how do u stop water getting too hot in summer

[evilbunny]

the water in my tank is getting hotter and hotter .. and my air con is broken, so how does everyone else keep their water from getting too high ?

(i think the temperature is affecting one of my rams, he's breathing very fast)

i'm posting here because i think my ram is just affected by the heat, so it's not a real big emergency

 

[CFC]

Add as much aeration as possible by using additional airstones and moving all filter outlets to the surface where they cause most aggitation, if possible leave the hood of the tank off and set a fan to blow cool air across the waters surface but only do this if you have fish that dont jump.
If you have external filtration you can make a DIY cooler unit from a cool box by placing the canister inside the cool box and drilling some holes in the lid for the hoses (with as tight fit as possible), the canister is then packed with ice packs which are changed alternately every 8 hours (or when they have defrosted).

 

[Angry_Platy]

As tempting as it may seem, don't put ice in your water....it cools the water too quick in areas where the fish hang out.....I did that last summer and all my fish got ich from it....

I make sure I have plenty of aeration, I drop the water level in my tanks and let the filter creat LOTS of surface disturbance which = more oxygen in the water.

My tank got to 33degC last summer....but the fish were fine....

 

[FrankSlapperinni]

I usually freeze a couple of bottles full of water and put them in the tank and refreeze them on a rotating basis. I never leave them in for more than a few minuets though.
The most labor intensive but ultimately best solution would be to carry out water changes with slightly cooler water. The agitation from adding and removing water will do good, and the water changes themselves will add to the general health of the fish and allow them to pull through better.

 

[ddm18]

Another suggestion, which is probably very obvious, but might be worth pointing out, is to try and keep them out of direct sunlight (generally a good idea anyway, but particularly in summer).

 

[evilbunny]

thanks for ur replies

i think i might just change the water, but how often can i change the water in one day ? and then again i have a fan facing it now .. and that's dropped the temperature by a few degrees

 

[yvez9]

you could maybe work out something very simple by using a small pump
just pump water out of your tank with a small hose and run that tube through a bowl of ice or something cool (place the bowl above water level so it goes back in the tank easily)

acutally i might be wrong, but just looping a tube that goes above your water and passes through a cool spot (bowl of ice). The cold water should circulate by itself inside the hose if you remove all the air, making room for hot water to get cooled and go back in the tank...

the water won't be too cold once it hits back
and your heater will heat it back up if it gets too cold.

for what it would cost (basically just a little hose) i would give it a try

 

[blue_ram]

Yup, good old fan should do the trick. It works really well in low humidity.

Just out of curiosity, how hot is it there? My rams did fine thru 5 months of blistering 90 degree summer heat.

 

[evilbunny]

blue_ram

the temperature was up in the high 30's i have to idea what that is in F,
but as it happens my blue ram didn't make and now that i think back he might have been sick to begin with, i noticed he was breathing ratherly heavily, and when i thought back on it i think he may have been doing that for some time only it became more noticeable in the last couple of days

 

[lizard]

I use frozen bottles of water, or chunks of frozen, dechlorinated, tap-water. Also have tried the fan method and w/c's with cooler water.

Didn't notice any negative effects from the frozen bottles or ice chunks. The Oto occasionally hung out on the water bottle

Pamela
aka Married Lizard

 

[Angry_Platy]

i used ice last year on my tank and all trhe fish got ich a week later....as opposed to hotter days not using anything (but cooler water changes, airstones and lowering water level) and the fish being happier. They seem more energetic as the water gets warmer