summersquash

O.K. Our central air went out Monday night and it is in the tripple digits here in Texas. The repairman had to order a part so it will be another day or two before air is fixed. The temps in my tanks are climibing all the time. How high before my fish will suffer. Water was at 84 tonight when I got homw. I did a partial water change and brought it down a little, but didn't want to shock them by getting it to cool too fast. Does anyone have any idea of how to keep water cooler. Would it hurt the fish if I put some ice cubes in the tank to bring it down some.
We are suffering too, but since the huricanes keep hitting us every year or two we are beginning to get used to no air, electricity and water for weeks on end. I never thought about what I would do if we had another major huricane when I set up this tank. Now I not only have 2 dogs and a cat to try to take care of during a huricane, I also have fish. What was I thinking.

rileyrk190

If the ice cubes were made of dechlorinated water i wouldn't see a problem. I too am having a similar issue, but what i do is put the ice cubes in a Zip lock bag and float it until they melt, that way you can remove the bag with no added ice cube water and reuse the bag. Hope this helps! Also, you can think about adding an air stone because the hotter the water the less oxygen present.

summersquash

Thanks, I never thought about puting the ice in a bag. I have several air stone strips in the tanks. the fish don't act stressed or like they're not getting enough oxygen, but if the temps keep rising they may start.

rileyrk190

yeah mine are all chilling at the top of my tank. My tank temperature was at 83 today and my fish weren't happy.

joy1125

I see you have tropicals, they should be fine in 84. But continue with the very small water changes to keep the temp stable.

Also, I wouldn't float a bag of ice cubes, because I'm a "worst-case scenario " person. I'd be worried that a fish could get temperature shock if they swam by the area of the icy bag.

also, make sure to add extra aeration. The warmer the water, the less oxygen there is.
That is really the greatest concern as far as higher temperatures go.

joy1125

sorry Ryan, I hadn't seen that you already advised about the airstones! Sorry for the repetition in my post ! I must be gettin' tired tonite!

summersquash

So if they aren't swimming at the top and gasping for air they should be o.k.? How high before I should be concerned?

joy1125

the thing is to try to keep the temp stable, and most tropicals can handle 84. Extra aeration is very important. If you see the water temp really going up, you can place a small fan to blow across the water as well. Just monitor it for a bit. You don't want temperature fluctuations.

btw, do you have a battery airpump in case the power goes out? Especially in the heat, they'll need that aeration.

Most pet stores carry them, I recently bought 3.

joy1125

here's the link to Petsmart.com for the battery operated air pump.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...ductId=2753043

Penn-Plax Silent Air, that's the one I use. You put in two D batteries, turn it on, then plug it into the wall. It detects when there's an outage, and automatically comes on. Works like a dream!

most other pet stores carry it as well.

joy1125

summersquash, also if you have strong lighting in the tank, you may want to keep the aquarium lights off, or not on as long, to reduce any heat coming from them as well.

jdhef

Taking the top off the tank and placing a fan so that the air blows across the top of the water is supposed to help cool down a tank.

Regal

My tanks are doing the same thing. I know Ohio heat is nothing like Texas heat but it hit 90 today. We have not turned on the air conditioning yet because I hate freezing. The bigger tanks don't fluctuate as much as the smaller ones. The ten gallon with mollies often gets into the high 80s and the fish don't seem to mind at all. Their behavior is excatly the same. Turning the lights off and leaving the lid open helps bring the temp down some.

Angela_96

This is one time I would suggest extra aeration for the fish. The above suggestions are great.
Being preggo my house is about 68-70 so my heaters are running even when its 90s outside.

Alessa

What you can do to avoid the shock problem with the ice cubes in the bag, is to place the bag inside the filter so that the outcoming water is cool and can flow around the aquarium.

It is also good to freeze water bottles, they last longer.

Tony G.

very true, im not so sure about the waterbottle thingy.

harpua2002

Frozen water bottles work just fine. We keep several on hand in the freezer at all times, just in case.

GypsyGirl71

In Texas here, too. We usually turn the air to about 80 when we arent home to keep the electric bill down and I've noticed my tank is around 82. It's been that way for weeks now and the fish seem fine with it. No change in behavior at all. I will keep in mind all the above suggestions too, thanks!

thelastbravewarrior

I was having a similar problem, but not because of room temps, but because I had a tiny 1 gallon acylic tank and the light was too close that when I could turn it on, the water would start to heat up. I just leave it off for now. ice cubes in a zip lock bag sounds like a good idea.

Sharkitty

How's it going summersquash?

reefdude

I love this site! Excellent tips and advice around every corner!!!

summersquash

Yeaaaa!!!!! My air is up and running again. Temps got to 102 today. The problem with Southeast Texas is that no matter how many weeks we go without rain and even with high temps we still have lots of humidity. That makes the heat unbearable. It doesn't usually get this hot so early though.
I did try the ice cubes, the fan, and turned off all lights. So far the fish don't act like they suffered any ill effects.
Thanks for all the advice.

gremlin

In the summer I will put the ice from when we defrost our freezer into the pond. The goldfish love to swim up to the ice. Sometimes it looks like they are trying to eat some of it. The mosquito fish swim away from the ice - they prefer warmer water.

summersquash

Well, I guess you could call that recycling of sorts.