So Who Cools Their Tank In This Hot Weather?

[jnms]

I've spent the last hour or so reading threads dated all the way back to 2003 regarding fish tanks that are too hot due to very hot weather. There was all sorts of advice from using ice cubes/bottles, to increased aeration or blowing fans across the water surface, increasing A/C, turning off lights and so on.

Advice is one thing though, experience is another. No one in those threads actually talked about their own tanks being too hot (aside from the thread starter). So, how many people here are finding their own tanks are too hot in this current 'heat wave'? I have a load of Lake Malawi cichlids in my tank - I usually keep the temp. around 24 to 25C (between 75F and 77F) with this hot weather, over the past few days the temperature in my tank has increased right up to 31C (88F) which is pretty hot. Not seeing any problems with the fish at the moment - and I am guessing in Africa the temperature of the lakes changes with the seasons, though of course the fish have a greater expanse of water and more places to perhaps cool off.

So - what is everyone else's tank temperature at the moment, has it increased by much? If so are you doing anything to cool it down?

 

[ajs2294]

I'm glad I moved to Florida and Have Air Conditioning as long as its working Its a steady 76 degrees inside even if its 100 outside . But I have talked to people who have said that they have Marine tanks with so many lights that even in an Air Conditioned room they have special cooling units to keep the temperature down otherwise it gets way up in the 90s!

 

[jnms]

Crazy situation that!

You know, I'm actually thinking that in my tank it's the rocks that are contributing towards the high heat. Rocks hold and then radiate heat don't they, and I have a whole ton of them in there.

 

[Harlequins]

My 2 10 gal cory tanks in the kitchen are normally set at 22.5 and they're hitting around 25.3, so on with the fan to cool them down before they go up any higher...

The 55 gal in lounge is normally 24 and has risen up to 27.6, having mainly corys i do worry about the temperature in them.

All the tank lids are up to keep the temp from rising more.i had the fans on at 6.30am today,because the 55 gal had gone up to 27.6 overnight

 

[ajs2294]

Rocks hold and then radiate heat don't they, and I have a whole ton of them in there.

Its possible but in water heat dissipates much faster than in air so I'm not sure.

 

[DJ Day 1]

apart from turning lights off, the heater down and opening the hood of the tank, it's been suggested to me that two good ways of reducing the heat slowly are:
1) fill an icecube tray with aquarium water and freeze it.. the cubes can be added from time to time to bring the temperature down.
2) freeze normal ice cubes, place in a plastic bag and place that in the water.

i've tried normal ice in a plastic bag and it did lower the temp of the aquarium without killing any fish. i haven't tried freezing aquarium water yet though..

 

[AstonN24vantage]

was 102 in boston last week. thank goodness for air conditioning!

 

[snowflake311]

my tank that had my new discus got up to 90F the other day. but all other tanks did not get any warmer. I keep my tanks at 76f -80F. Where I live the days warm up around 1pm then cool down around 6pm and the nights are cold so the tanks cool off. The smaller the tank the warmer it gets my big tank stay constant.

So no I don't cool my tanks just lower the temp and keep the tanks open.

 

[ajs2294]

my tank that had my new discus got up to 90F the other day. but all other tanks did not get any warmer. I keep my tanks at 76f -80F. Where I live the days warm up around 1pm then cool down around 6pm and the nights are cold so the tanks cool off. The smaller the tank the warmer it gets my big tank stay constant.

So no I don't cool my tanks just lower the temp and keep the tanks open.

Just checking but you keep your discus tank warmer right? 82-86 is optimal