Newbie Question

[vear]

So, I'm still pretty new at fish keeping. As of now I have a 75 gallon with an aquatic turtle and various tropical fish, a 5.5 gallon with a male betta, and a small 5.5 gallon guppy tank. I rent an apartment, so I have no control over the thermostat. Without a heater, the water in my tanks is usually 76-78F. Mostly 78F. I'm not going to do this now, but I may later want a goldfish tank. How would I go about cooling the water? Is it still feasibly for me to keep goldfish? It seems to me that heating up the water is easy, but I have no idea how to keep it at a lower temperature.

Any input is grealy appreciated. Thanks.

 

[plecostomus-mad]

hmm....

i would think something along the lines of a marine chiller? they are expensive, coming in at around £300 i think. ask in the marine section about cheap marine chillers. find out how cold it makes the water, they are used to keep the water cooler because marine light setups really do heat the water up alot.

hope that helps a little.

mark

 

[vear]

hmm....

i would think something along the lines of a marine chiller? they are expensive, coming in at around £300 i think. ask in the marine section about cheap marine chillers. find out how cold it makes the water, they are used to keep the water cooler because marine light setups really do heat the water up alot.

hope that helps a little.

mark

Thanks. I knew there had to be something. I'm looking them up now. They do seem pretty expensive, but it probably also depends on how big a tank I want to have. I'll read some more about it. Thanks.

 

[plecostomus-mad]

no problem.you might get a good second hand one cheap, try ebay

 

[kelly528]

Not sure what kind of goldfish you want to keep... I'll assume fancies because if you want to kep commons in an aquarium you are just nuts!

The latest findings in the keeping of Fancy Goldfish suggest you need a heater, not a chiller! Although some hardier fancies (Fantails, Ryukins) will tolerate colder water most fancy varieties thrive best in water between 68-74. Warmer water increases the efficiency of your biological filter and by keeping it below 74 you will not compromise the oxygen content of your water. Furthermore if you are filtering your tank appropriately (10x the gallonage of the tank in GPH) you should never have to worry abotu oxygen content unless the heater breaks and cooks the tank at 90!

Even common varieties are hardy enough to withstand temperatures of 90 for short periods of time.

So in short don't waste your money on a chiller, if anything get a heater.


ETA: Just saw your tank temperature. If you wan to be picky you could get a small chiller to cool the water a few degrees. As an added bonus it will keep the water temp stable even if your house temp changes.

 

[Truck]

The latest findings in the keeping of Fancy Goldfish suggest you need a heater, not a chiller!

Could you post a reference to where you read this please?

 

[vear]

Not sure what kind of goldfish you want to keep... I'll assume fancies because if you want to kep commons in an aquarium you are just nuts!

The latest findings in the keeping of Fancy Goldfish suggest you need a heater, not a chiller! Although some hardier fancies (Fantails, Ryukins) will tolerate colder water most fancy varieties thrive best in water between 68-74. Warmer water increases the efficiency of your biological filter and by keeping it below 74 you will not compromise the oxygen content of your water. Furthermore if you are filtering your tank appropriately (10x the gallonage of the tank in GPH) you should never have to worry abotu oxygen content unless the heater breaks and cooks the tank at 90!

Even common varieties are hardy enough to withstand temperatures of 90 for short periods of time.

So in short don't waste your money on a chiller, if anything get a heater.


ETA: Just saw your tank temperature. If you wan to be picky you could get a small chiller to cool the water a few degrees. As an added bonus it will keep the water temp stable even if your house temp changes.

Hmm.. that's interesting. So you're saying that I could keep fancy goldfish in 77-78F and they'd be ok? Would it shorten their life span? I definitely don't need a heater, unless I want my temps above 80F.

By the way, I don't have the tank yet, I'm just curious for when I decide to set one up.

 

[kelly528]

Not sure what kind of goldfish you want to keep... I'll assume fancies because if you want to kep commons in an aquarium you are just nuts!

The latest findings in the keeping of Fancy Goldfish suggest you need a heater, not a chiller! Although some hardier fancies (Fantails, Ryukins) will tolerate colder water most fancy varieties thrive best in water between 68-74. Warmer water increases the efficiency of your biological filter and by keeping it below 74 you will not compromise the oxygen content of your water. Furthermore if you are filtering your tank appropriately (10x the gallonage of the tank in GPH) you should never have to worry abotu oxygen content unless the heater breaks and cooks the tank at 90!

Even common varieties are hardy enough to withstand temperatures of 90 for short periods of time.

So in short don't waste your money on a chiller, if anything get a heater.


ETA: Just saw your tank temperature. If you wan to be picky you could get a small chiller to cool the water a few degrees. As an added bonus it will keep the water temp stable even if your house temp changes.

Hmm.. that's interesting. So you're saying that I could keep fancy goldfish in 77-78F and they'd be ok? Would it shorten their life span? I definitely don't need a heater, unless I want my temps above 80F.

By the way, I don't have the tank yet, I'm just curious for when I decide to set one up.

Not sure whether a few degrees too warm would shorten their lifespan but installing a chiller to bring it down a few notches would provide the added benefit of keeping the tank stable regardless of room temperature.

Truck, Fancy Goldfish by Erik L. Johnson & Richard E. Hess.