Tank Temp Issues.

[dopieopie]

Not am emergency yet, but a little concerning.

I usually keep my tank between 78f-79f.

It has been unseasonably warm for this time of year, and for an extended period of time. My tank has now gotten to 82f.

There is a fan in the same room, and I've been leaving the light off more than normal

I lowered the water level for better oxygenation.

Should I be concerned? And if so what are some possible ideas to safely lower the temp a bit?

 

[Akasha72]

fill a plastic bottle with water (preferrably dechlorinated just in case it leaks) and freeze it. Once frozen drop it into the tank. As it defrosts it will lower the temperature of the tank water. Also keeps blinds and/or curtains closed during the day. Keep tank lights off during the day too

 

[dopieopie]

Thanks! I'll give that a try tonight.

 

[Akasha72]

no problem. Hope it helps

 

[RobRocksFishTank]

I wouldn't be worried about 82 degrees. If you are not careful, using ice can cause a sudden drop in temperature, especially in smaller tanks, which can be much more detrimental than a slightly higher than normal temperature. It's much easier to control the room temperature.

 

[RobRocksFishTank]

BTW, lowering the water level actually lowers the total available oxygen. Increasing your circulation can help with oxygenation.

 

[Bubbelzzz]

When dropping a bottle of ice in the tank, don't forget to put something over the bottle so the fish can't touch it. If your fish do touch the cold bottle they could get injuries from it.
 
82f is about 28C which to me wouldn't be a concern immediately. If your fish are healthy they should be able to survive it. Unless this temperature will be to high for too long of a period (think about maximum 1 month as a guideline)

 

[RobRocksFishTank]

Keep in mind that a sudden drop in temperature of even a few degrees will stress your fish. This is one of the major causes of ich.

 

[Bubbelzzz]

Keep in mind that a sudden drop in temperature of even a few degrees will stress your fish. This is one of the major causes of ich.

 
Almost forgotten, you're correct. Changes in temperature should be done gradually.For smaller tanks, the bottle of ice is therefore not a very good idea, since the temperature will drop faster in those tanks.

 

[dopieopie]

Well I went with the method before reading the other replies, it's a 36 gallon tank and I used a liter water bottle. It dropped the tank down to 80f which I feel a lot better about. It took about an hour and a half to drop it 2 degrees.

The fish seem much more active, and everything is fine.

As for dropping the water level slightly, I'm almost positive that most things I read when my tank had ich said to do this for better surface agitation for added oxygenation, unless my brain totally had turned to mush in its stressed state.

 

[RobRocksFishTank]

As for dropping the water level slightly, I'm almost positive that most things I read when my tank had ich said to do this for better surface agitation for added oxygenation, 

 
That would depend on your set-up. Higher temps mean less dissolved oxygen in the water. Less water even less oxygen available. TBH, I don't know how the math would work out.
 
For future reference, it would much safer and probably fairly easy to take measures to keep the room from getting hot enough to raise the temp of the water that high. 

 

[dopieopie]

I didn't drop the water level much, just a few inches, like maybe 5 inches from the top.

As for keeping the room cooler, I think my fish and I would both love that haha.

The temp of the house lately from the thermostat has averaged between 77 and 83 degrees.

Here's to above normally high Temps!

 

[Akasha72]

I've now got tank temp problems too. Good ole Blighty is in the middle of a heatwave. Yesterday it hit 32 degrees. My tank is hitting temps of nearly 28. No amount of trying to cool the room is helping, keeping the tank lights off only helps minorly and now the fish are all looking sluggish. I've just added my sponge filter to the tank with the air pump on full ... they're slowly looking a bit a more lively. I need to go searching for my air stone and air pump connector that means I can run two air stones or two sponge filters. I use them rarely so it might take a bit to find them! 
 
If the tank hits 27/28 degrees today then I'm going to have to get an iced plastic bottle in there myself. My heater is still switched on (although the thermostat is keeping it from coming on) and so there's no reason for the tank to drop below a safe level with an iced bottle in there as the heater should kick in if it falls below 24/25

 

[NickAu]

Ok
 
You could try getting lots of hose enough to reach  from the tank to the bathroom plus about 20 feet to sit in the bath, Connect a pump to one end of the hose and put the other end in the tank. Then fill the tub with water maybe even throw some ice in the tub, Turn the pump on, The water circulating thru the hose in the tub will be cooled when it returns to the tank.  The heater should keep the water at the right temp if it drops too much.

 

[Akasha72]

yeah Nick, I was told that trick yesterday on another forum and if I lived in a country where heat waves are a regular occurance I would be looking to do something like this. The thing with the U.K is we don't get this kind of weather regular enough to warrant spending a lot of money. The last time we had a heat wave of this kind was about 20 years ago ... according to the weather forcaster anyway. I think they said on the news last night that yesterday was the hottest day for 25 years.
 
I now have a small cola bottle in the freezer. The tank was nearly 27 degrees when I came home from the shops. I've put the cooling fan on and it's come down to 26.3 which is better but I can't leave the fan on 24 hours it'll cost a fortune in electric. It now looks like there's a storm brewing again so that might help with the humidity... it's incredibly humid and I can't get rid of the banging headache that it causes!!