FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Hey there

At the moment, due to soaring temperatures and a lack of insulation on my place my aquarium temperature is getting too high for comfort.

is there any makeshift ways of lowering the temperature?

Would setting up a fan near the tank make a differance?

I sure hope it does. Im looking forward to your replies.

Hi Troy

im having the same prob with my tanks. this weather is such a pain! my tanks were hitting the 34 degree mark yesterday!

i have a fan sitting at my tank.. it helps a little.. and i do small water changes adding water slightly colder than whats in the tank.
and keep the light off when its hot.

you could try these out..

---

Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

Thanks for the reply.

I just had my brother set up a fan while I am at work. he is keeping tabs on the temperature and is informing me about it every 15 minutes (just to annoy me). It is currently at 28.3*C

Oh yeah my tank temp yesterday was 33.3*C. you are probably living near me!

Hi,
You might try creating your own DIY radiator.
Use a spare shelf from your oven as a support.
Take aquarium hose and weave it through the grids
of the shelf. Set the shelf sideways so the grids
go from left to right, and weave the hose through going
from top to bottom of the shelf at right angles to the
left/right shelf. Don't pull the hose too tight or you
will crimp it going over the bars.
Connect the assembly to a water pump so that the water is
drawn in from the tank, through the pump, and then
enters the assembly at the bottom, exiting at the top
back into the tank. Set the assembly in front of a fan
so the air blows through it and see how it works.

Frank


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

Try getting air conditioning, I have central air here so I don't have to worry to much about the temp. Find a new or used window air conditioner. Not only would you be able to have more comfort for your fish, but also for yourself.

17 years experience with freshwater.

Do you have Ice, seal some uop in a bag and float it. If you use a good sealing bag you don't have to worry about water contamination. I read this in a magizine, make sense.

Djrichie
"So Long, and Thanks For All The Fish" Douglas Adams

Hi,
The use of ice directly in the tank presents all kinds of
problems. While it would seem logical to stick some ice
cubes either directly in the tank, or fill a plastic bag
or some other container with ice and float it, it can
easily cause more problems that it will cure.

The biggest problem is that the ice will produce an area
within the tank that has a Huge temperature difference.
You can actually see the "wavy lines" of different
temperature water flowing away from the ice and into the
tank. There is no way to control the melt. The tank will
rapidly cycle downward in temperature and then start
climbing as the ice melts and the tank resumes the room
temperature.

Temperature change is one of the main stressors that causes
fish to come down with ICH. It ruins their immune system
and the Ich Parasite will over come their resistance.

Running a fan across the open top of the tank is the best
way to cool a tank. Or try building a home made (DIY)
radiator such as I suggested and run a fan through it.

Frank


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

what if yo put the bag ice in your flilter system where it is mixed. Funny you say not to, because I read that in a aquarium mag this summer I'm looking for it now. I see what your saying with the cool spots. I finding this interesting because that is one of my huricane prep. "make sure can keep tank cool and full of air" (we loss power every storm)
I have a generator i bought just for the tanks filters but I still wouldn't have a/c in the house, so tanks tempture rises. I must find that mag, I hope the wife didn't throw it out yet.

Djrichie
"So Long, and Thanks For All The Fish" Douglas Adams

I had a similar problem with my light setup/hood, it was raising water temperature 2 or 3 degrees Celsius and making a rollercoaster of my tanks temp. I sorted out the issue by installing two 12V, 2" computer type fans in the back of the light hood in order to maintain an influx of fresh air and an outflow of warm air from the enclosed system. Worked like a charm, it was inexpensive and easy to install. Hardware cost me about $10US. (2 fans, wire, and a 12V adaptor).

Now your issue has to do with your general house temperature getting very warm so even if you blast a high power fan in front of your aquarium, you probably wont reduce the temperature too much since you would be blowing hot air towards it, it does work dont get me wrong, but I would infer that the temperature drop would not be that much. It would be imperative to get some cooler air in the room via a ventilator or a fan. But probably your best option, if its getting out of hand, is to build the tank radiator afore mentioned by Mr. Frank. It's impressive how much water cools down with this type of devices.

Good luck!

I too have had heat problems in my little concrete house, I found the tank used to run up to 3-5degrees c hotter than the inside temp from my thermometer. One thing I have found that fixed this is that I changed my heater to a fluval tronic. These are all electronic and not bimetallic switching like virtually all other heaters. this means they only work when temp drops and not cycle on and off like bimetallics. Since the change my tank temp is never hotter than the temp of the house (i have it set at 26c) sometimes on 38+ days the house gets to 29-30c and the tank never gets hotter like it used too.

I have also found it makes the temp much more stable in the winter time my old heater could very 2 degrees over 24 hrs

I too live in Aus and bought mine online from a shop that comes up 1st if you use google aus to search for aquariums. it was $20 cheaper than the lfs.