Dealing With Summer Heat?

[mrhidley]

Hi all,
 
I'm just wondering if i need to perform any modifications to deal with the summer heat? I have 3 tanks in my third floor flat, and as you can imagine it gets rather warm up here. I normally run my tanks at 23c in the winter, but due to the heat the tempreture has risen to 26/7c. Will they cope with this or do i need to modify my tanks in some way? or perform cold water changes?
 
Tank sizes are
 
200L
60L
21L (fry tank)
 
Thanks

 

[ncguppy830]

how does the temp outside affect inside id never know. they should cope but you could put on the ol ac and lower the room temp

 

[mrhidley]

how does the temp outside affect inside id never know. they should cope but you could put on the ol ac and lower the room temp

 
Haha! Unfortunately I live in the UK and most of us don't have AC.

 

[Blondielovesfish]

If you think its concerning then you could freeze several bottles of water and then float them in the tanks. 
Another option could be to direct some fans at the surface of the water. 
 
The cold water changes won't really fix the problem for long as they'll heat up quite fast.
I would recommend putting the bottle of frozen water in. If I was you I'd put a 500mL bottle in the 21 litre. 2L in the 60 litre. 6L in the 200 litre. This should (hopefully) reduce the temperature some. However, watch it because the temperature might fluctuate a bit.

 

[mrhidley]

If you think its concerning then you could freeze several bottles of water and then float them in the tanks. 
Another option could be to direct some fans at the surface of the water. 
 
The cold water changes won't really fix the problem for long as they'll heat up quite fast.
I would recommend putting the bottle of frozen water in. If I was you I'd put a 500mL bottle in the 21 litre. 2L in the 60 litre. 6L in the 200 litre. This should (hopefully) reduce the temperature some. However, watch it because the temperature might fluctuate a bit.

 
OK, will try this, thanks very much

 

[fluttermoth]

The fish should be able to cope with higher temperatures, for a short time; like the very hot afternoons; we're getting!

The main thing is to ensure you have enough aeration; warmer water holds less dissolved oxygen than cooler water does. I've raised the spray bars, or lowered the water levels, in my tanks so the filters are really splashing the water around.

 

[mrhidley]

The fish should be able to cope with higher temperatures, for a short time; like the very hot afternoons; we're getting!

The main thing is to ensure you have enough aeration; warmer water holds less dissolved oxygen than cooler water does. I've raised the spray bars, or lowered the water levels, in my tanks so the filters are really splashing the water around.

 
OK, Thanks, i'll set the bubblers on full blast

 

[dgwebster]

I would like to address a question/statement about how room temp effects fishy temp. It is all down to heat transfer. Something of a higher temp will want to transfer that energy to something of a lower temp. Normally our tanks loose heat to the room at a certain rate, but raise the average temp of that room an extra 10 degrees and it looses efficiency.

Adding frozen bottles works really well but they do not last very long: 3-4 hours. However 26-28 the fishies wont mind for a week or two so stick a frozen bottle in about 2pm each day.

 

[AquaticCameron]

*Note* I think in Fahreinheit so as a result, so as a result some of my celsius numbers (in paranthesis) may be wrong. However, the Fahreinheits are correct so if your not sure feel free to conver them, though I think I'm pretty close to the correct numbers.
 
26 or 27 degrees celsius is not too bad since according to my calculations that is in the upper (27) 70s or very very low 80s. If you have a goldfish tank I would worry more about cooling. However, for a tropical tank, while some people may see this temperature as being a bit warm, I personally believe that it is fine for your fish. Also, if that is the highest the temperature reaches, as your post implies, than I would just see it as a plus because you save money because you will not need to pay as much electricity for heating.
 
Also, if this is the highest temperature you aquarium reaches then chances are your aquarium won't ever reach this temperature because water tends to warm and cool slower than natural air. Plus even if it is this hot outside, indoors tend to be a few degrees cooler.
 
I don't think that cooling will be a problem, however, if you want, I would recommend just getting a thermometer for a couple of dollars and sticking it in and if you ever see it go above (27) 80 then worry about it, versus, having your tank reach a max of 24.5 76 for example and then you try to cool it down some and your heater just needs to run to make up for it.
 
I also agree with fluttermoth. While heat shouldn't be a problem for your fish, aeration may be depending on how heavily stocked your tanks are. Your bubblers on full blast should help you both with your oxygen problem (surface agitation) and also a little bit with your heating problem as surface agitation can lead to more evaporation generally.
 
Hope I helped, and if you need anything else, please PM me!