Keeping tank temperature down!

[UBigBobby]

I live in the attic of an old 2 story house, with no air conditioning in the room, only fans. This summer we've had ALOT of 90+ degree days. On "normal" summer days this summer my tanks temp hovers at about 78-80 degress, so perfect. But when the temperature spikes, of course so does the water, to 82+. What can I do to keep the temp down to no more than 82? I'e tried baggies of ice, but that really does nothing.

I have 6 tiger barbs and 1 african albino frog. They're "fine" in 82+ water....but I know its not the best for them, and neither is the temperature change in general. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[smidge]

Hi,

I had a look at an old post that someone asked the same question as I had the same problem and this is what they said:

Get a water bottle, peeling off any wrapping, filling it up with water, pop it in your freezer, then stick itin your tank when the water inside the bottle has frozen. When the bottled water is half thawed the tank temp.


Hopefully this will help as I found the ice cube thing does nothing either.

 

[LadyMinion]

Don't know if anyone else has found this effecitve, but we have a ceiling fan in both the rooms with fish and it does a pretty good job of lowering the tank temperatures (with the hoods up, obviously ). Can bring it down a good couple of degrees celsius.

If you don't have a ceiling fan, try a normal desk one - face it directly onto the water surface for maximum effect. Just make sure it's positioned safely and can't fall in the tank and electrocute your fish.

 

[modernhamlet]

I have had the same problem in my 3rd floor apartment this summer, with room temps well into the 90s, the tank can get up to 85 and higher. I've tried the ice bags thing to minimal effect.

The best thing I've found is actually one of those small clip-on fans. I leave the hood up and clip the fan to the end and set it to blow across the surface. It keeps the temps around 80 or so on all but the hottest of days. Only drawback is there's a LOT more evaporation, so I have to top up every couple of days.

Leaving the lights off during the day is a huge help as well.

Good luck keeping the fishes cool!

 

[Tropjunky]

I think you should have a look at this
http/store.over-clock.com/Refrigeration.html
I know it's not made for fish but it's not a bad solution although u might not want it on all the time cos it's not tempereture activiated i don't fink.

 

[nonot8946]

my tank is up to about 86 once per week. the fish have no visible problems with this. I think the key is to buy hardier fish and keep the water parameters good.

 

[Ed4567]

Fans are effective at increasing the evaporation and can bring a tank down a few degrees.

Also when using ice the key is to use a large mass; you can actually calculate the temperature drop in your tank using a bit of physics:

Energy taken in by the ice= Mass of ice * Latent heat of melting for water

Temp drop in tank= energy lost / (mass of water in tank * specific heat capacity of water)

Ed

ps. the above only accounts for the ice melting- there will be further cooling as the ice is brought up to the temperature of the tank.