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  L# Dilema: It's too hot to leave the light on in my tank
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SubscribeDilema: It's too hot to leave the light on in my tank
Gromit
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female australia
At the moment it's pretty hot here (in Aussie land), so I am stuggling to keep the temperature to an acceptable level (I'm going through masses of 'fishy ice cubes'). To help keep the temp down I've been leaving the light off during the day, but now my plants are beginning to suffer.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to keep my plants happy without cooking everything?
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 11:44Profile PM Edit Report 
poisonwaffle
 
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male usa
I had a simmilar dillemma with my planted river tank last summer. I had a hillstream loach in there (they don't tolerate temps over 70F), so I ended up elevating the light, and putting a couple cooling fans on it. The setup worked well until the power supply for my fans died and it went up to 78F by the time I noticed it. Needless to say, the hillstream loach didn't make it

I'd put the lights on a timer for 'bout 5 hours a day, prop them up above the tank a few inches, and blow a good fan over the tank.

Good luck
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 11:44Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
Bob Wesolowski
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male usa
Interesting difference bewteen Oz and US. Here in the northern US we need heaters, often throughout the summer! Have you considered a chiller?

Click this link:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/NavResults.cfm?N=2004&Np=1&Ntt=chiller&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=All&Nty=1

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"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 11:44Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
Gromit
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female australia
I'm sure I bought my heater just for decoration but I'm sure it'll get some use in winter.

If I had a bigger tank I'd probably get a chiller, but it's a bit of an overkill in the tank I have. Might see if I can figure out a way to raise the light a bit & get a fan on it.
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 11:44Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
keithgh
 
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male australia au-victoria
Gromit

Not knowing your tank or your location. Here are a few sugestions that could help.
Remove the glass top (if Possible)
If you have fish that could jump our get a piece of light coloured shade cloth & place it over the top of the tank.(you can buy from any hardware store).
Add an extra air stone to move the water around more.
Have the light on very early in the morning for a few hrs before the temp rises. (get a timer if required)

Place a fan even a small one towards the tank.

Try and keep the room cool.

Keith

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Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 11:44Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
bensaf
 
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male ireland
I live in the tropics and have the same problem all year round.

Finally the solution was buying what was labelled as a plant cooling fan (from Dennerle I think). It's basically a customised computer cooling fan that sits on the lip of the tank and can be aimed as needed. It gets the temp down about 3 degrees.

A diy could be rigged up using a computer cooling fan. Failing that any fan aimed at the water surface will do the trick. Just be careful, this evapoerates the water very quickly and you will have to top up every day or two.


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Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 11:44Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
Azn_Devil
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try buying one of those small fans with a clip and clip it on the lip of ur tank. direct it towards the water and it should work...

i usually dont have a problem with this since my 30G is in my room and if the temps get too high in my room, i just turn on my AC and the whole room cools down.
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 11:44Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
Falstaf
 
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male mexico
Get a timer for yout lights, and program it to turn on every 2 hours for an hour or two all through the day. Try these first on your day off and monitor the temperature. if you time the temperature from when you turn on the lights till it starts rising, then you can get an idea on how long it will take to start messing with the tank temp, then you should have readings to program the timer on and off during the day.

Last edited by Falstaf at 13-Feb-2005 14:51
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 11:44Profile MSN PM Edit Delete Report 
Gromit
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female australia
Thanks for all the ideas!
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 11:44Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
Babelfish
 
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female australia us-maryland
I have the same problem in summer. What I did was set my timer to turn the lights on early in the morning (around 3am) then off for a few hours in the mid morning then back on again. This kept the tank from heating too much but also kept the temp from dropping too much overnight as well. Although I do have air conditioning I've never used it so the house temp stayed around 85-90F. Keeping the lights off for the hotest part of the day helped.

^_^

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