Lowering Temperature

[Kizz]

When tank was first set up it was sittign at a nice 25C or around 70F Was like this for around 2 weeks

now it's been slowly creeping up noticed it last night sitting at just under 80F ! So we unplugged the heater so the temp would slowly drop and decided once it had dropped to put it on the timer i use for the lights

Just checked it again this morning after heater had been off for over 12hours and it's not dropped it's now sitting at 82F !

How can the temp rise when the heaters off !

And is there anyway i can lower the temp ?

Oh and i don't have Ice cubes ...Freezers too full to get the tray in or i would have done that

 

[Kizz]

also would the lights contribute to the heat ?

 

[Athena]

Kizz - do you have central heating on at the moment? Is there a radiator near to the tank at all? Is your room temp quite high at the moment? Water can't just heat up on its own of no accord, so if the heater thermostat is switched off in the tank, then it must be an external reason for the increase in temp. Unless the thermometer is broken? Try leaving the hood open for a while to help cool the tank water down a bit and if you can get another thermometer to double check that would be good.

Are your fish showing signs of stress from the higher temp?

Yes, the lights can add to the heat if they are left on for very long periods of time...

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Water can hold it's temp surprisingly well, the best way to bring the temp down is to increase aeration in the tank and air cirulation around it, so leave the hood open and if you've got an airstone then turn that on or move the filter output so it breaks the surface of the water

yes lights can contribute to the heat of the tank so you may want to turn them off or down.

 

[Kizz]

do you have central heating on at the moment?

Heating was on last night but got turned off as it did get to hot but that was around 11pm last night all heaters are stone cold this morning

Are your fish showing signs of stress from the higher temp?

All fish seem to fine except my to lyretail mollies they;'ve been sitting near the top of the tank for past 2 days or so . We
treated water incase there was something wrong but still seem to be doing it that was when we came to the conclusion that it was the temp

Unless the thermometer is broken?
The thermostat we have is in brand new bought it 3 days after i got the tank

Is your room temp quite high at the moment?
I've opening livingroom windows which is making me bloody freezing since i stay in scotland and it's currently pissing it down outside ! lol

All lights are off in the tank too as when i opened it this morning to feed them the heat off the lights was quite hot

If i leave hood open will any of the fish take a break for freedom ? lol

 

[Athena]

Oh, Kizz, you have made me laugh - thoughts of you up in Scotland freezing your socks off with the windows open trying to cool the fish down LOL

Depends what kind of fish you have in there - some do jump, unfortunately (especially Betta's, as I found out). If you're worried about them jumping, maybe you could just wedge the top open a little bit - and leave the lights off. How long do you normally leave your tank lights on for usually? Do you tend to leave them on all night? If so, you might want to start turning them off when you go to bed (will save on your leccy bill too!), especially if yours is the type with double light fitments, like one of mine. That tank always feels slightly warmer than my others so I tend not to put the lights on in that tank for as long as the others.

So with all this cold air circulating your room at the moment, no lights on, hood open a bit, increased airation - hopefully you should see a drop in temp soon (so long as it doesn't go too far the opposite way LOL)

Athena

 

[Kizz]

just stuck my jacket on lol !

the lights are normally on from when i finish work so around 5 ish til whenever i go up to bed

never leave them on overnight i'm to paranoid incase it blows up or starts a fire ! lol

i'll keep checking it til i go to work

if it does start to drop will it drop dramitcally in 5 hours ? don't want fish to freeze to death lol

 

[Athena]

Kizz - can you not turn down the setting on your themostat? If you could put it at a slightly lower setting, turn it back on, I can't see that the tank temp will keep increasing if the lights are not on. You might want to do a 25% water change tonight, too, as the higher temps can sometimes cause tank chemicals to increase, which might be why some of your fish are sitting at the top, so that they can get more oxygen.

You can't really leave the tank with no heating whatsoever for too long a period of time because if the temp should go too low then you will have problems. But obviously something caused it to increase so that needs to be addressed. Otherwise you'll be forever going through this same procedure every few days to cool the tank down.

Most thermostats have a knob at the top that you can set to a specific number. If you can turn it down by, say, 5 degrees and give it a day or so and check the temp again, you might find all is ok.

Athena

 

[Kizz]

unfortunatly can't turn thermo down it's one of the glass ones that stick to the side of the tank

the heater has a knob on the top but it doesn't have a point to indicate what temp you have it set to . I got my grandad to set it for me as it was his tank before i got it

Temp has went down slightly now between 80-82F I know it's not much but it's some thing

I'm going to give my neighbour my key as he finish's his work at 3 so he can come back n check the temp if it does drop to low should i just get him to turn the heater back on ?

If we can't ge tit to drop down to a stable temp tonight i'll just buy a new heater on fri when i get paid

I have a 190L Tank so will a 150W heater be enough to do the job ?

Hopefully i'll be able to shut my windows this evening cause by god it's freezing in here now ! lol

 

[Miss Wiggle]

aaaaaaah it's just gonna take a bit of fiddling with the heater to get the temp to hold steady at the right point.

don't worry that its got no numbers on the heater, they're settings are rubbish anyway! What you should do is turn the heater to it's lowest setting and then leave it plugged in, monitor it using the thermometer which will tell you the tank temp, monitor it until teh tank temp drops to 1/2 degrees below where you want it, then very slowly turn the dial round on the heater until it switches on. The just monitor the temp and you should find it holds steady around about where you want it to be

 

[Kizz]

right just had a wee play about with the the heater pulled it out so i could see it properly had a wee play around with it even tho it's switched when i turned dial to where tis' sitting now at the 68o mark a wee red light came on !

I'm so confused ! i know i've def turned it off as i only have 3 sockets plugged into the extention cable the heater filter and the lights

heres a pic of it

The top 2 numbers are 68 and 71 the bottom number is 93

Do i have it set the right way cause i'll turn it back on if it is

 

[Kizz]

really confuse dnow do i have it set to the highest temp or the lowest temp !

Need help ASAP as leaving for work in 10 minutes ! DOn't want my fish to boil while i'm away

 

[Athena]

oooh Kizz I'm in a panic with you now - I can't actually tell from the photo cos it's blurred, as to where the setting point is on that dial. is there a little coloured marker or notch or something? It doesn't look like any of the dials on my thermostat (by thermostat I mean heater, not thermometer LOL) so I can't help you and I don't want to make a guess in case I tell you wrong!

Oh dear!! Can anyone else help Kizz?

 

[Kizz]

theres nothing what so ever to indicate what temp it's sitting at i'll just turn it off til i get home from work !

Infact i'll leave it til BF gets in he'll be in 30 min after me and is going to help me do a 20%water change on tank to reduce chemicals if anything and put coller water into the tank !!

Dear god this is so stressful !! lol

I'm going to be worryin about them all day at work now aswell !!!

If anyone can help Post and i'll read it when i finish my work !

When i say the top 2 numbers . On the pic where you can see the cable entering the thermo thats sitting at 68-71 i can't turn it any further clockwise thats as far as it goes i can turn it anti clockwise hence why i don't know if it's right setting or not

i'll turn it off for now and close lid so it doesn't cool down to quickly whilst i'm at work !!

Thank you soooooo much for help athena !! and Miss Wiggle

xx

 

[Miss Wiggle]

just turn it to the lowest setting, when it's turned on and plugged in turning it one way should turn it on (little red light will coem on somewhere) turning it the other way will make it turn off (little red light goes out). So try both ways watching the little light, whichever way makes the light go out is turning it down, turn it as far as you can in that direction but leave it plugged in and switched on.