tank heat

[lobsternoob]

Well, We're having a pretty hardcore heat wave today yesterday and supposed to be tomorrow too here. It's not amazingly hot, but it's pretty irregular for where I live. When I came home this afternoon my unheated tank that houses a juvenile sunfish was at 85.9 degrees! I've floated some ice (in a bag) and did a small WC to bring the temp down slowly, but its not really doing much. I don't want to cool it too fast and shock the fish. Any suggestions from those of you that deal with ACTUAL heat waves? Will the fish be fine in these temps since it's a native fish and some of the shallower ponds around here probably get the same temp? It's acting hyperactive and hovering near the ice cubes when I put them in.

I know chatterbox may not have been the best place to put this post, but I wasn't sure what other forum it would really fit in.

[labnjab]

Run a fan over the top of the tank. I've been having to run one on our reef the past few weeks because its still to early to stick our ac in the window. It was creeping up to 84-85, but since putting the fan on the sump (across the top of a sumpless tank will work too) it keeps the temp down around 80.

[lobsternoob]

I appreciate the suggestion, but i cant do that, he's a crazy jumper, the tank has to be well covered. The temp has gone down a bit now since the sun went down, it should be ok. Still, had me worried a bit, and who knows what tomorrow will bring.

[labnjab]

The only other thing would be to get a chiller, or an ac, but atleast its going down now

[tim k]

Keep lights off , ice is good , and maybe add an airstone .
Higher temp = less oxygen.

Tim K

[Gayle]

Well, fish in the wild are ok with temp changes as it is natural, but captive bred fish would only be used to a steady temp, and drastic variances may have ill effects. If your tank is unheated, a change of a few degrees will happen daily anyhow, so it may not be as bad as you think. What is the temp normally? You could buy a chiller to put in the tank, but they are expensive, and if you do not normally have this problem, I probably would not. You could also make some ice cubes with dechlorinated water and add them, it will help cool the water, and the fish will probably enjoy the cubes floating around. Do very small water changes every few hours with cooled water from the tank. Keep that room as cool as possible of course. The fan would be an excellent idea, even if you only use a mini fan clipped to the back of the tank that blows only over the open area, or top of filter. Good luck! I am sure everything will be fine!

[Little Embers]

It is so much easier to heat a tank than it is to cool it isn't it! and the bigger the tank the better as it will take longer for it to be affected by the ambient temperature outside. Living in Australia (one of the hottest places on earth in summer) with heatwaves lasting weeks on end, I have that problem a lot, but thank God I haven't lost any fish yet and they seem to be able to cope relatively well with the heat, but if it lasted for over a month or more then I think it would cause them major problems. Even my Oto's have managed in 34* Celsius tank temps. during heatwaves.

I don't have an AC and I have used all methods mentioned, which do help: The fan over the tank, ice cubes in a plastic bag, small water changes, living the tank light off and luckily I can remove the lid. I have also gone as far as putting a bath towel in the fridge for a couple of hours and then wrapping it around the tank and also used those little freezer bricks and placed them around the outside of the tank (can be a bit messy when they start to melt though). It can be a problem if nobody is home during the day (as in my case most days) to constantly top up the ice etc. In those 40* plus heatwaves we often have, my tank temp. usually didn't go over 32* celsius (which is 90* F. I think). Fish do seem to be far more active in warm temps. and I agree that extra aeration is needed during this time.

I hope it cools down for you soon lobsternoob!

[lobsternoob]

Well, thankfully today is a bit cooler. the tank is still warmer than I'd like but since it isnt insanely hot rather than cooling it and letting it warm and having the temp fluctuate a lot I'm just gonna leave it. Since I'm working at home today I can leave my doors and windows open so that helps a lot when it's not over 100 degrees in my room too.


Thanks for all the good suggestions, it rarely gets very hot around here but next time this happens at least I'll have a few tricks up my sleeve.