0morrokh

hehe don't worry I love big science words!

vin

It's really not that complicated. Thermodynamic processes naturally occur within the system itself anyway every day. It's an open system.....The filter provides the energy, the heater creates the desired temperature, which is more often than not warmer than the surrounding temperature creating condensation and evaporation......What we are attempting to do is further artificially control that system.

Since you are keeping fish in a greenhouse, you are creating an artificial environment whereby the heat and humidity levels are increased having an effect on your rate of evaporation. The thermodynamic process further occurs when you extract heat and create moisture in the form of condensation which occurs as a result of evaporation as we said earlier. In a greenhouse you sometimes see that condensation build up on the glass. Yours is a special case, I would think as the average person is not keeping their fish in a greenhouse.

If you position your fans where they will have an effect on the water's surface, then more evaporation will occur. But we are assuming that the average person will be attempting to cool their tank within their home with the tank covered. If they reduce the setting of their heaters (as they should), direct the airflow at the glass itself, thereby cooling the outer boundary of the system effectively reducing the water temperature within, then they really shouldn't see too much of an increase in evaporation. However, if the tank is cooled too much, condensation may form on the outer surface of the glass. But that would have to be an extreme temperature drop.

And actually it does relate directly to the water itself if a person is continually adding water without removing the minerals and disolved waste that build up over a period of time. The misconception would be that as long as they're adding water back into the system at a faster rate than normal, then there would be no reason to do water changes when quite the opposite is true. Which was my original point.

Dino

Keeping fish in your home is no less artifical than keeping them in a greenhouse.

As well, any knowledgeable fishkeeper will not fall for the misconception stated above.

Dino

vin

If you say so Dino....The artificial environment I was referring to was the greenhouse itself....Not the method in which the hobbyist keeps their fish. If you read what I wrote it's pretty clear. I suppose it's easier to take words out of context.

Quite simply, you cannot argue that the conditions in a greenhouse are on the same level as in your home as they are not......


And never assume that every fishkeeper is knowledgable. Which is why I stated what I did with regard to water conditions.

Dino

Level?, I am not understanding what you mean by that.

And it seems to me, you took what I said about knowledgeable fish keepers out of context.

So, I guess we just end this by agreeing that we disagree.

Dino

vin

By 'level' I mean 'alike', 'on par'. 'identical'.....

As for taking your comment out of context. I don't see how - I merely made a statement regarding assumptions.

As for agreeing to disagree? We're not disagreeing, just making different observations.

Dino

House to warn,you cool it,
Greenhouse to warm, you cool it.

House to cold, you heat it,
Greenhouse to cold, you heat it.

I don't understand why you think keeping fish in a greenhouse is so different from keeping them in a regular house.

Dino

Butterfly

I believe the original question was how do we keep our tanks cool in the summer time-
There have been several suggestions, fans, air conditioning, water changes, ice cubes.
If using a fan and evaporation occurs it will cool the tanks. This is the method I use and I do have hillstream loaches and gold fish. IF weekly water changes are done it won't hurt to top the tanks up when the water levels drop. This will further cool the tanks. I do larger and more frequent water changes in the summer as warmer water has less oxygen in it and some of my fish like highly oxygenated water. Although I keep fans on my tanks I have never had condensation form on any of them so I don't feel that is a problem.
Ice cubes made from tank water would probably help, I know some one who freezes water on bottles then floats them in their tank and then refreezes the bottles when they thaw.
Unless your tanks get over 80F and stays there, there probably won't be any problems. HTH
Carol
Carol

0morrokh

Just a note, I really know nothing on this topic, but you would need a lot of ice cubes to cool a tank, wouldn't you? Might not be as practical as other methods. But like I said I dunno.

Butterfly

yes 0morrokh you would need ALOT of ice cubes to cool a tank, of course it depends on what size the tank is. By the way I meant to say in my previous post "freeze water IN bottles" not on bottles (just a little typo there ). Seems it might hurt the fishes mouth if they nipped at an ice cube.
Carol

vin

Because a greenhouse is intended to be warm and humid.......I don't know of anyone who intends to keep their home warm and humid during the summer months.....

I'm sorry you have the difficulty seeing this. But I am finished with this topic.

Dino

With a proper ventalation system, the entire air volume in a greenhouse during the summer is replaced every ten minutes or so.
I never had problems with high humidity.

Dino

Parvath

Mine is just 7G and I think I will use the ice cube method

0morrokh

Let us know how it works. You will probably to always have a tray of ice cubes in teh freezer, and add ice multiple times a day...but of course your tank is small so it might work well.

Butterfly

keep us posted how it works.
Carol