Heat problem!

[konrad05]

Does anybody know how I can keep my temperature down in my tank. It's gotten pretty hot here lately (toronto), and yesterday my temperature was 83. So I completely unplugged the heater and almost 24 hours later, the temperature is now 85.5! The temperature in my room is about 80. Should I just keep doing water changes? Also, should I expect some deaths? Thanks.

 

[Tenko]

I was just about to start a similar topic.

It was 30c (83f) here yesterday, 25c today, and my tanks have been getting really hot. My big tank got up to 29c (82f) yesterday which can't be healthy for the fish.

I've got all the windows open, tanks are in shade, I unplugged the heaters a couple of days ago and have cut back on the amount of time the lights are on, as this heats up the water too. I've also been freezing big lumps of dechlorinated water and adding them in the filter housing every couple of hours.

A few big lumps lowers the temperature almost a degree c, but it's hard keeping up the supply. All this doesn't seem to have made much difference to be honest. I might have to invest in a portable air conditioner to cool the room down.

Would leaving the hood of the tank open help at all? I've been a bit unsure about doing this in case any of my fish decide to end it all and jump.

 

[Liz05]

I find that my lighting fixture really heats up my water, especially in the summer, so leaving it off part of the time might help. You can also freeze a few ice cubes, and float them in a ziploc bag in the tank to lower the temperature slowly. 83 degrees won't necessarily harm your fish though, and frequent drastic temperature changes can stress them out.

 

[Tenko]

frequent drastic temperature changes can stress them out.

I agree. I add a lump of ice, leave it for 10 mins then add another. I do this 2-4 times so over the course of 1/2 hour the temp may have dropped by at most a degree, probably only 1/2 though.

 

[konrad05]

Well, if somebody would volunteer to measure mass of the ice cube, temperature change, and heat loss to enviroment by the tank, we could used thermochemistry to find out how many ice cubes somebody needs to throw in to lower their temperature

 

[tstenback]

I wouldnt add ice to the tank, but thats just me i guess. I used to freeze water in a bottle and float it in the tank. after a while you get to know how long to leave it in and how often to change bottles. I say used to cause now i live in Newfoundland where a hot day in July might hit 80F But its good for the fish, no heat stress