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g'day. with the weather here in oz starting to heat up i was just wandering what precautions to take with my tank. its in the back room of the house-furthest from the split system, its also on the side of the house that receives the most sunlight though receives no direct sunlight. im worried that if the room gets to hot it will kill the fish, any advice from anybody in similar circumstances? would a fan help? should i get a chiller? or leave the air con on full blast with all the other doors shut to draft through the house? or am i over reacting?!

I have one of those evaporative coolers on wheels. The good sized one, not those little types. If the summer gets too hot, not only can I put water in it, but also ice to make it really cool.
Be aware, your tank lights can heat the water a couple of degrees also with a hot summer temp helping it. Make sure you have ample water circulation, and an extra pump with airstone wouldn't hurt either.

If you have a couple of hundred, you could get a chiller, but those babies aren't cheap and it is probably overkill anyway. When we only had the split system up the far end, I bought one of those industrial strength fans ($70 from Good Guys, sounds like a jet taking off) and stuck it in the hallway, and used cardboard pieces to funnel it where I wanted it. It was OK, but on a 40* day, there is only so much a little A/C can do.

What sort of fish are we talking, and what state are you in?

I'd go the ice bottle and evaporative route for very very hot days. I had ice bottles rotating from tank to freezer (in those temps they make a pathetic amount of difference and if you keep the rotation up it stays nice and constant) and a fan blowing over the surface, and an airstone. I used that on my axies (no space in the fridge and that kept the water at around 26* on the really bad days, which I thought was quite an achievement given the room temp. It was still awful for the axies, but a good effort nonetheless. Keep in mind that with the fan, the room humidity jumps a bit.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

I only have a problem with the Betta tank and all I do is open up the top to let the warm air escape.

It will depend on the size of the tank and how many fish you have. Extra aeration, turning off the lights during the hottest part of the day. Get a stand fan to circulate the air but this might just circulate hot air depending on you conditions. Frozen water bottles do work but if it is a big tank it does not drop the temp very much at all, I tried it in the 5ft tank and it did not make any difference at all. Bunnings & K Mart could have an portable on wheels evaporate cooler these will cool the room very efficiently.
All the best as I think we are in for a hot summer.

For the best info contact Gone Troppo he lives in
Darwin

Keith

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos


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hey guys, well the tank is 50 gallon, its well stocked with the following:

12 runmmynose
3 corys pepper
4 rams bolivian
2 small angels
1 clown pleco
1 small i presume bristlenose pleco (bout 1.5-2 inches)

i run a fluval filter jetting against the surface (305) and have an airwall along the back. its fairly heavily planted and i run it at 26degrees. the lights are t5s so get quite warm.

i live in albury nsw on the border with victoria. the temp hit 30 outside today and i monitored the tank with just the split system running and it never went above 26.5 so that was good. i did a bit of research yesterday and stumbled upon the frozern water bottle Catallay used (cheers for that by the way ) so picked up a small 6 pack of mineral waters to freeze for when it gets real hot some time soon. maybe have to pick up an extra fan as a chiller is out of the question (got a baby due in 8 weeks and have been spending all the money on baby stuff and getting my visa sorted to stay in australia- muchos $$$! so thats a big no no on that front!).

i guess the best i an do is monitor the tank closely and act accordingly. thanks for teh help and let me know if you think of anything else. good to know help is always on hand- cheers

Hey Fandan

As Keith mentioned I do live in Darwin so I have some experience with tanks in higher temps but I am pretty lazy about temperature maintenance so I'm sure there are others who have more experience with lowering temps than I do.

I am fortunate enough to live in a climate where the temperatures from day to night and season to season do not vary all that much...it's pretty much just hot all the time. The temp of my tanks sit fairly constantly at 26 C in the Dry season (winter) and about 30 C in the Wet season (summer) with the transition between seasons being fairly slow and gradual. My fish are used to it and the higher than recomended temps have caused no issues for me. (admittedly I haven't tried a SW tank or any coldwater species like goldies or WCMMs)

I don't take any active steps to manage the temperature of my tanks other than the concious decision not to use heaters. My big tank is open topped and our ceiling fans run almost 24/7 so I guess evaporative cooling plays a part as well as the large volume of water providing some buffer against extreme swings.

In your case I think the thing you need to be most cautious of are sudden and/or drastic changes in the water temperature. For that reason I wouldn't necessarily recomend the ice bottles or cubes floating in the tank as this is likely to cause localised cool spots. The following are a few things that you can try as the temperature rises:

• If you can't move the tank insulate it as well as you can... if this means putting a a thick blanket or a sheet of polystyrene between the back of the tank and the exterior wall to lessen some of that harsh afternoon heat then do it.

• make sure your heater is functioning properly and cutting out when it's supposed to... the last thing you need is a heater not cutting out and adding to the problem.

• keep the oxygen levels high by using airstones or making sure that your HOB or canister is creating a bit of surface agitation

• keep the lights off as much as possible, and if you are using incandescents swap them for energy saving globes (compact flouros)

• leave the lids / hood off the tank to allow heat to escape and also for some evaporative cooling

• keep air circulating around the tank with a fan; and finallly...

• keep the room as cool as possible but don't stress about not having airconditioning... use heavy curtains on any windows in the room, open windows and doors in the coolest part of the day and then close them before the hottest part of the day.

I hope some of these suggestions help you get through what is tipped to be a hot summer.

G_T

Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

Wow thanks for that GT i was getting around to PMing you but you beat me too it! interesting point about the heater- i noticed the temp rising a little yesterday evening (which prompted me to make the original post) it hit 27 so i offed the lights and opened up the hood, which didnt make to much difference so i unplugged the heater and it went back down. today with the aircon on the tank rarely topped 26 degrees with the lights on all day and with it being hotter outside. so im gonna keep an eye on that. hopefully wont need the bottles but it feels good to have emergency back up! nice tanks by the way- i remember seeing the 180 beforein a picture but thats the first time i saw the cichlid tank

If you're reasonably handy with tools and anything mechanical, you could rig up a DIY chiller as follows:

[1] Spare powerhead:

[2] 30 feet of plastic siphon hose;

[3] Spare 5 gallon aquarium.

Coil the tubing and hold it together in the coil with cable ties, so that the coils can be placed in the 5 gallon aquarium.

If need be, add extension connections to run it through to your main aquarium if you are forced to place it some distance away for logistical reasons.

Connect powerhead to one end of the siphon hose (the input end) so that it directs water through the coil. Connect the other end of the hose securely so that it empties into your aquarium. I emphasise securely here because you don't want the output end slipping and dumping the entire contents of your aquarium on the living room carpet!

Position powerhead somewhere where it can extract water from within the main aquarium (possibly connected to a sponge filter holder in addition - I have one of these for my main powerhead though I don't use it because it powers the UGF).

Plug in the powerhead, adopting the usual caution with respect to mains electricity in the proximity of water.

Fill the 10 gallon aquarium with cold water, or on particularly hot days, crushed ice. The aquarium water will run through the coils and be cooled.

If you don't have a spare 5 gallon aquarium handy, then even a builder's bucket will serve as the heat sink if it's large enough. It simply needs to be large enough to hold the cooling coils and a decent volume of cold water.

Cost here in the UK if you buy all the bits from scratch as opposed to plundering the parts bin would be about £40. If yuo already have a spare powerhead waiting to be pressed into service, that knocks £20 off the price straight away. If the only thing you need to buy is the 30 feet of siphon hose, that would set you back about £8 here.




Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Hi,
If it does not already, use something to create a set
of legs between your light fixture and the tank to leave
a gap. T-5s run very hot, and will contribute greatly
to the amount of heat that is imparted into the tank.
Raising the hood up leaves a gap for air to circulate
between the tank and the light and will eliminate most
of the heat before it gets into the water.
Frank


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