Keeping Cool

[fishiefish]

I have a 55 gal community tank with live plants and I live in California. Now that it's starting to heat up, my tank temp is rising. I keep it at about 78, but now that the weather's in the 80's or higher, the temp has crept up to 82. Short of buying a chiller, what can I do to keep it cool? A friend suggested I turn off the lights (they are flourescent), but teh plants need some light! Thanks in advance for your suggestions (which my pocketbook hopes don't include "Turn on the AC all the time"),

Marlene

[emc7]

Shorten the hours of lighting or reduce the wattage of bulbs, leave the lid open or the remove lid of the power filter (evaporation cools), blow a fan across the surface, if the tank is in direct sunlight, cover the window. What kind of fish? Angels and Discus like 82.

[fish_doc]

The following is somthing I have posted in the past on several sites to help out.

Aquariums overheating is a very common thing that happens in the summer and I see your question asked several times a year on different forums. So dont worry you are not alone.

There are several ways to cool a aquarium. Some very expensive others very simple. But the labor is tied to the cost. The more expensive the less maintance, the cheaper needing a constant eye.

The first is air condition your house - (you didn't want to hear that) There is the expense of installiation then the expense of electricity.

Second is buy a aquarium chiller - Chillers are often needed to keep the water temperature within a range optimal for your tank inhabitants. These can run $400 on up. (Not so cheap either)

Chillers are available in two forms: drop-in and in-line. Drop-in chillers have cooling coils that you simply place in the sump to cool the water. No plumbing is required. In-line chillers have internal cooling coils. Water is pumped into the chiller, cooled, and then returned back to the tank or sump. The chief advantage of an in-line chiller is that it can be placed remotely from the tank (such as a basement, a different room or a garage).

Temperature controllers are necessary to operate the chiller. A single stage controller will control just the chiller, while a dual stage controller can control both a chiller and a heater to minimize variance and eliminate conflicts.

Third You can do small frequent water changes with cooler water - This is good for the temp but hard on the biological filtration.

Fourth You can place ice cubes in a ziplock bag and let it float in the tank. As the ice melts it will cool the water in the tank but not to quickly for the fish.

The Fifth and final way that I am aware of is to take the lid off the aquarium and blow a fan across the top. I know this sounds dumb like how can a fan cool water, BUT the fan causes evaporation and evaporation is what creates the cooling of the water.

You might want to try a combination of the last 3 ways to create a slow cooling process that wont shock the fish.

Keep in mind you want to cool your tank slowly. Rapid changes in temps are not good for your fish. Dont be afraid to turn off any lights on the tank. The light only creates more heat and if you dont have live plants you should not have any problems having a dark tank for a few days.

Actually there is one other way. But that is only if you have a basement. (I think you know where I am going with this) If you move the tank to the basement it will cool naturally since basements usually are cooler than upper floors.

I hope this gives you a few things to try. Sorry for it being so long but I wanted to give you all the possibilities I could think of.

[fishiefish]

I have neon tetras and a guppy (total of 10 fish). I will try taking the lid off, and I have used the ziplock bag of ice cubes before- glad to see it as a legit suggestion! The tank isn't in direct light- how many hours of light do the plants need (they are Java ferns and some kind of grass that's supposedly hard to kill).

[Ownager2004]

You could probably get by with 6 hours a day or even less.

[emc7]

You could light the tank in the cooler hours (or when your running the air anyway) and leave it dark in hot part of the day.

[emc7]

Add aeration, more agitation of the surface will increase the evaporation and more O2 in the water will help the fish deal with the higher temp.

[emc7]

Aquairm atlas says neons 66-79, guppies 64-82 F. Neither fish is known for jumping, so going lidless makes sense.

[fishiefish]

Thanks all, for the advice. I'll try taking the lid off and cutting the lights to 6 hrs. Hopefully then I won't have to run the AC until it is seriously hot!