Cooling Down The Fish Tank?

[sangah10]

I haven't done it yet but is it possible to cool down the tank with ice? Like frozen ice and you just put it in. Because lately the weather is a heat wave and its about 38C+ for the next week and it has been like that for the past week and my fish tank seams to go up to 30C very easily.

But im worried that im changing the temperature too fast and it'll stress my fish.

I can keep the aircon on obviously. And atm i cant go out to buy a cooling system for my tank. But the tank is only 10 gallons so shudnt it be easy to cool down the tank with ice..

Well im already guessing its unsafe for the fish but if its possible and does no farm, Please tell me!

thanks a bunch.

 

[OldMan47]

The main problem with high temperature is the low oxygen content of the water. Gasses are less soluble at higher temperatures. The fish are not just uncomfortable because of the heat, they are suffocating. Making sure that you are doing all you can to get lots of oxygen into the water is a must in that situation.
A couple of ways I know to help cool the tank is to set up a small fan to circulate air across the water surface. That will cause some cooling like we get from sweating. Another approach is to do daily water changes with cooler water to bring the temperature down a little. The ice block would work but I would float it in a container with a bit of water in the tank. That way the fish won't be exposed directly to the ice itself but will get the cooling effect. You can also buy a chiller for the tank that works like a small air conditioner but directly cools the water. That is the most expensive way to do things.

 

[Paavn]

The main problem with high temperature is the low oxygen content of the water. Gasses are less soluble at higher temperatures. The fish are not just uncomfortable because of the heat, they are suffocating. Making sure that you are doing all you can to get lots of oxygen into the water is a must in that situation.
A couple of ways I know to help cool the tank is to set up a small fan to circulate air across the water surface. That will cause some cooling like we get from sweating. Another approach is to do daily water changes with cooler water to bring the temperature down a little. The ice block would work but I would float it in a container with a bit of water in the tank. That way the fish won't be exposed directly to the ice itself but will get the cooling effect. You can also buy a chiller for the tank that works like a small air conditioner but directly cools the water. That is the most expensive way to do things.

that is going to come in handy when the cali heat starts.... living in an apartment with crappy air conditioning is not good.

 

[mic8310]

My temp reaches around 30 when we have the heating on all day, I do a 25% water change with cold water and it brings it back to around 26/27.

 

[Paavn]

when i have the heating on i dont have much of a problem, im just worried about the summer. especially if we have a heat wave it gets really hot indoors

 

[Miss Wiggle]

oxygenation is the really critical thing, drop the water level in the tank or adjust the filter so that there's loads of waves/splashing on the surface, you can add an airstone as well if you like. leave the lid of the tank open if possible to encourage evaporation and keep the ambient temp of the room as low as possible. in the summer i sometimes leave a fan running in the room with the tanks blowing water across towards them.

the fish can tolerate relatively high temps providing there is plenty of oxygen in the water.

 

[eggy]

yes you can use ice, that's what i use for my 53L tank and no fish seem to be harmed from it. but don't add to much at once.

 

[sangah10]

oh really ? I added 2 whole trays, but i put them in a frozen sandwich bag thing..

learnt my lesson later that you shudnt decrease temp so suddenly, 1 degree per hour am i correct ?

and thanks you guys for the suggestion on the oxygen.

 

[nitro7]

oh really ? I added 2 whole trays, but i put them in a frozen sandwich bag thing..

learnt my lesson later that you shudnt decrease temp so suddenly, 1 degree per hour am i correct ?

and thanks you guys for the suggestion on the oxygen.

hi 'sangah10'
what you need is
6xplastic pop bottles(2lts ones)
carboard box(big enough to put the bottles in plus a bit more room)
air pump + aair stone

here goes
fill the bottles 3/4 full of water and freeze them
get the cardboard box and put some holes in 1side
when bottles are frozen put them in the box,then put the air pump in box as well
put air line and air stone from pump into tank.
put lid on box and switch air pump on
the hot air goes into the box and cools the air ,pump then pumps the cool air into the tank +oxygen (so should cool the tank down)
acts a bit like air con
and less hassle than keep doing water changes to keep the water cool

 

[waterdrop]

oxygenation is the really critical thing, drop the water level in the tank or adjust the filter so that there's loads of waves/splashing on the surface, you can add an airstone as well if you like. leave the lid of the tank open if possible to encourage evaporation and keep the ambient temp of the room as low as possible. in the summer i sometimes leave a fan running in the room with the tanks blowing water across towards them.

the fish can tolerate relatively high temps providing there is plenty of oxygen in the water.

Actually a small fan blowing gently across the open surface of the tank, with the spray bar or filter outlet pipe disturbing the surface as much as possible (basically slight variation of what you say here) would probably be one of the most simple and effective ways to encourage downward movement of the thermometer liquid. Same principle as human perspiration.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Paavn]

if i have a planted tank, which i will by summer time, i will have a pressurized co2 system thats going to be set on a timer that will inject co2 during the day... if i turn it off its going to affect my plants, but if i leave it on then the fish may have a problem with rising water temps, and if keep both turned on the air pump is going to mess with my co2 levels... what do i do?

besides the ice bag idea, i'll keep that one as a last option