a bit for the main sight last year but Davy must have lost it(?) I'm in the middle of writting a new article on the subject with a few diagrams etc and the old what's best, what's not and what to watch for. It' should be in the newsletter soon. I'm in a bit of a rush at the mo as I've umpteen things going on at once.anything not clear or more Q's just ask.

 

[Dennis]

-Adeyc, I posted in chit chat re pictures.-

As to the temp issue, well I managed to lower he temp down to 28-29 by adding cold water from the freezer and putting ice cubes. I also reduced the time I have my tank lights on. Most probably I will by a fan that will be cooling the front glass of the tank, at least I'm not prepared to invest in cooling system or another air conditioning unit for now
Thanks a lot to everyone who gave their advice.

 

[Xcrown]

I dont want to sound like a pessimist, but Id shy away from using the frozen or chilled bottles of water. First of all its alot of work if you want to keep a constant temperature, and if you dont keep it constant, you will hurt the fish. Ive had someone totally kill off tanks that way. You probably wouldnt with a tank that large, but then again, it would take alot of bottles to cool it off.

Best option, keep the fan blowing on the aquarium all day AND night. Keep the water circulation as BEST as possible. Itll lower the temp a BIT and keep it constant. Thats the most important thing.

The last thing you could do, is get fish that are used to and can take high temps. Thats probably the last thing youd want to do because youre attached to those fish. And remember that some fish will be able to tolerate high temps, and others wont, its just the stronger fish.

Im lucky to have AC in my house, and can keep the temps around 85 during the summer, which is still high.

Hope it helps...if a bit.

Xcrown

 

[adeyc]

Dennis. Dont!. I repaeat don't put ice cubes/ice straight into the tank. any impurites/chlorine etc will still be present inthe ice and will eventualy mix with the tankwater when the ice melts. Thats why I suggested bottles in the freezer. the bottles are containing the ice/cold water and won't let their contents mix with the tankwater.
Xcrown's right it's best not to use the ice method but seeing as how you were in a dilemma it's a good emergency method but not practicle for constant use.
Welcome to the board Xcrown. Glad to have someone on board with practical experience in overheating.

 

[Dennis]

I must have expressed myself in a wrong way,  forgive me my bad english When I wrote that I added ice cubes I didn't mean that I added them directly to the water. I used  so called party ice sold in super markets (in plastic bags) , made sure that it won't leak and only then I put it in the tank. Cooled water from the freezer though I added straight into the fish tank. I guess 1.5L of fresh/tap water won't do harm to 200L tank. As to the water circulation, I'm running Rena Filstar XP1 - 165 gal per hour , which is quite enough for my tank I think.
Thanks Xcrown for your feedback! I'm now more than positive that it's time for a fan purchase, too bad can't afford another air conditioner.
Hey, may be I should pack my staff and move to Scotland after all?

 

[adeyc]

:laugh: you're problems would go the otherway. Cam you afford all the heaters you'll need. :laugh:
I thought you would use bagged ice but thought I'd better mention it just in case. It will also clear up some prob's for others with in the same situation.