Keep your tank cool

With the high temps coming this summer, make sure your fish do not cook... for those of us without air conditioning.

I remember reading a while back ( could not find the thread ) but the person kept a few 2 liter bottles of water in his freezer. When his tank got a little high he could just float the ice and keep swapping them out as needed. That way you are not overfilling your tank with a blocks of ice and it takes longer to melt in the bottle.

I think it's going to be a really hot summer, yay for A/C!!

Great warning to throw out there!

MorganEA wrote:I think it's going to be a really hot summer, yay for A/C!!

*RASPBERRY

Was 100 yesterday, already 85 this morning. Just put 2 12,000 btu AC units in.

We have an A/C unit in our garage as well as our house. I was hoping with just the one native tank running in the garage that cooling and heating would be minimal. Temps out in our garage are 76 already. Temps outside the house have been 103 day before yesterday and high 80's yesterday. Today is going to be a stinker too. Our house is airconditioned so that is nice for the heated tanks.

I am running into issues already with my non-heated tanks in the house. In the air conditioned house there temps are ranging from 71-72 degrees. Out of the tap water is running 76 degrees as of today. We are filling up big garbage cans and letting them sit and acclimate to house temp. If we let them sit overnight, they go down to like 69 degrees....I'm not sure why. House is running 72-74. So at 69 degrees we have to add a little tap water back in for good temps. Geez...water changes are supposed to be easier with the non-heated tanks..at least that's what I though.

Good reminder!

We splurged on AC for our house some years ago. Best investment ever!

A couple of days, tank temp has gone up to 80F from the preset 74F already. Think I might have to throw in the window ac unit earlier than normal. Never noticed it with my Laetacara since they come from waters above 80F.

cichlid-gal wrote:We have an A/C unit in our garage as well as our house.  I was hoping with just the one native tank running in the garage that cooling and heating would be minimal.  Temps out in our garage are 76 already.  Temps outside the house have been 103 day before yesterday and high 80's yesterday.  Today is going to be a stinker too.  Our house is airconditioned so that is nice for the heated tanks.  

I am running into issues already with my non-heated tanks in the house.  In the air conditioned house there temps are ranging from 71-72 degrees.  Out of the tap water is running 76 degrees as of today.  We are filling up big garbage cans and letting them sit and acclimate to house temp.  If we let them sit overnight, they go down to like 69 degrees....I'm not sure why.  House is running 72-74.  So at 69 degrees we have to add a little tap water back in for good temps.  Geez...water changes are supposed to be easier with the non-heated tanks..at least that's what I though.

I never worry that much about getting the temperature exactly right with water changes, since I normally do only 20% or so changes. Even if the temp was off by 10 degrees, which is a pretty noticeable difference, doing a 20% water change that would only make temps go up by a couple of degrees, if my logical head-math is right. (10 degrees higher x 20% of total tank volume = 2 degree difference througout the tank). I always simply put my hand in the tank, then in the bucket I am filling, and adjust the taps accordingly. Sometimes I get it 3-5 degrees off or so, but I have never seen any ill effects o fish

Of course, if you are doing bigger water changes, you might be more careful not to get the temp too far off.

I like the idea of the 2 liter bottles in the freezer, I think that would be the perfect way to cool down the water without having to re-adjust the parameters due to frequently adding fresh cold water. Next hot days I might need to try that, thanks for the suggestion!

I checked my 75 yesterday afternoon and it was up to 80, turned off on light, opened the tops and aimed a small fan across the top. It dropped 2 degrees in an hour. The frozen water bottles work well in extreme heat. Be sure there's no soap or label residue on the bottle.
I unplug almost all of my heaters mid May. It helps to let them cool off at night and I haven't seen any ill effects, to the contrary. I think it's healthy to vary temps.

I read an article the argued for that being the case, and I think it works well if you have no species that are heat sensitive, but I wouldn't unplug a discus tank or anything, if I had one haha.

LuminousAphid wrote:

I never worry that much about getting the temperature exactly right with water changes, since I normally do only 20% or so changes. Even if the temp was off by 10 degrees, which is a pretty noticeable difference, doing a 20% water change that would only make temps go up by a couple of degrees, if my logical head-math is right. (10 degrees higher x 20% of total tank volume = 2 degree difference througout the tank). I always simply put my hand in the tank, then in the bucket I am filling, and adjust the taps accordingly. Sometimes I get it 3-5 degrees off or so, but I have never seen any ill effects o fish

Of course, if you are doing bigger water changes, you might be more careful not to get the temp too far off.

I like the idea of the 2 liter bottles in the freezer, I think that would be the perfect way to cool down the water without having to re-adjust the parameters due to frequently adding fresh cold water. Next hot days I might need to try that, thanks for the suggestion!

I do 50% water changes weekly. If I did 20% water changes I'd have to do them more often....don't want to do that with the number of tanks I have

yeah i suppose with 50 per cent you would want it to be pretty close. and I always forget about that fact with all you guys and your many many tanks... i think my laziness is the limiting factor in the number of tanks i have, whereas this is obviously not an obstacle for you haha. of course i still do my water changes by hand, including carrying a 5 gallon bucket from the other end of the house and up 1/2 flight of stairs, so really it's my lack of finding a better solution for water changes

LuminousAphid wrote:yeah i suppose with 50 per cent you would want it to be pretty close. and I always forget about that fact with all you guys and your many many tanks... i think my laziness is the limiting factor in the number of tanks i have, whereas this is obviously not an obstacle for you haha. of course i still do my water changes by hand, including carrying a 5 gallon bucket from the other end of the house and up 1/2 flight of stairs, so really it's my lack of finding a better solution for water changes

You have not met a lazy fishkeeper until you have met me. Truly. I continue to try to find the easiest way to do those water changes. You gotta get a python Luminous or a small pump. We have all but eliminated buckets except for cleaning filter stuff or a quick cleaning substrate syphon run. The buckets are killers.