170L Tank at 31c! Help!

[PlasticGalaxy]

Title's self-explanatory: my 170L tank is currently at 31 degrees Celsius, and I'm freaking out. Recent "heatwave" in my area (15-18c over the last two days) and now the water is at 31c.

My bedroom is upstairs, has a carpeted floor and has a gaming pc that's been running a (pretty laggy) Dota 2 session basically all day. This combination, as you can imagine, has made my little hobbit-hole something similar to entering a hot takeaway shop in the heat of summer. Haven't got an exact number for how hot it is in my room specifically, but it's very hot either way.

So. The door's open, the window's open (which will inevitably bring me a healthy dose of insect bites and micro-moths everywhere) and I've got the fan blowing at full blast on the tank with the lid open. Probably going to do a water change in a few minutes just to keep the temperature down.

Any more suggestions? What should I do to prevent this in the future?

 

[NannaLou]

I have no knowledge of whether this is safe but a few ice cubes in a sandwich bag..? Like you would use them to cool a drink..?

 

[PlasticGalaxy]

I have no knowledge of whether this is safe but a few ice cubes in a sandwich bag..? Like you would use them to cool a drink..?

...Huh. I've never actually thought of that! Not sure if we have an ice cube tray... If we do then I'll pop some in the freezer and have some for tomorrow.

 

[Cydeth]

A desk fan pointing at the surface of the water would help, ice cubes as mentioned although you need to be careful not to overdo that. Also, a water change would help. I doubt the water from your tap would be anywhere close to 31 degrees.

 

[Naughts]

I'm not sure why the outside temperature at 18°c would make your tank 31°c. I suspect the tank heater is malfunctioning. Do you have a spare heater?
Increase aeration until the problem is resolved. Ice cubes can cause fluctuations that will shock, or at least stress, the fish so avoid this.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I have no knowledge of whether this is safe but a few ice cubes in a sandwich bag..? Like you would use them to cool a drink..?

If you do this, make sure you freeze tank water, not tap water. If you freeze tap water, you are literally popping frozen death cubes in your tank.

A desk fan pointing at the surface of the water would help, ice cubes as mentioned although you need to be careful not to overdo that. Also, a water change would help. I doubt the water from your tap would be anywhere close to 31 degrees.

I was also going to suggest a fan - get several in the room.

 

[PlasticGalaxy]

A desk fan pointing at the surface of the water would help, ice cubes as mentioned although you need to be careful not to overdo that. Also, a water change would help. I doubt the water from your tap would be anywhere close to 31 degrees.

Doing a water change at night feels... So wrong!! I only did one on Sunday, too... I doubt I'll do a huge amount. Just enough to keep the temperature cool.

I'm not sure why the outside temperature at 18°c would make your tank 31°c. I suspect the tank heater is malfunctioning. Do you have a spare heater?
Increase aeration until the problem is resolved. Ice cubes can cause fluctuations that will shock, or at least stress, the fish so avoid this.

Keep in mind that the temperature in my room (as it had been over the majority of the day) reaches around 30c at times - hotter in the dead of summer. No spare heaters, and none that would be sufficient for this tank. I'll keep that in mind.

If you do this, make sure you freeze tank water, not tap water. If you freeze tap water, you are literally popping frozen death cubes in your tank.

I would have liked to have thought that this would be obvious. But it wasn't. Thank you for the warning! (Luckily) we haven't got any ice cubes or ice cube trays yet. Maybe I'll buy a couple...
(Rambling now) we used to have a really cute one with fruit shaped moulds! I can hardly remember what it looked like now, must have left it at the old house...

I was also going to suggest a fan - get several in the room.

Only got one (that works), but it's pretty high powered. The temperature's dropped down to 29c now. Not ideal but better than it was.

 

[OliveFish05]

I too was going to suggest ice cubes! PK, if it were dechlorinated water would that be safe? I am so used to our water (it is well water, which I don’t think has chlorine) that I don’t often think about dechlorinating, when it comes to small things like ice cubes haha (I obviously dechlorinate for water changes)

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I too was going to suggest ice cubes! PK, if it were dechlorinated water would that be safe? I am so used to our water (it is well water, which I don’t think has chlorine) that I don’t often think about dechlorinating, when it comes to small things like ice cubes haha (I obviously dechlorinate for water changes)

I wouldn’t risk it, if it were my tank. Some may argue that it’s just “a little bit of chlorine”, but that “little bit of chlorine” may kill your fish.

Because @PlasticGalaxy ‘s tank is so big, it shouldn’t be that big of an issue. I would still always freeze dechlorinated water, for use in fish tanks.

—

No clue about your water, sorry.

Only got one (that works), but it's pretty high powered. The temperature's dropped down to 29c now. Not ideal but better than it was.

That’s good it has dropped!

Any change so far?

 

[NannaLou]

If you do this, make sure you freeze tank water, not tap water. If you freeze tap water, you are literally popping frozen death cubes in your tank.



I was also going to suggest a fan - get several in the room.

I did suggest putting them in a sandwich bag so the melted ice (water) wouldn’t enter the tank water...I didn’t think many people would have frozen tank water on hand - it was a thinking out of the box idea to try and prevent lightly poached fish ?

 

[EllRog]

The ice cubes in a sandwich bag is a good idea, but overall, don't panic. We turn up the heat in the tank when treating fish for ich, as an example and you shouldn't have problems with the heat for a short period of time. When trying to bring down the temp through waterchanges, you need to be careful that the temp doesn't drop too quickly as this can shock the fish and open a can of worms with illness.

I'd increase the surface turbulence to allow lots of oxygen into the water and maybe drip fresh water a degree or two cooler in with an airline tube.

Don't panic, aslong as you're oxygenating the water, your fish should be fine

 

[Colin_T]

I wouldn't worry about it as long as there is plenty of aeration/ surface turbulence. My tanks would sit on 30C+ all summer and the fish were fine. I reckon Barry's tanks would be over 30C all year round because he is in Thailand, and plenty of other people in tropical areas have the same problem.

In really bad cases, turn the light off or raise it up so it is at least 6 inches above the tank. This reduces the heat from the lights warming the water.

Remove the coverglass but make sure the fish don't jump out. This will allow the heat to come out quicker.

In extreme situations, you can put a bottle of frozen water in the tank and when it is nearly defrosted, swap it for another one. Refreeze the original bottle of water and keep swapping them until the tank is around 28C. Make sure you use plastic bottles with lids. However, if the tank temperature is going to sit above 30C for a week or more, just let it sit there. Tropical freshwater fish will be fine for a week or two at 30C.

If you have a marine tank, in particular a coral tank, then you will need to keep the temperature under 28C. You can use a portable air conditioner in the room to help do this.

 

[PlasticGalaxy]

I did suggest putting them in a sandwich bag so the melted ice (water) wouldn’t enter the tank water...I didn’t think many people would have frozen tank water on hand - it was a thinking out of the box idea to try and prevent lightly poached fish ?

Poached pleco... Hm. Don't Polish people eat pleco? Or some other country I can't really remember...

That’s good it has dropped!

Any change so far?

Got down to 28c when I went to bed (around 3AM), woke up today and it was at a comfortable 27c when I got up. Had the fan on, window and door open, and didn't have my computer on (until now) so it's been comfortably cool. Still at 27-28 but I'm glad it's cooled off since then.

Thank you all for the kind words and advice! Is there any way I could avoid this in the future?