My Water Is Too Warm!

[Jozlyn]

Ok, we've had a run of really hot days and my house and my tank have over heated. How can I drop the temperature of the tank water without hurting the fish, if the water gets too much hotter, that'll kill them too. I normally have it at 25C but now it's just over 27C.

 

[Crossfc]

Ice cubes work, put them in a bag and sit them in the water. A fan blowing over the water also can help. I like do to small water changes with colder water.

 

[Betta91]

Hi Jozlyn. When I first started out with my tropical tank, I was having the same temperature problems as you were. I simply opened the back lid of the aquarium (the one that hides the filter and the bio wheel) and it dropped the tanks temperature safely, significantly, and gradually. Since it was a slow temperature transition, my fish were ok. Hope this helps, and good luck!

 

[cleekdaFish]

crikey! atleast u r gonna have boiled fish for dinner and not fried..gd for ur health

 

[Jozlyn]

I've already taken off half of the lid and have not been putting the light on either, the actual tube doesn't get hot but the transformers inside do.

I'm doing a water change and clean tonight so maybe I'll make the water I put back in lower than 25C, that should sort it out wont it, or will that be too big a change too quickly? I usually do around 30%

 

[Torrean]

I know people who put cold water straight from the tap in with any problems. I've heard this can cause ich but I wouldn't worry if your new water is just a bit cooler than your tank water.

things you can do

1. freeze a 20oz bottle of water. don't fill the bottle all the way or it will burst. try 3/4's full and then squeeze the rest of the air out and put the cap on that'll give the water room to expand. then float this in the tank. The air in the bottle will make it float.

2. put a 20oz bottle of cold water in the tank with some air in it.

3. blow a fan onto the front of the tank.

4. blow a fan across the surface of the water

5. decrease your water level so that your filter creates more surface agitation. This will increase the amount of O2 in the water. The main problem with high temps is that the fish can't breath as well so more o2 is a good thing

6. turn up the AC if you have it.



I think the fans and the increased surface agitation are the best ideas. I've used both of them

 

[Jozlyn]

he, he, he A/C goes on as soon as I walk through the door at night, the tank is heating up during the day and while the A/C cools the air in the room, it doesn't cool the furniture etc very much.

I'll try the cooler water change tonight and see how that goes and stick one of the kids drink bottles in the freezer just in case it doesn't work.

 

[raptorrex]

a collection of 2ltr soda bottles 3/4 filled then frozen, as one defrosts replace it with another, add a fan and you are doing the most you can without investing in a expensive chiller.

 

[Torrean]

ofcourse you should closely monitor your temp to make sure it does not get too low or fluctuate too much

 

[raptorrex]

ofcourse you should closely monitor your temp to make sure it does not get too low or fluctuate too much

 

[thegnu]

ROLL ON SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[fry_lover]

Ok, we've had a run of really hot days and my house and my tank have over heated. How can I drop the temperature of the tank water without hurting the fish, if the water gets too much hotter, that'll kill them too. I normally have it at 25C but now it's just over 27C.

2C hotter than normal......no problem

 

[Jozlyn]

Yeah 2C is a problem, I need to keep it as close to 25C as I can as this is the hottest the Neon's can handle And it got to 28C today, I've now put in some reusable ice-blocks and the temp' is dropping nice and slowly

 

[MHunt]

Yeah 2C is a problem, I need to keep it as close to 25C as I can as this is the hottest the Neon's can handle And it got to 28C today, I've now put in some reusable ice-blocks and the temp' is dropping nice and slowly

I have my tank regularly around the 26/27C mark and my neons are fine with it. Looking at your profile of fish i would say that all would be able to handle higher temperatures than 25C even up to 29 ish for a short period of time. If you are really concerned i would just add bottles (not sure how many, probably only one or two 500ml bottles) of ice in the morning when you leave, that will lower the tank temp in the morning so it shouldn't get quite so hot by the time you get in in the evening. But just think, free water heating, your heater should be doing virtually nothing. The main concern with warmer water is the lack of O2. Make sure you increase the aeration of the tank by adding air stones or making the filter outlet break the waters surface, or use the venturi if the filter has one.

So far i don't think you have too much to worry about at the moment.

 

[Tolak]

28c isn't going to bother neons, though it is towards the top end of their recommended temperature. Most all neons are wild caught, they are a South American fish, inhabiting the same areas as angels & discus. These are species that like it warmer, 28 to 30c is common.

I would worry more about low O2 in the water, increase aeration and they should be fine.