Too Hot For Fish?

[Gruntle]

Hi all,
 
After suffering some losses over the past couple of months due to excessive hot weather, I've come to a conclusion.
 
Brisbane (Queensland, Australia) has suffered from (depending on the source) the driest start to a calendar year on record (or very close to it). My tanks are struggling to stay under 30 degrees (Celsius, or 90 Fahrenheit). I'm doing bulk (75%) water changes on at least a weekly basis, I've been putting ice packs (in a sealed bag) into the tank, which my fish seem to love, surrounding it like it's a sports stadium, but all in all, I cannot seem to keep the temperature down to where it belongs for them to be happy. Ice works for about an hour, but by the next morning the temperature is back up to where it started.
 
Since this happens every year at this time, I think I might have to change my stock. My Cherry Barbs are down from 6 to 3, I have one remaining Pacific Blue-Eye out of 9, and I think my Endler population is diminishing, although they're hard to count because they're so fast and similarly coloured.
 
I can't afford a chiller, and the only other option is to air-condition the whole house (which I also can't afford). Or a bigger tank, which will cause a marriage breakup.
 
Are there any tropical fish that can handle a higher temperature for a couple of months a year? I don't like what has happened lately, and can't bear the thought of it happening every year.

I should add that the heaters are off, I've reduced the light timing (to about 8 hours per day and totally off on the weekends) and I've ramped up the air stones to maximum.
 
I don't really want to leave the lid open in case of daredevil fish on the floor while I'm away.

 

[SherLar]

Central Air Conditioning (cooling the entire house) isn't a normal thing in Australia? Try putting a De-humidifier in your fish room. Drier air is easier to keep cool than humid air. You might also look for a stand alone a/c unit. They can be put anywhere in the room, no window needed. There is a pan beneath the unit that collects moisture.

 

[NickAu]

Heres an idea.
 
DIY aquarium cooler
 
Get a esky or  drum with a removable lid, about 20 meters of hose, and 1 power head pump, attach one end the hose to the outlet of the power head and place the other end into your tank. Now for the best part.
 
Take the hose and stuff it into the drum fill the esky or drum with cold tap water and turn on the pump, The water from the tank will circulate thru the hose and be cooled down, add ice and cool tap water as needed. 
 
Image is not my work, 
 

 

[Blobfish]

King Joey has two projects that might help you;
 
https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5s8Cu59-NM
 
https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ByGYB5GtLo
 
With regards to your problem with leaving the lid off, you can buy nylon mesh cheaply by the meter and you could use a piece to cover your tank while still allowing for more cooling.

 

[luca1980]

you can also place a fan on high and let it blow across the surface

 

[Baccus]

G'Day Gruntle I too suffer from overheating tanks and I am in CQ so a tad more extreme, but I know your pain of over heating tanks.
 
Since a larger tank is not an option almost all the things I can think of while avoiding a chiller (which are crazy expensive and not all they are cracked up to be generally only dragging a tank down 1 or 2 degrees) are going to be hard.
My tanks are all open topped, even the 60L cherry shrimp tank I have has its lid left wide open to allow airflow and stop the light overheating the tank. However with my open topped tanks I also have lights that only go approx 2/3 of the tank length this gives me an area of the tank with no light directly above it and thus is not getting heated by the light. In all tanks I have airstones and in one 4ft I actually have 2 airstones running 24/7. One is a normal stone and the other is a bubble wall. I also have HOB filters that are situated at one of the tank and flowing the length of the tank I find this gives the best water movement along the length of the surface of the tank. I also have the water quite high on the HOB's return so that rather than being a waterfall effect of the returning water its more like rapids.
I don't know what kind of set up you have for your tank but I wonder if you would have room under the tank to set up a "sump" filter this water that is kept in the dark could be pumped back into the tank allowing a slightly cooler water change to constantly be occurring.
When doing water changes in summer (well almost anytime barring actual cold spells in winter) I tend to do water changes at night after the water in the pipes have had a bit of a chance to cool down, especially after everyone in your neighbourhood have used heaps of water bathing and doing dishes.
As suggested you could try having a fan blowing across the surface of the tank, this will increase evaporation and you will need to keep an eye on any pH and gH changes that might occur from changing concentrations.
When buying fish I generally try to only get them in winter or when I am expecting a cool spell. This way I find if the fish where posted to me they have less chance of being cooked in transit. But also it allows the fish to acclimatise to my tanks when the tanks are coolest and then can gradually adapt to the slow rising temperatures as spring and summer march onwards.
Just for the record I actually keep the following species
Peppered Corydoras
False Julii
Emerald (Brochis splendens)
Pygmy corydoras
Smudge Spot corydoras
Strebia corydoras
Borneo Suckers
Dwarf neon rainbowfish
Threadfin rainbows
Riffle Shrimp
Cherry shrimp
Chameleon Shrimp
Darwin Algae Shrimp
Red Nose Shrimp
Spotted Blue Eyes
Pacific Blue Eyes (northern strains rather than southern strains)
Endlers
Anglefish
Bristlenoses
Dwarf Chain Loaches
Khuli loaches
Guppies
Various local rainbowfish
Whiptail catfish
 
If you want to try some more heat tolerant species then I would suggest looking at what Aquagreen has to offer nearly all of his stock is native to the NT and even introduced species he sells have been kept and bred in the NT.

 

[NickAu]

No Bettas?

 

[Baccus]

I used to have a soriety of fighters but they have since died of old age

 

[Zante]

If 30 celsius is the highest your tanks reach have you considered Discus and discus tankmates, such as cardinals, rummynose tetras, corydoras sterbai, corydoras adolfoi and so on?
 
I keep the heaters for my discus tank on 28 celsius, but I've occasionally seen the tank temperatures at 32 celsius on really hot summers. The fish were completely unbothered.

 

[HarpyFishLover]

Heres an idea.
 
DIY aquarium cooler
 
Get a esky or  drum with a removable lid, about 20 meters of hose, and 1 power head pump, attach one end the hose to the outlet of the power head and place the other end into your tank. Now for the best part.
 
Take the hose and stuff it into the drum fill the esky or drum with cold tap water and turn on the pump, The water from the tank will circulate thru the hose and be cooled down, add ice and cool tap water as needed.

Whoever invented this is brilliant! I might try this as we keep our house at like 80 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer.