Cooling Aquarium down as Temp >30c
- Thread starter Mick Vallis
- Start date
Are you running chilled water through the airline?
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Mick Vallis
New Member
No, just mains. Takes a couple of hours but works well.
This is the season where aquarists all over the world are trying things to save their fish from the heat. It's lovely and cool where I am, but a lot of people here are in seriously hot places right now.
How warm is the water getting?
Most rainbowfish can take 30C water for months. I had some outdoors in containers and the temperature hit 40C+ during the day. As long as there's good aeration and the temperature doesn't go up or down rapidly, they should be fine for a few weeks.
Reduce feeding and increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise the oxygen levels in the water.
Do regular water changes and gravel cleans to keep the water cleaner (harmful disease organisms grow faster in warm water).
Make sure the filter is cleaned regularly.
Make sure you dechlorinate tap water before adding it to the aquarium. Water companies increase the chlorine or chloramine levels when the water warms up.
Most rainbowfish can take 30C water for months. I had some outdoors in containers and the temperature hit 40C+ during the day. As long as there's good aeration and the temperature doesn't go up or down rapidly, they should be fine for a few weeks.
Reduce feeding and increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise the oxygen levels in the water.
Do regular water changes and gravel cleans to keep the water cleaner (harmful disease organisms grow faster in warm water).
Make sure the filter is cleaned regularly.
Make sure you dechlorinate tap water before adding it to the aquarium. Water companies increase the chlorine or chloramine levels when the water warms up.
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OP
Mick Vallis
New Member
This is just a "radiator" with cool water running through to drain.
I do 6 weekly water changes of about 75% via a RO unit.
Not only Rainbows, Tetra's, Bristle nose, Clown Loaches & Shrimp (large).
I'm in a different climate, although predictability is out the window.
I run a fan in the window at night, to cool the room down. Then I darken up for the day, with fans. But I'm dealing with 26 outside (but with killies and Gabonse fish that dislike temps above 22). When I lived in a region that got the kind of heat you're in (35 plus) I gave up and air conditioned the fishroom.
Small mini-heat pump systems are a big thing here, with our extremes in hot and cold. When I was in England I was struck by how the systems in buildings weren't designed for what has happened to the climate. The last time I was in London in summer, it was as hot as central North America.
I run a fan in the window at night, to cool the room down. Then I darken up for the day, with fans. But I'm dealing with 26 outside (but with killies and Gabonse fish that dislike temps above 22). When I lived in a region that got the kind of heat you're in (35 plus) I gave up and air conditioned the fishroom.
Small mini-heat pump systems are a big thing here, with our extremes in hot and cold. When I was in England I was struck by how the systems in buildings weren't designed for what has happened to the climate. The last time I was in London in summer, it was as hot as central North America.
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Mick Vallis
New Member
Water fans didn't really work for me, looked into Chiller units but issue not often enough to justify cost. This prolonged temp is unusual for June & July, normally an issue Aug into Sept. Aquarium will cope with high external temps for a few days but when over a week temps build up.
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Mick Vallis
New Member
Avg Temp range for most tropical fish is 23 to 27 c. Set my heater to 25.5 & maintain at that level. Why risk allowing it to get above 30 if the solution is some pipe & some water.
Because there is no risk. But do what you feel you have to do if you are worried.
TwoTankAmin
Fish Maniac
I have no issue with too hot or too cold. We ave centra AC and heating. Our home is usually between 72 and 75F. However, we have to manually switch out thermostat between coold and heat. If we forget the temp may go out of range. I have seen teh house as cold as 68F or as high as 78F if we forget to change the setting.
But, we know when the house is too cool or too warm and why and somebody will go the the thermostat and change the setting which is obviously in the wrong position.
We also have a whole house back-up generator so a power outage isn't usually an issue. To be sure everything works well and to get fast help if it isn't we have service contracts for the furnaces, the AC unit and the generator. I also have a small fish space from which I removed one window and had a small AC installed. The fish space is in our second small building and it has central heating but not central air conditioning. It only has 2 rooms.
Fortunately, we are able to afford all of this. The tanks in the fish space were all for breeding plecos from the Big Bend of the Rio Xingu. The fish need to be in at least 76F water and can handle low 90sF. However, they are mostly kept in 80-86F year round.
For many years I did summer tanks on the screened terrace, 3/4 wall are screens. The oudoor temp in the worst of summer can hit 100F+ sometimes. During the early and late part of the outdoor tanks season I have heaters able to handle night time temps down to about 55 on a regular basis and when there is a rae bout of lower temps ai can manage into the high 40sF. But to do that reauires I have 10-20 wpg of heaters in the tanks and then I cover them with blankets and/or towels. Typicall I have 700-800 watts of heaters in the 40Bs and 300-400 in the 20Ls.
In the 1970s I shared a place with 3 others. We were all partners ona sound company. It had no AC and we had a community fish tank in the living room. It got pretty hot in the summer. Our solution was to use blocks of ice to keep the water cooled down. We used tank water for this. We had two containers. We filled them with water from the tank at the start of the season and put them in the freezer, When we added a block of ice were reilled the container it can out of and put it into the freezer. The fish seemed to be fine with the iceberg in the tank when we had to cool things down. We also had very little clue about fish and how to care for them properly.
But, we know when the house is too cool or too warm and why and somebody will go the the thermostat and change the setting which is obviously in the wrong position.
We also have a whole house back-up generator so a power outage isn't usually an issue. To be sure everything works well and to get fast help if it isn't we have service contracts for the furnaces, the AC unit and the generator. I also have a small fish space from which I removed one window and had a small AC installed. The fish space is in our second small building and it has central heating but not central air conditioning. It only has 2 rooms.
Fortunately, we are able to afford all of this. The tanks in the fish space were all for breeding plecos from the Big Bend of the Rio Xingu. The fish need to be in at least 76F water and can handle low 90sF. However, they are mostly kept in 80-86F year round.
For many years I did summer tanks on the screened terrace, 3/4 wall are screens. The oudoor temp in the worst of summer can hit 100F+ sometimes. During the early and late part of the outdoor tanks season I have heaters able to handle night time temps down to about 55 on a regular basis and when there is a rae bout of lower temps ai can manage into the high 40sF. But to do that reauires I have 10-20 wpg of heaters in the tanks and then I cover them with blankets and/or towels. Typicall I have 700-800 watts of heaters in the 40Bs and 300-400 in the 20Ls.
In the 1970s I shared a place with 3 others. We were all partners ona sound company. It had no AC and we had a community fish tank in the living room. It got pretty hot in the summer. Our solution was to use blocks of ice to keep the water cooled down. We used tank water for this. We had two containers. We filled them with water from the tank at the start of the season and put them in the freezer, When we added a block of ice were reilled the container it can out of and put it into the freezer. The fish seemed to be fine with the iceberg in the tank when we had to cool things down. We also had very little clue about fish and how to care for them properly.
Cooling aquariums down has always been a hot topic.
In my case hot water = no more babies. Temperature red line at 26-27 and it goes down to a stop.
I float an ice pack in the tanks and it's been enough for the couple days that become too much per year we have. but they can be quite harsh.
In my case hot water = no more babies. Temperature red line at 26-27 and it goes down to a stop.
I float an ice pack in the tanks and it's been enough for the couple days that become too much per year we have. but they can be quite harsh.
Oldspartan
Fishaholic
Linda purchased a dozen double wall baby size plastic glasses. Between the two walls is a gel I think. Throw in the freezer then use as needed. Dining to Fish Room is AC so no worry, although the AC may have an issue with temps the next few days. Tanks in some other rooms are a worry the next few days === so just in case.
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