How can I keep my tank cool???

[robertoi]

Since we've been having unseasonal (ie hot!) weather in London for the last week or so, my tank has been getting up to 29-30 degrees C every day. I have turned the heater off (it was set to 74F anyway...) and it isnt really getting any cooler. Turining the light off hasnt really helped much either. I have danios, ancistrus and some neons, and clearly the tempreature isnt really suitable for any of them!


Has anyone got ANY ideas how to keep the temperature down? Ive been doing water changes which bring it down a degree or two, but its a rather sudden shock for the fish and I dont have time to do it every day....

Cheers

 

[nirvanarama]

i dunno if this would work but try adding a few ice cubes to your filter so the output of water gets cooler

 

[cutecotton]

you can put ice cubes in a ziplock bag or something and let it float along the filter or air pump (area with highly circulated water), it beats having to freeze dechlorinated ice cubes lol. Just remove the ziplock bag when the icecubes have all melted.

 

[M/ASC]

dont put ice cubes in your filter as this will damage filter bacteria
dont turn off your thermostat as it is thermostatic, it only turns on to heat the water when it needs to, when the tank temp is high then it isnt turned on..
30 degrees is ok for most normal community fish, maybe even upto 32 degrees. just remember water cant carry as much oxygen when its warm so make sure there is plenty of aeration, i would do this by maving your filter outlet so its disturbing the surface of the water as much as possible and maybe using an air pump if you have one.
by the way ice cubes is probably the best solution to cool it down. i freeze a bottle of water and leave it floating in the tank

 

[Angry_Platy]

I am in Australia and on a normal summer day the outside temp would get to 40degC and the tank temp to 30degC....I did the ice cube thing too....then my fish got ich (after doing nothing else to cause ich)...I then decided that my fish were happier in consistently warmer water than in water where it changes depending on if theres an ice bottle in there or not....Many days my tank temp got to 33deg C.....with plenty of aeration....my fish were perfectly happy....the tank was like a spa there was so many airstones etc....as long as the water surface is sufficiently agitated...there will be enough oxygen and your fish will be fine.

As an aside...I keep my fry tank and quarantine tank at 30degC when there is fish in there...for the fry it helps them grow healthier and for the quarantine tank it stops any possible ich attacks on new fish and helps treat anything that may be ailing the existing fish (tho I haven't needed to use the quar tank on exisiting fosh for quite some time now)....

 

[daisycat]

Open the top of the tank and direct a desk fan across the water from slightly above - brought our tank down from 86+ to 80ish which is the temp we normally keep it at.