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I'm having some trouble keeping the temperature in my tank down. My heaters are currently set to 25-26, but the tank temp is continually registering 28-29. The thermostats in the heaters seem fine, as the heaters don't appear to be actually running whenever I've checked (based on the lights on the heater control not being on).

It's summer here in Australia, so there have been some hot days. But the tank seems to be registering as hotter than the outside temperature at times. And it is not *that* hot in my house.

Could it be the light? I have a dual globe flourescent underneath a hood, which is on ~12 hours a day. There's not a lot of ventilation underneath the hood, so it does get reasonably warm under there. I've also got an air pump running underneath it, which is likely picking up air heated by the light and pumping it into the tank.

Should I consider removing the hood to prevent heat buildup? Or leaving the light off for more of the day during summer?

Anyone have any thoughts/suggestions?

Cheers!

Hi
Depending upon how "Handy" you are, you might consider
adding a fan to the hood at one end and a few holes at
the opposite end for air to come enter from.
I would change the duration of the light to 10 hours and
put them on a timer so the on/off is taken care of
automatically.
Some times raising the hood a 1/2 inch or so above the rim
will allow for cooling. Also, some folks direct fans
across the open water surface to cool the tank.

Purchasing a chiller may be another, more permanent option
for controlling the temperature of the tank on those hot
summer days.
You don't mention where the tank is in relationship to a
window and exposure to the sun. Be sure that the sun does
not shine in on the tank at any time during the day.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

I'm not that handy, but perhaps a fan wouldn't challenge my abilities too much. I'll look into it.

Raising the hood slightly sounds like a good practical idea. It'll need to be done carefully as our cats do climb on it a bit and it will need to be stable enough for that. It will also have to be removable as the extra heat from the light will help reduce heating costs in winter.

The light is already on a timer so it's pretty easy to change.

The tank does get some sunlight during the day. It's not going to move however, as it's a 125 gal so it's a lot of work, and besides, there's not that many places it can go, being so large.

Thanks for the ideas.

Just point a small table fan at it. No need to actually install one. That doesn't take any DIY ability.

Get another thermometer just to double check. I also have one of those stick on outside this is only a guide but it is very close to the tank temp. My thermometers always float therefore giving me a top temp which will always be up a little bit.

Keeping cool as you can see I am in Vic and on the coast but we still get the very hot days. I have a full glass cover and if I take part of it off my silver sharks could easly jump out as they have done several times even with the top on 3/4ins gap at ends.

Increase the airation this helps to move all the water and can stop any hot spots and give agreater surface area. A fan in front will not reduce the temp much at all as you are only cooling part of the glass front. Turn all the lights OFF this will certainly reduce the top temperature. Keeping the room will certainly help.
Some say never do this I have expermeted by floating a large ice block made from tank water and it basically made no difference at all BUT I did this in the 5ft tank it might a difference in a smaller tank.

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

Keith

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I've got 2 stick on thermometers already, one at each end of the tank. Both register the same, within a degree or so. The fact that they differ is an indication that my water flow could be better. But it is a fairly big tank.

I think the first thing to do is to get some airflow under the hood. I've just got to figure out the best way to do that.

I'll think about it some more.

I have a makeshift hood on my 55gal. The temp in the summer does go up, even when the hood has a 1 inch gap between the tank. I am trying to design a fan type hood to build for a permanent fixture. Let me know what you come up with please.

One thing I have done here in the states the past few summers, is once I notice my tanks temps rising from the heat out side, is just unplugged the heaters. I had noticed the temps in all of my tanks staying around where they were before the summer hit.

Fish tanks are an expensive addiction

Just a quick update to this. I decided to try turning off my air pump that was under the hood. It was just powering an airstone to help with water circulation. Overnight the temperature in the tank dropped back to where it was supposed to be. I'm yet to see what happens during the day when the light's on.

So I'm pretty pleased with that so far. I didn't necessarily expect that to resolve the issue, it was just a guess that was easy to try out.

Now I need to figure out how to improve water circulation in the tank. It's a relatively big tank (well, compared to what I'm used to - it's a 4x2x2) and the 2 canister filters don't really seem to get enough movement in the corners away from the inlets. I'll have a look around, I'm sure I'll come up with something.